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Plano can grow playoff seed by planting Farmers
BY Matt Welch mwelch@acnpapers.com
In treading the never-ending tightrope of District 8-5A, the Plano Senior football team’s margin for error is just about down to zero.
A 1-3 record and tie for fifth place in the district will do that, but with three weeks left on the regular season docket, the light at the end of the tunnel is still very much in sight for the Wildcats.
But in a situation that points to the squad having to replicate its late-season heroics from last year, where Plano won its final two games to secure the district’s last playoff spot, outlasting visiting Lewisville at 7:30 p.m. Friday from Clark Stadium in the team’s homecoming game would be a good start.
For the Wildcats, the first task in obtaining those aspirations is putting distance between them and Lewisville, whom Plano shares its fifth-place tie with in 8-5A. Sharing just one district win apiece, the Wildcats battered Hebron, 33-6, while Lewisville outlasted Plano West in a 55-49 shootout.
Since those wins, Plano and Lewisville have fallen on tough times in dropping two and three consecutive games, respectively.
In Plano’s case, back-to-back road losses to Flower Mound and Flower Mound Marcus have made playoff hopes a bit trickier. But being back in the confines of Clark Stadium for the first time since Sept. 3, McCullough sees the opportunity for what it is against an improved Farmers squad.
“I think if you talk to most people, they’ll tell you Lewisville is a much-improved team,” he said. “But if we show up focused and ready to play like we’re capable, we should win the ballgame.”
Making good on that bid will mean halting the centerpiece of the Farmers’ spread offense, whomever that may be come game time. While quarterback DeAndre Grimes missed the Farmers’ 48-14 loss to Flower Mound after sustaining an injury one week prior against Hebron, McCullough said he expects Lewisville’s top offensive threat to be on the field on Friday.
In the event that Grimes is unable to go, the onus of spearheading the offense will fall to Corey Duran, a backup quarterback in the same stylistic mold of Grimes.
“It’s good for us because we won’t have to prepare for an entirely different system,” McCullough said. “[Duran] runs the same kind of offense and he’s still pretty good … We’ve got to be ready for either guy.”
Like Grimes, Duran also functions as the team’s top rushing threat.
Any added duties in the backfield fall upon the shoulders of Roderick Williams, with the combo of Josh Turner and Brandon Udechukwu manning Lewisville’s receiving corps.
While the Farmers’ offense showed promise entering the district grind, finding offense has been a problem over the past three games as Lewisville has amassed an average of just over nine points a game in its three 8-5A losses. Keeping that figure intact will be the top priority of a Plano defense yearning to recapture its stonewall-esque identity after a pair of rough outings against the Jaguars and Marauders.
Helping supplant those efforts will be a Wildcat offense also looking to make good on Lewisville’s defensive shortcomings. During that aforementioned losing streak, the Farmers have surrendered at least 48 points in each contest.
A unit steadily coming into its own behind the likes of Kobe Osei-Boten, Trevon Caudle and Jonathan Bell, McCullough came away impressed by what he saw out of the group, citing inexperience as its lone setback.
“Their secondary is very young, but very talented,” he said. “They’re just a solid football team; but if they had a weakness, it’d be their youth.”
Based out of the widely-used 50 front, Lewisville will joust opposite a Plano offense that has begun to hit a stride in breaking the 30-point barrier in its last three games. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, only one of those games resulted in a victory. But in prepping to enjoy the remainder of the regular season at Clark Stadium, McCullough still sees his team’s opportunity for what it is.
“We need a win in the worst way,” he said. “Every game is a playoff game right and if we’re not focused, not ready or thinking about homecoming, it’d be very disappointing.
“The goal is to peak at the right time.We still have a great opportunity and it starts Friday.”
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