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Bye brings rest before Plano’s district-opening test
BY Matt Welch mwelch@acnpapers.com
Last season, the youth that was infused into the Plano Senior football team bred experience when all was said and done.
The dividends from the growing pains of 2009 have been paid in a clear and concise manner one year later, as Plano enters its bye week through three games with two more notches in the win column and two fewer notches in the loss column than last year at this time.
Back then, Plano was 1-2 and fresh off a last-ditch win over Hebron. This season, the Wildcats carry a 3-0 mark into the break. But despite the strong start, Plano head coach Jaydon McCullough said the toughest phase is yet to come and there are improvements to be made.
Answering the challenge in all three slabs on its non-district schedule, Plano has recorded wins over Garland Lakeview Centennial, 35-18, Irving MacArthur, 24-8, and Mansfield Legacy, 23-7.
The wins have included weathering shakiness out of the gates against Lakeview, avenging a 2009 defeat in MacArthur and a defensive shutout against Legacy.
With the Legacy win coming last Thursday, the extra time allowed the Wildcats to get a sneak peek at Allen, who Plano opens district play against on Sept. 24. Like the Wildcats, the Eagles also carry an unscathed record into 8-5A competition, most recently outlasting Longview late, 24-20.
“That’s kind of been Allen’s M.O.,” McCullough said. “They just have a knack at winning those third-down conversions. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to go into Eagle Stadium and play such a great and well-coached football program.”
From that point forward, the Wildcats have begun steadily prepping for the reigning district champions piece by piece during the bye week.
“We’ll start showing them schemes,” McCullough said. “We don’t want them to lose their edge, but at the same time, we don’t want it to be long and drawn out. We want to let them get away from that a bit and heal up, because we’re getting ready for the grind.”
The edge has remained intact through three games, as an offense lauded for versatility and depth has been complemented by a defense that ranks as one of the area’s best.
Boasting the area’s top rushing defense in allowing just 77 yards per game, Plano has also become adept at forcing turnovers with seniors Collin Brence, Blair Burns, Matt Johnson and junior Sam Morell each securing multiple takeaways through three games.
“We’re doing a great job at being coachable,” McCullough said, “plus things like reading our keys, taking pursuits and breaking on the ball. It’s a lot of fundamental stuff that we’ve gotten good at.”
Offensively, Plano has fallen back on the two-headed rushing combo of junior Kevin Merrill and senior Murat Kuzu, with both rushers capable of comfortably piling on 20 carries a game. What entered the season as an untested unit, Plano’s receiving corps could be one without a No. 1 target right now, as five players have recorded six or more receptions from senior Connor Michelsen.
And while the questions that surrounded McCullough and the Wildcats entering non-district have been answered to an extent, a brand new set of quandries arise for the next phase of the season.
“We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us,” McCullough said. “We’ve done well up to this point and we’re excited about it. We prepare to be successful but the hill’s about to get much steeper and rockier, the road’s going to get narrow and rough, and there’s going to be a lot of adversity ahead.
“It’s going to be the team that can stay focused on their goal, not get distracted, continue to get better and peak at the right time.”
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