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Round of 16 anything but sweet for Wildcats
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
Entering the FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Tournament, Plano Senior head coach Jaydon McCullough laid out a three-point blueprint for his squad: avoid injuries, act right and compete like Plano Wildcats.
And while the Wildcats came away empty-handed in their sixth consecutive bid for a 7-on-7 state title, McCullough got what he needed out of the team’s latest trip to College Station, both in on-field product and preparations for the final month of the offseason.
Advancing to the championship bracket, Plano participated in the Round of 16 for the fourth time in its last six tournament appearances. Awaiting the Wildcats sat West Brook, who had already dispatched of city rival Plano West one round earlier, 35-28.
“[West Brook] is a very talented team, athletically,” McCullough said. “They were one of the better teams down there. But I thought we played really well there and went tooth and tooth with them for a while.”
The Bruins scored on all but one possession against the Wildcats in a contest that was nip and tuck early on. Trading touchdowns on each team’s first pair of drives, West Brook’s defense buckled down a notch to steadily sway the pendulum in its favor.
The momentum swing came full circle after an incidental contact on third down negated a chance for the Wildcats to draw even. Operating from the 1-yard line, West Brook capitalized accordingly and increased the pressure from that point forward.
“After that, we just weren’t the same and were unable to recover,” McCullough said. “But it was a great lesson and we’ll learn from it and go forward. Other than that, we had a great tournament.”
Prior to the West Brook matchup, a possible bout opposite West came one step closer to fruition as the Wildcats advanced past the opening round with a 39-27 victory over Belton.
While the Wolves failed to hold up their end of the deal, Plano punched its ticket to the Round of 16 with widespread contributions on both sides of the ball. Balance was a theme throughout Plano’s two-day foray through College Station, with no one or two players carrying the workload, aiding McCullough’s assessment of the weekend.
“Anytime you get up there into the Round of 16, you’re talking about a lot of talent,” he said. “But it was a great 7-on-7, nobody got hurt and I felt like we competed at a very high level.”
That high level of competition was evident during Pool K play for the Wildcats, as Plano’s fate was decided by a three-way tie breaker it wound up getting the best of.
Hearkening to the total number of points scored as the first tiebreaker, Plano capped play on Friday with 108 points, edging out Houston Lamar’s 106 and well in front of Round Rock Stony Point’s 79.
Plano, which went 2-1 on Friday, opened pool play with a 26-25 loss to Stony Point, the reigning 7-on-7 state champions. Despite holding a three-score advantage over the defending champs by halftime, Stony Point’s pedigree proved true in the second half in outscoring Plano, 26-7. The Wildcats did manage to keep the margin close enough for comfort once the tiebreaker procedures got underway, though.
“I was really proud of how our kids kept their composure,” McCullough said. “We did what we needed to do and closed that gap to just a one-point differential, which was going to be important in getting out of our pool.”
A 38-34 victory over Lamar, whom McCullough dubbed the best team in Pool K, and 45-26 throttling of Permian rounded out pool play for the Wildcats, setting the stage for Saturday’s pair of championship bracket contests.
And just as quickly as the Wildcats took the field Friday afternoon, the aftermath of the weekend has McCullough and his players immediately eyeing the near future.
“We’ve put that page behind us and we’re moving forward to the next page,” he said. “The way I see it, we’ve got some very attainable goals in front of us and I know our guys are going to enjoy the break.”
That includes just a couple more days of the team’s strength and conditioning program, with a few weeks of reflection and preparation for two-a-days, which take form early in August.
“It’s right around the corner,” McCullough said. “Summer’s about over, but this way the kids have about three or four weeks off to take a vacation and lift on their own. But we feel like we’ve had a great spring and offseason.
“We’re looking forward to a lot of opportunities in the fall and it’s going to be challenging. Every Friday night is going to be fun.”
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