Latest news with #PleasantGrove
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pleasant Grove dominates Seminole in game one of semi-state
FRISCO, TX (KTAL/KMSS) – On Thursday, Pleasant Grove faced Seminole in game on of the UIL 4A-DI semi-state. Hunter Rose on the mound and the defense behind him quickly set the tone for the game getting three quick outs. The Hawks had no problem getting the offense going, scoring three runs in the first inning. Buck Anderson got the scoring started, rolling one down the third baseline getting Jarret Halter home. A Walker Wright two RBI double tacked on a few more runs shortly after, and the Hawks never let up, defeating Seminole 9-0. 'Our team is very confident coming into this series,' head coach Riley Fincher said. 'We're very confident because of everything they've gone through throughout the season, but it was a great win for us to get the first one, but the job's not finished.' Defense was a big part of Thursday's success, specifically Anderson's strong arm behind the plate. 'Our catcher, he didn't get the credit he deserves, Buck Anderson,' Fincher said. 'He is a phenomenal, high school player for us, and what he does, he shuts down other teams game and he allows our pitchers to throw all pitches in any different count because they trust him a lot. So you know that's a huge asset for our team.' Pleasant Grove hopes to seal their fate to state tomorrow as they face Seminole in game two. First pitch is at 4 pm. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mormon Wives star Jessi Ngatikaura reveals shock run-in with Jen Shah prior to her sentencing
Even though she may be in prison, no one has ever forgotten former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Jen Shah - including Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast member Jessi Ngatikaura, who once had a wild-run in with the star right before she was sentenced in 2023. Shah, who was a member of the Bravo hit series for three seasons, was sentenced to 78 months in prison for 'running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme,' which primarily targeted elderly and vulnerable people. After months of proclaiming her innocence, Shah finally plead guilty in July 2023 for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and is currently locked up with Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. However, according to Ngatikaura, Shah was hanging out at the hair salon she owns in Pleasant Grove, Utah, just a few weeks before she was sent off to Bryan Federal Prison Camp in Texas. Ngatikaura, who owns JZ Styles, recalled looking at the security cameras in her salon one day to find Shah in her break room eating pizza. 'I, like, ran over to her,' the Secret Lives star told 'I'm like, I have to meet her because she was getting her hair done by one of my stylists, who was her friend,' Ngatikaura said. 'She was so nice,' she continued of Shah. Shah, who was a member of the Bravo hit series for three seasons, was sentenced to 78 months in prison for 'running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme,' which primarily targeted elderly and vulnerable people Of course, Shah isn't the only Real Housewives of Salt Lake City that the Mormon ladies have met since skyrocketing to fame. Ngatikaura and Layla Taylor have met Lisa Barlow, and have become friendly with Whitney Rose as well, who gets her hair done at JZ Styles. 'Utah is honestly bigger than you think,' Taylor explained. 'It's like close knit in the way that everyone knows each other, like [we don't] bump into each other that often.' But while they may not see their fellow reality TV show stars out and about in town, it's a different story for the Mormon Wives cast, who are basically attached at the hip. The new season of their hit show premieres on Hulu on May 15, and according to Ngatikaura and Taylor, it's even better than the first season. The series follows the lives of a group of TikTok famous, Mormon mom influencers living in Utah, including Taylor Frankie Paul, who outed the clique for 'soft swinging' with each other and their husbands in 2022. It also explored some relationship drama, as Paul and her boyfriend at the time, Dakota Mortensen, were expecting their first baby, and Jen and Zach Affleck dealt with their own tumultuous marriage. Ngatikaura said that the trailer for the second season doesn't even do it justice, teasing that there were two parties specifically where things got way out of hand Things will get even crazier this season, as three of the ladies are pregnant, and they're joined by new cast member Miranda McWhorter, who was at the center of the swinging scandal with Paul. 'I feel like there's more drama, more friendships being tested, more relationship drama within marriages,' Taylor told 'I feel like honestly season one was frickin' good, but season two? Even better,' she added. Ngatikaura said that the trailer for the second season doesn't even do it justice, teasing that there were two parties specifically where things got way out of hand. But despite all the ups and downs, the ladies are enjoying their newfound fame after the show became an overnight success last September. 'I'm so, so grateful for this life that we have and being able to support my babies as a single mom is life-changing,' Taylor shared. Viewers can catch the new season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu on Thursday, May 15.
San Francisco Chronicle
10-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
How a promise between brothers propelled 49ers' third-round pick Nick Martin to NFL dream
It wasn't just another school day for Nick Martin at Pleasant Grove High. His older brother, Chauncey, would receive his prison sentence on Nov. 20, 2019. Nick got off school early to attend the hearing. Their dad, Michael, said Nick needed to see for himself how quickly life's blessings can be taken back. Nick grew up wanting to play the same sport as Chauncey. Decades before the San Francisco 49ers used a 2025 third-round draft pick on a 6-foot, 221-pound linebacker out of Oklahoma State, Nick was a scrawny five-year-old ready for his first season of tackle football in Texarkana, Texas. His helmet wobbled loosely. His pads appeared to weigh more than him. Somehow, he didn't seem to notice. Together, the Martin brothers dreamt about a future in football. Neither ever imagined the nightmare in which one would watch the other be escorted into a courtroom in cuffs. Nick felt his heart drop. Tears followed when the sentence was read. Chauncey spent the next 26 months behind bars, having realized how much he let down the person who wanted to win a Texas 4A Division II State Championship like he had, who wanted to go Division I like he did, who wanted to make the NFL like they both planned to do. As Nick and the rest of his family approached the exits, Chauncey called out to him and said, 'You got to do it for me now,' to which Nick responded with a brother's promise that gave each of them the strength to carry on: 'I got you, big bro.' 'Man, that meant the world to me, for him to get that at that moment and knew what that meant,' Michael told the Chronicle. 'When he said that, I knew everything would be all right.' Pleasant Grove was in the middle of a second state championship run at the time. Without Chauncey, a well-known alumnus who starred at running back in 2017 en route to the school's first football state championship win, supporting from the stands, Nick wore Chauncey's No. 21 in a critical playoff game. Pleasant Grove beat rival Gilmer High, 55-21. Nick rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown with one interception, one sack and one brutal hit that left the opposing team's kick returner slow to get up. He was only a junior. 'I had like my best game in high school,' Nick said. 'It was crazy. It was like God was with me. I was so blessed to be able to do that in his number and really just show that love for him.' As a freshman, Nick was known less by name than he was for being Chauncey's little brother, at 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. Chauncey said he still remembers how their mom, Tosha, vetoed any possibility of Nick being pulled up to the varsity team after his junior varsity season because of his frail frame. Nick has never not been considered undersized. According to childhood friend Jordon Royal, nobody from his neighborhood questioned his toughness. He was the youngest of four boys. They fought so often, as is customary among brothers, that Tosha bought them boxing gloves. Then came the community boxing tournaments. 'I lost a lot in the beginning because I was fighting people five years older than me,' Nick said. 'I feel like that made me grow into my mind and how to approach battles on and off the field. And then I started winning.' From boxing to football to basketball, the Martin household was the place to be. At least a dozen kids showed up regularly to compete with Nick and his brothers, Chauncey, Ryan and Brandon. The number of players doubled on Sundays when friends from their local church would tag along. Tosha's seemingly unlimited supply of popsicles offered refreshment. Whenever they played two-hand touch football in the street, it was best to stay away from the curbs: 'We call it, 'Kill a man on the sideline,'' said Royal. Nick may have been the youngest of the bunch on most occasions but he wasn't picked last as teams were formed – to the surprise of some, until the game started. 'He's always been the smallest one but he's always had heart,' Royal said. 'Look where that's got him so far.' Pleasant Grove retired Nick's No. 6 and Landon Jackson's No. 40 soon after the former high school teammates found themselves drafted within the top 75 picks in April. Nick was not a consensus four-star recruit like Jackson, an imposing 6-foot-6, 264-pound defensive end who became a two-time All-SEC selection at Arkansas. But in the words of Pleasant Grove head coach Josh Gibson, 'Landon is going to hurt you, Nick will kill you.' Gibson said Nick is the most physical player he's ever seen in person. An MCL injury that limited Nick to five games in his final season at Oklahoma State may have affected his draft stock a bit, but 49ers general manager John Lynch jumped at an opportunity to potentially draft another Dre Greenlaw. Both are undersized linebackers, yet extremely athletic with relatively long arms. Greenlaw signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Broncos as a career 56-game starter this offseason. Martin will compete for the 49ers' starting weakside linebacker spot next to four-time All-Pro Fred Warner after signing his own four-year, $6.6 million rookie deal (with a $1.4 million signing bonus). Chauncey, being the big brother he is, was frustrated that Nick's name wasn't called earlier. Nick had shown he was fully healthy as a participant in the NFL Combine and the Senior Bowl, and his MCL injury wasn't severe enough to require surgery. No matter. As a Day 2 draft pick, Nick, 22, fulfilled the reality he and his brothers long envisioned. 'If one of us make it, we all make it,' Nick said. Chauncey never doubted he would. Nick was a two-time team captain with Oklahoma State, including as a sophomore when he recorded the most single-season tackles (140) by a Cowboy since 1984. He earned all-conference first-team honors, with an honorable mention for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. But even when Nick was a true freshman who appeared in but a few games on special teams, Chauncey watched any chance he could from inside the Barry B. Telford Unit of Texas' state prison system. He had lost so much. He was arrested at 19 years old for two counts of aggravated robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity. He was kicked out of East Texas A&M. And before Harding University gave him his second chance in football at the Division II level after he was paroled in 2022, he only hoped Nick would learn from his mistakes. Chauncey often pleaded to have the TV turned to the Oklahoma State football game in the final months of his prison sentence, if only to point out how his youngest brother kept his promise. 'He got me smiling while I (was) behind those walls,' Chauncey said. 'He gave me – he give me a lot of joy. I ain't even gonna put it in past tense.'
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Texarkana's Landon Jackson wows NFL scouts with athletic skills
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KTAL/KMSS) — We're just five weeks away from the NFL Draft and Texarkana native and Pleasant Grove grad Landon Jackson is getting quite the interest from teams around the league. Pleasant Grove grad Landon Jackson shining at the Senior Bowl Jackson opened some eyes at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, showing off his elite athleticism with a 4.68 40 yard dash and a 40.5 inch vertical jump. That athleticism was on display for NFL scouts again on Monday at Arkansas' Pro Day. During his final two years with the Razorbacks Jackson was a force on the defensive line finishing with 93 tackles and 13 sacks with 24 tackles for loss. Pleasant Grove alum Landon Jackson transfers to Arkansas Jackson is rocketing up draft boards, in most mock drafts Jackson is considered a late first or early 2nd round pick. The two teams showing the most interest hold the No. 29 and 30 picks in next month's draft. 'I feel like I've talked to the Bills eight times by now. The Bills is a team I've talked to a lot, Commanders, pretty wide open but Bills and Commanders were my two formals at the combine,' said Jackson. 'I've talked to 25 of the teams, I'd say about 15 of those teams I've talked to multiple times.' If Buffalo and Washington are showing this kind of interest, he could slide into the first round since he won't likely be available when both teams pick late in the 2nd round. Jackson isn't planning to attend the draft in Green Bay, instead will be throwing a draft party in Texarkana with his high school teammates. Pleasant Grove DE Jackson chooses LSU 'Both of my state championship teams in high school, I've texted both group chats to give back to those guys who played a part in me getting to this point,' said Jackson. 'I'm real excited for it.' The NFL Draft takes place April 24-26, the first round is set for Thursday, 2 rounds 2-3 on Friday and 4-7 on Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pleasant Grove grad Landon Jackson shining at the Senior Bowl
MOBILE, Ala. (KTAL/KMSS) — Landon Jackson has been in the spotlight here in the Arklatex since his freshman season in high school when he helped Pleasant Grove to the school's first football state championship. This week he's on the national stage at the Reese's Senior Bowl, showcasing his skills for NFL scouts. Pleasant Grove DE Jackson chooses LSU Football has been a big part of his life and he's looking forward to playing in the game's highest level. 'I've battled adversity throughout my whole career. I can push through just about anything,' said Jackson. 'I feel like football has made me a great man and it's going to continue to impact the rest of my life.' Pleasant Grove alum Landon Jackson transfers to Arkansas The Arklatex is well represented in Mobile this week. In all five Friday Night Blitz alums are taking part in the Senior Bowl practices, two from Pleasant Grove in Jackson and linebacker Nick Martin. Former Haynesville and Florida defensive tackle Cam Jackson, former Marshall and TCU wide receiver Savion Williams and former Airline and Southern Arkansas defensive back Melvin Smith are in Mobile as well. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
