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Momentum is Cats' call for state
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
Football coaches tend to differ on how much emphasis they put on 7-on-7.
But as long as you’re going to make it part of the offseason, you might as well make the most out of it. And as the Plano Senior football team embarks on its sixth consecutive – and eighth overall – trip to the FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Tournament today, the Wildcats appear to have that proposition mastered.
“I think anytime you’re successful, that gives you confidence, which is always a plus,” said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. “We’re proud of our kids for having made it this far, but at the same time we need to keep it in perspective; it’s just one goal and we’ve got more goals to come.”
While the Wildcats’ first bid at a state berth was dashed at the Frisco Liberty SQT, Plano made good on its second attempt and has been on a torrid surge ever since. Unbeaten in runs through the Mesquite SQT and the Wylie SQT, Plano has also been active in Collin County 7-on-7 league play where similar success has been exhibited.
But the benefits of a summer’s worth of 7-on-7 extend much further than just wins and losses.
“As far as 7-on-7, it’s good to have something where your kids are working together towards a common goal,” McCullough said. “They’re learning how to get along with each other, how to compromise, how to get used to each other’s personalities. It’s just a way for these kids to work out of the kinks of being teammates and that’s as important as anything.”
The dividends of that chemistry will take form today with the Wildcats licking their chops and trotting out faces both new and old onto the Penberthy Intramural Fields.
Defensively, Plano boasts a firm core of experience-laden defensive backs, highlighted by senior Collin Brence, a captain who has made impressions on both sides of the ball, and senior speedster and returning starter Blair Burns. Also supplementing the two secondary stalwarts will be the tandem of Kobie Douglas and Sam Morell.
Offensively, senior captain Connor Michelsen stands alone under center as the summer has proved a viable tool in helping the signal caller further chemistry with a largely new crop of targets.
From the big play potential of senior Clayton Parlin to battle-tested senior Brandon Hamilton and juniors Kevin Merrill and L.J. Ausama, Michelsen has continued to develop his timing. Also making pivotal contributions this summer has been senior Steele Hoetger, who in boasting a surname that is no stranger to the Wildcat receiving core, has raised his stock in 7-on-7.
“It’ll be really interesting to see if [Hoetger’s] play in 7-on-7 translates to the regular season,” McCullough said. “I think it’s neat that he’s done it in shorts and a t-shirt; it’s going to be nice to see if he can do it in pads and a helmet underneath the Friday night lights, and I wouldn’t bet against him.”
While it goes without saying, escaping College Station with a clean bill of health is also top of mind for the Wildcats, who have succumbed to the bitter sting of the injury bug in 7-on-7 before.
On the heels of a 13-1 campaign during the 2005 season, Plano lost alumnus and top tailback Derrick Henderson due to injury at the 7-on-7 state tourney that ensuing offseason as a 4-6 record followed.
“We know injuries are just a part of the game,” McCullough said, “but I don’t think you’d talk to any football coach and they’d tell you that they’d want to lose a kid in 7-on-7.”
A ringer that McCullough himself has been through time and time again, as his Wildcats have made the state tournament during each year of his tenure as head coach. Sitting among the coaches and fans of the 64 Division I schools that will converge on College Station this weekend is becoming routine in the annual culmination of 7-on-7 football.
“People in Texas are football crazy,” McCullough said. “We’re junkies and we love our football. It’s just a way to kind of get a taste of it and get an appetizer before the season starts.”
That appetizer will come in the form of a trio of pool play matchups, with the Wildcats slotted in Pool K for the tournament. The road to hoe begins with anything but a cakewalk as Plano is dealt defending 7-on-7 state champion Round Rocky Stony Point in its opening matchup at 2 p.m. today. Following their tussle with the Tigers, the Wildcats will joust opposite Houston Lamar at 4 p.m. with pool play concluding at 6 p.m. against Permian.
“If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” McCullough said. “If you want to win, you’ve got to believe it … You’ve got to earn it. Work always comes before win, unless it’s in the dictionary.
“You can’t win without working first and as long as we don’t get hurt, act right and compete like Plano Wildcats, then I’m going to be happy with the results.”
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