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Patriots' revolution stifled by Wildcats
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
During his junior year, Plano Senior senior receiver Brandon Hamilton totaled 109 yards and zero touchdowns.
In his first full-fledged stint as a starter on Friday, Hamilton needed just five receptions to eclipse both of those numbers in spades. On the receiving end of one big play after another, Hamilton corralled 157 yards and two touchdowns as the wide out helped open up three quarters of nip-and-tuck football for a 35-18 Wildcat victory over Garland Lakeview Centennial.
“Coming into this, we needed some production from our wide outs,” said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. “But tonight, we saw three things: we saw Brandon Hamilton break out … (senior receiver) Steele Hoetger was playing with a purpose tonight and (senior receiver) Clay Parlin is a playmaker.”
Michelsen added a 2-yard touchdown run one series later following a 63-yard scamper by junior Kevin Merrill, who recorded 119 total yards on the night.
On the next series, Hamilton broke free for a 45-yard score to put Plano up, 35-12, in what would be the team’s first win of the season.
But getting to that point required more than a bit of legwork.
While the growth and continuity of the Wildcats has been a predominant storyline entering the fall, there were shades of last season’s Week 0 opener at Irving MacArthur from the onset. There, MacArthur’s Jason Frimpong took off for 80 yards on the game’s opening play to give MacArthur a 7-0 edge.
Friday night, Lakeview senior quarterback Devonte Black replicated that same feat.
With the entire Wildcat defense mere inches from the line, a pump fake threw Plano defenders into the air and opened a crease for Black to bolt downfield for 73 yards for the contest’s first score. A blocked PAT softened the blow but damage still left the Patriots with a 6-0 edge just 17 seconds into the game.
For the pall cast from the game’s opening play, emotions shifted following the conclusion of Lakeview’s next series. In unorthodox fashion, it was the Wildcats’ special teams unit that equated the first Plano touchdown of the 2010 campaign as senior linebacker Ben Laures snaked through to block a punt and returned it just seven yards to give Plano a 7-6 lead.
But in boasting a slew of new offensive personnel, the Wildcats endured a bit of an offensive standstill through one half of play. Tabbing just 28 yards on the ground through 24 minutes and 96 yards through the air, 94 of those passing yards came through the hands of Hamilton.
Gaining separation on a deep post, Hamilton hauled in a pass from Michelsen and scampered 50 yards to pay dirt with just 6:45 remaining in the opening quarter.
Hamilton would then convert a 45-yard pass from Michelsen late in the second quarter to place Plano inside the red zone, but a lost fumble from senior Murat Kuzu on the very next play kept the pendulum at even keel.
“There’s nothing good about a turnover,” McCullough said. “The only analogy I could use is that it’s like puking: you feel a little bit better, but still not very good.”
A pair of first-half Plano turnovers -- four overall on the night -- kept the Patriots’ heart beating, as a fumble by junior Rakeem Crawford one series prior set Lakeview up at the Wildcats’ 43-yard line. While Lakeview had yet to move the ball past midfield since the game’s opening play, the Patriots made the most out of their field position, converting on a deep fade from Black to Jared Baxter for 32 yards on fourth down to cut Plano’s lead to 14-12; the margin both teams trotted into the locker room with at the half.
“You’ve got to give Lakeview some credit,” McCullough said. “That quarterback of theirs was pretty good and I’ve been coaching for 25 years and I thought [Lakeview’s] defense was very good too.”
The fireworks were sparse for the Patriots entering the second frame, as Black found himself buckled at every turn and picked off on two occasions as junior Sam Morell and senior Collin Brence hauled in interceptions.
“It’s hard to single any one guy out,” McCullough said, “but I think we have the chance to have a dominating defense. We have the opportunity but we still need to grow and continue to work everyday.”
Mixing the ups with the downs, the Wildcats will have a chance to rectify last season’s narrow defeat to MacArthur on Friday from Clark Stadium as Plano hosts the Cardinals at 7:30 p.m.
“In the end, we still won and we’re going to enjoy the win for 24 hours,” McCullough said, “and then we’re going to come back and start getting better.”
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