The 2009 Italy Gladiators football team had 15 players named to the District 21-A All-District list. Junior Jasenio Anderson was named District 21-A’s Most Valuable Player, 1st Team Punter and 1st Team Kicker. Anderson and his teammates helped to restore a winning football tradition in Italy by getting into the playoffs for the first time since 2005. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators(5-4) who finished tied for 2nd in District 21-A were matched against the Lovelady Lions(10-0) and their 19-seniors in a battle for the bi-district championship. Italy took an early 14-0 lead but the Lions came roaring back. (Continued…)

With a trip to the Playoffs guaranteed, the Italy Gladiators traveled to Patton Field in Itasca for one last district battle against their old rivals, the Itasca Wampus Cats. Italy’s sideline looked more like a M.A.S.H. unit before halftime as Itasca added insult to injury by taking a 16-8 lead over the Gladiators into halftime. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiator Junior High and JV football teams capped off their 2009 seasons with home games against the Itasca Wampus Cats. For the 8th Graders, the night marked their final football game as Junior High Gladiators. For the JV, they were just glad to finally play a game before the sophomores move up to the Varsity level next season. (Continued…)

Under the direction of Coach Craig Bales who is in his second year as head coach, the Italy Gladiators have come full circle. Unlike three seasons ago when Italy didn’t win one game, the winning tradition is being restored in Gladiator country. (Continued…)

The Friday pep rally inside the old gym at Italy High School was a fun time for students, cheerleaders, players, faculty and the community. A speech from NFL great and Italy alum Keith Davis highlighted the event along with the IHS cheerleaders as they performed a dance routine to the song, “Thriller.” (Continued…)

The Italy JH Gladiators had their hands full, of mud mostly, against the Dawson Bulldogs on Thursday. It was a hard fought game between both sides but when the final buzzer sounded, the game ended in a tie, 6-6. (Continued…)

Friday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m., the whole community is invited to enjoy the Gladiator Pep Rally. Keith Davis will be the guest speaker at the Halloween themed event – Wear your costume! (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators blasted into Wortham’s Bulldog Stadium and pounded “Big Blue” into submission. Italy’s high powered offense didn’t rely on it’s air attack in this one, instead the Gladiators defeated the Bulldogs at their own running game. The win puts Italy at 4-0 in District with the Dawson Bulldogs coming to town on Friday. (Continued…)

ITALY – The undefeated Wortham Bulldogs showed their might against Italy’s Junior High team on Thursday at Willis Field. Amazingly, with less than a minute to go and Wortham in control of the ball, a scoreless Italy team avoided being shutout by the Bulldogs in dramatic fashion. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators (4-2 overall) battled the Hubbard Jaguars (1-6 overall) Friday night at Willis Field in Italy. Early in the first quarter, the Gladiators gave the Jaguars a taste of what the rest of the game had in store for the spotted cats. (Continued…)

Reminiscent of Rocky III, when Rocky Balboa was pitted against Mr. T’s Clubber Lang character, the Italy Junior High whipped the Hubbard Jaguars in four rounds of football. Hubbard, with only a tie on their record coming into the game, now have a loss to go with that tie thanks to a surging Italy Junior High team that improved their record to 2-1. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators charged into Longhorn country with quarterback Jasenio Anderson at the reins. It wasn’t exactly a shootout at the O.K. Corral as both sides relied on their running games. With pass attempts ricocheting off the mud-slicked surface, Italy did manage to post a shutout in their low-scoring win over Axtell, and that’s O.K. with Gladiator fans. (Continued…)

Italy’s Junior High and JV football teams had the visiting Axtell Longhorns back on their hooves in both games. Italy’s teams scored first and held their leads throughout. The Longhorns played tough but it was the Gladiators who were seeing red when Axtell unloaded their yellow wagons. (Continued…)

The Italy Gladiators challenged the Frost Polar Bears for the right to be 1-0 in district play during Italy High School’s Homecoming game on Friday. Italy head coach, Craig Bales, had his team ready to play and it did’t take long to realize that the old gold tradition has a new winning style. Once the balloons were filled, the ribbons were tied and the mums were pinned on, the Italy Gladiators got geared up for their championship run. (Continued…)

Apparently, when gold and blue collide together it makes red as the Italy Junior High played a hard-hitting football game against the Frost Polar Bears in their district opener. (Continued…)

Junior Gladiator Quarterback Jasenio Anderson was chosen by the Directors of www.1Atexasfootball.com as this week’s Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in the overtime loss to AA Malakoff. He was selected from a list of unbelievable games played by the most talented players across the State, and his stats and some photos from the Neotribune are featured on their website, which can be reached through the link provided above. (Continued…)

One For The Ages – The 1A Italy Gladiators traveled to take on the 2A Malakoff Tigers who Italy had beaten last season 33-8. Catching the Gladiators off guard, this wasn’t last years Tiger team. Malakoff brought in a complete new coaching staff for their 2009 campaign. (Continued…)

Malakoff made a clean sweep of the Italy 7th Grade, 8th Grade and JV football teams Thurdsay…even if it was muddy. Both Italy Junior High teams only had 11 players on each roster but all 22 players gave a valiant effort defending the home field. Malakoff’s JV Tigers started off slow but eventually slung enough mud into the air to win the game against the JV Gladiators. (Continued…)

The family of Justin Wood would like to express a sincere thank you to Coach Craig Bales and his Italy High School coaching staff, along with Stafford Elementary nurse Rita Garza, for their effective handling of Justin when he was injured during football practice two weeks ago. (Continued…)