Sports

The Hamilton Junior High Bulldog football teams played their first home game on Thursday, Sept. 17, against the Rio Vista Eagles.

The Hamilton Varsity cross-country teams took their latest course a few days later than normal last week with the Hoka McNeil Invitational on Friday, Sept. 18, as opposed to their normal Wednesday meets. The meet was held at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, where the State cross-country meet is held yearly. Being held at the state championship site allowed many more schools and runners than the usual races. The Varsity boys and girls competed against schools from the 1A size all the way to 6A, with junior varsity teams mixed in.

The 2025 state champion Bulldogs win their first game of the 2026 title defense season with a big 34-17 win against the Brady Bulldogs. The Hamilton Bulldogs had a big offensive night with receivers like Madden Weaver and Bryan Ibarra gaining a lot of receiving yards. Brady played the clock most of the game and used their big offensive and defensive linemen to run the ball against the younger Hamilton defensive linemen. The Hamilton Bulldogs did not get their first offensive drive until late into the first quarter after Brady scored a field goal. Three plays into their first offensive drive and early into the second quarter, Hamilton was on the scoreboard with a touchdown pass from Sophomore quarterback Ollie Summers to Weaver. Senior kicker Ethan Kalbas connected on the extra point. The exciting sophomore Weaver gave the Bulldogs another quick scoring opportunity by intercepting a Brady pass and bringing it into the redzone before being tackled. Eduardo Ramirez made quick use of the new offensive possession by running in another touchdown with an extra point from Kalbas. Brady did score off a Josh Thomas run right through the young Hamilton defensive line for an 87 yard touchdown to bring Brady closer with a 14-10 score.

The 2026 volleyball season has been scorching hot for the Hamilton Lady Bulldogs as they finish their non-district portion of the season with a 22-3 record. The Lady Dogs’ season started with an 11-game winning streak before dropping their first losses (back-to-back at that) to Hillsboro and C.H. Yoe before igniting another 11-game winning streak, including a first-place finish at the Bruceville-Eddy tournament. Their stellar play earned Hamilton an eighth-place ranking in class 2A in the Texas Girls Coaches Association State Volleyball Poll. With four seniors, three juniors and three sophomores, the red and black have a good mix of young talents and returning contributors from last year’s 30-7 region finalists.

The non-varsity Bulldog football teams had a busy Thursday in multiple places, not only in a battle against the Brady Bulldogs and Tolar Rattlers but also against mother nature as well. Sub-varsity Bulldogs split their Thursday night games.

By Jaxon Hansard The cross-country season is in full stride with two meets under the belts of Hamilton’s varsity and Junior High teams. On September 9, the cross-country runners raced in the West ISD invitational at West High School. Half of the Bulldogs teams placed in the top four at West and six of the varsity girls placed in the top 32.