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Four score and seven games to roar
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
Entering the 2010 season, the script was pretty balanced across the board for the Plano Senior football team’s receiving corps.
Formerly underclassmen, the trio of seniors Brandon Hamilton, Clayton Parlin and Steele Hoetger saw time sparsely during their junior years with the Wildcats.
Combined, the three amassed just 23 receptions for 235 yards.
“We knew that we had big shoes left by Holt and Robert to fill,” Parlin said. “But we’ve been working since last year with [senior quarterback Connor Michelsen]. We haven’t stopped and we set the expectations high because we know we have to get the job done if we want to be a good team.”
Three games into this season, the Wildcats sit at 3-0 and showcase a balanced offense that head coach Jaydon McCullough makes it a point to attain. Michelsen has thrown 71 passes and the two-headed rushing tandem of junior Kevin Merrill and senior Murat Kuzu have combined for 66 carries thus far.
That balance has extended itself to the Plano receiving corps as well.
With the District 8-5A schedule commencing in less than a week, to pinpoint the Wildcats’ go-to receiver could prove to be a borderline exercise in futility.
“It’s important because if you’ve got one guy, they’re going to try to take that one guy out,” McCullough said. “What we’ve got to do – and Connor has done a great job at this – is whoever they take away, we’ve got to go to somebody else.”
That hasn’t proved much of a problem for Michelsen thus far, as the quartet of receivers have each hauled in at least seven catches thus far. Getting to that point required an off-season hedged around the wideouts either building or improving their chemistry with Michelsen.
While Hamilton, Parlin and Steele at least had a season’s worth of practice and in-game experience with Michelsen, Gore’s time on the JV, coupled with an early injury bug, stunted his rapport with Plano’s signal caller.
“I actually broke my foot going into the off-season,” Gore said. “But I came back, worked as hard as I could and I’m just trying to prove myself.”
Like the other receivers, chemistry was honed over the summer during an extensive 7-on-7 campaign. Partaking in everything from state qualifying tournaments to the Collin County 7-on-7 league, the outlets for improvement were abundant.
Among those partaking, Hoetger helped raise his stock with a strong 7-on-7 campaign, which helped lead to a berth at the FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Tournament.
“I felt like I had a good 7-on-7,” Hoetger said. “But I wanted to take that and bring it to the real thing with pads and show them what I can do.”
Taking it to that next level meant waiting until Aug. 27 for the team’s season opener against Garland Lakeview Centennial. Three games into the 2010 season and the Wildcats have had a new leading receiver in each game and opposite the Patriots, it was Hamilton who took that first step.
“It was the beginning of the season and a lot of people had doubted us,” Hamilton said. “For me, it was about letting people know that I’m Brandon Hamilton and people didn’t know me last year.”
That message was sent early and often, as Hamilton broke off a 50-yard reception for Plano’s first offensive touchdown of the season. What followed was a string of deep looks for a total of five catches, 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Hamilton totaled 109 yards and zero touchdowns for the entire 2009 season.
One week later, it was Gore who took the reins to put an exclamation point on a 24-8 win over Irving MacArthur. Leading the way with four catches and 56 yards, Gore hauled in a 24-yard catch blanketed down the sideline. The junior one-upped himself a few plays later, nabbing a circus touchdown catch for 10 yards.
Opposite Mansfield Legacy, a 23-7 win, it was Parlin’s turn.
Occasionally used in the running game on reverses, Parlin flexed his abilities from the slot for four catches, 46 yards and a touchdown. Showcasing his big-play potential at Plano’s slot machine, Parlin leads the skill position players with three total touchdowns thus far.
“When I catch the ball, I trust my other receivers to make the block and it’s usually just one man to make miss,” Parlin said. “I’ve got to put a move on him and hopefully you get past him to go all the way.”
The natural order of things would suggest Hoetger’s chance is on the horizon, with the Wildcats’ 8-5A opener against reigning district champion Allen commencing Friday.
While the story for Friday’s matchup remains untold, it’ll be a different look opposite the Eagles secondary than previous years.
In 2009, the Wildcats saw had the elder Hoetger and Robinson combine for 1,287 yards – two-thirds of the team’s receiving yardage that year. The season before that, alumnus and Stephen F. Austin redshirt freshman Kris Lott had just under 40 percent of Plano’s receiving yards alone.
Knowing which receiver to key on won’t be a luxury for Allen this year though, as Plano aims to take its balance and versatility to the next level and accomplish a feat that has eluded the Wildcats since 2005: beat the Eagles.
“It’d be great for the team, the coaches and the whole organization,” Hoetger said. “We haven’t beat Allen in a while and we know they’re a great team that’ll be a challenge.
“It’s going to be fun.”
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