In most ways, Jason Polansky is like a lot of high school swimmers. The Catoctin (Md.) High freshman is a determined trainer who never misses a practice and can't wait for the winter swim season's first meet. But there is something strikingly different about Polansky: He's completely blind.

According to WUSA-TV in nearby Washington, D.C., Polanksy has impressed teammates and coaches with his ability to fit in with his teammates. The 14-year-old, who first began swimming at age 4, has had to adjust to more rigid swimming lanes and the need for a steadily paced stroke to help him determine how much farther he needs to swim before reaching the wall. The freshman counts all his strokes so he knows when he's approaching a wall.

Still, those adjustments -- which are significant without sight -- have come along at a startling pace, leading coaches and Polansky himself to approach the forthcoming season with ample reasons for optimism.

"This is really the first time I've done competition

When Tumwater (Wash.) High wrapped up its first state title in 17 years, knocking off Archbishop Murphy (Wash.) in Saturday's Class 2A state title game, 34-14, coach Sid Otton stood on the sidelines with a smile. Like all of the longtime coach's five state titles, most of that smile came from the satisfaction that comes from a long campaign at its ultimate end, but this time there was a bit more to it.

In fact, Otton can be excused if he was suffering from a bit of deja vu, even if he hadn't won a state title since 1993. That's because this team has a lot in common with his past squads. According to the Tacoma News Tribune, this season, Tumwater fielded 11 varsity players who were the sons of former Tumwater players, all of whom have fathers who also played under Otton.

"We have a saying, it's ‘Tradition never graduates,'" Otton told the Tacoma News Tribune. "There's a strong T-Bird tradition here. It's a neat thing."

Among Tumwater's familial links are the Hargraves, father Greg and

It's the season for giving, when heartwarming stories of personal and community sacrifice get the most attention. Yet one of those stories, focusing on a high school star who truly needs the help, has been more than a year in the making.

In early October 2009, 14-year-old Jared Williams was injured in a freak accident where another player's helmet hit him in the neck as he went in for a tackle. The Pinkston (Texas) High football player went down and had to be stretchered off the field, discovering only hours later that the accident had left him largely paralyzed.

[Related: Paralyzed NFL lineman is back on his feet]

The year since has been a long and arduous one for the teenager, who now gets around in a motorized wheelchair and is cared for by his mother, Arienna Williams. It's a difficult task, with the single parent trying to care for her son and provide funds to keep them housed and fed.

[Rewind: Team's big donation to help paralyzed player]

Yet that just got a bit easier, just in

Adam Sisson is a high school senior. The teenager has spent his entire life dreaming of his senior seasons in high school sports, where he expected to be a star for the Eastern Montgomery (Va.) High football, basketball and baseball teams. Then, just days before his final high school year began, Sisson was given a shock: He was told that he was too old to play in Virginia high school sports by exactly 12 hours.

As a result, the senior -- who turned 19 on July 31, the cut-off date to be within an age deemed eligible -- has spent his fall semester on the football sidelines and in courtrooms, trying to challenge the Virginia High School League statutes in hopes of re-gaining athletic eligibility for at least some of his final high school year.

[Related: High school team on probation because of uniforms]

According to WSET, WDBJ and the Roanoke Times, the senior had hoped to regain eligibility in time to play in at least one of Eastern Montgomery's football games, but a temporary

There were so many great games across the country this weekend -- there were two editions of the Weekend Watch, keep in mind -- many of them accounting for state titles, that we don't even have any time for introductory statements. There's just too many highlights to get to. And too much to consider how all the results could shake up the RivalsHigh 100. So, without further ado ...

• No. 4 Euless Trinity (Texas) 41, No. 28 Coppell (Texas) 40: It doesn't get any more tense than this: With just enough time to run one final play, Trinity called a gutsy option pitch near the Coppell goalline, scoring a game-winning touchdown as time expired to advance on to the Class 5A Div. I semifinals. If there was any question over just how big a game this was, or how much it meant to the Trinity fans, just check out the reaction when Trinity's Tevin Williams hit the goal line.

• No. 31 Daphne (Ala.) 7, No. 6 Hoover (Ala.) 6: You know how they say the devil is in the details? Hoover placekicker Larson

We're only a couple of weeks into the new high school basketball season, but there have already been a few early contenders for shot of the year. None, however, carry with them the drama and fortune of this amazing half-court heave, which landed Roseville (Minn.) High a surprising, 58-57 season-opening win over Totino-Grace (Minn.) High last week.

Video courtesy of 623 Productions

What happened at the end of Roseville's victory was a bit of skill and strategy and a whole lot of luck. Totino-Grace was milking a 57-55 lead with just 2.8 seconds on the game clock and an inbounds pass forthcoming. After a timeout, Roseville placed its tallest player -- 6-foot-2 leading scorer and South Dakota State-recruit Megan Stuart -- on Totino-Grace's inbounding passer. Facing the lengthy Stuart, the Totino-Grace inbounder settled for a baseball pass, which was deflected by Stuart and fluttered into the hands of Roseville guard Emma Schaefer.

[Video: Ridiculous finish in high school football game]

When Los Angeles Roosevelt (Calif.) High wore black uniforms custom made by Nike in a highly touted rivalry matchup against Los Angeles Garfield (Calif.) High earlier this year, the Rough Riders broke a California Interscholastic Federation City Section rule stipulating that uniforms could only contain school colors. As it turns out, Roosevelt caused itself even more trouble than that, first forced to forfeit the game, then hit with a City Section ruling that the Nike uniforms were so egregious they actually warranted a one-year probation for the football program.

"They had the opportunity to choose colors and for some reason they didn't choose the school colors," City Section commissioner Barbara Fiege told the Los Angeles Times.

The City Section ruling not only forced Roosevelt to essentially toss the brand new, state-of-the-art Nike uniforms aside, taking away badly needed gear that would have cost upwards of $25,000 from a publicly funded program, it also said that Roosevelt coach

How do you know when one sports season is fading into another? The proliferation of slam dunk highlights at the expense of touchdown grabs is one pretty good sign. That's been the case over the past couple of weeks (InterTubing was off in a tryptophan-induced nap last week), with some pretty amazing slams and buzzer beaters popping up. Until they're completely out, however, we have to start with the touchdown grabs which won't stick around for much longer.

• Shaban Shatku, Tottenville (N.Y.) vs. Curtis (N.Y.): We've tripped across plenty of impressive one-handed grabs over the course of the 2010 season, but none may have been more impressive than this grab by Shatku, who helped lift Tottenville to an impressive win on Staten Island with a miraculous, bobbling one-handed grab. It's a wonder he wasn't using stick'em on those gloves ...

• Dominic Camacho, San Pedro (Calif.) vs. Narbonne (Calif.) and Carson (Calif.): Two is better than one, right? With that in mind, enjoy these two