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football Edit

Big Springs Ritchey commits

Big Spring athlete Matt Ritchey has decided where he will play his college football after his senior season. Ritchey has committed to former Stephenville head coach Art Briles and the Baylor Bears, who compete in the Big 12 South Conference. Baylor recruited Ritchey as a linebacker. Oral committments are non-binding.
"We are very excited for Matt," said Big Spring head coach Phillip Ritchey. "Baylor was one of the schools Matt was most interested in playing for. When they came in and offered he committed since it was a school he was interested in playing for before they offered. He is also excited about playing for Coach Briles and his staff at Baylor."
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Ritchey is the second WTX player to commit to Baylor this spring. He's rated as the site's No. 4 WTX senior entering the 2009 season. Midland High wide receiver Antwan Goodley also committed to Baylor earlier in the spring.
Ritchey was offered after visiting the campus. "I think Matt will fit in as an outside linebacker in their scheme," his head coach said. "They had evaluated the film we sent them and the Baylor defensive coordinator (Brian Northwood) came out to see him and really liked him enough to offer."
Ritchey, 6-3 and 185-pounds, was a two-way starter for the Steers during their 8-5 playoff run. As a junior quarterback, he used his 4.6 speed to rush for 1,187 yards and throw for 1,069 yards while accounting for 23 TDs. Defensively at linebacker, he totaled 93 tackles (28 solo), five tackles for loss and two interceptions. He was one of the top two-way players in the state as a junior.
During his upcoming senior season, Coach Ritchey plans to take advantage of Ritchey's versatility on offense and use him in numerous roles in addition to his linebacker duties on defense.
Another Big Spring junior who is drawing interest from Division I universities is running back Monte Anderson. According to head coach Phillip Ritchey, the schools showing the most interest in the talented Anderson are Texas Tech, TCU and UTEP.
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