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Close but no cigar: Tight games were Plano's M.O. in 2012
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
For a football team that finished District 10-5A at 2-3, it may come as a surprise that Plano Senior was just a few plays away from improving that mark to 5-0.
Such was the plight faced by the 2012 edition of the Wildcats, a team that evolved at a much different pace than the 4-6 squad from one season prior.
"The thing I'll remember about this team is that this was a team that I think not many people believed in," said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. "Our record doesn't indicate how competitive we were and I can honestly say that this was a team that got better every week."
Besting the trio of Lewisville, Irving MacArthur and Garland Naaman Forest by a combined 27 points, the Wildcats dropped decisions against Hebron (24-21) and Flower Mound Marcus (35-21).
On the field, Plano's offense was honing its identity with a litany of newcomers.
Looking to improve upon last season's rushing statistics, the senior tandem of Braylan Campbell and Andre Morman helped commandeer the offense out of the gates. In addition to Morman (827 yards, nine touchdowns) and Campbell (732 yards, eight touchdowns), senior Richard Lagow grew into an adjusted role by throwing for 1,970 yards and nine touchdowns while also serving as Plano's primary goal-line threat with 11 rushing touchdowns.
"I think this was a team committed to doing what we felt would be best to help us win," McCullough said. "These kids were the kind who were willing to do whatever they could to help us win and I think we had some great leadership."
Defensively, junior David Griffith headlined the unit as both a playmaker at linebacker and on special teams, while sophomore Sam Tecklenburg plus seniors Troy Propes and Matt Hintz anchored the front line.
"If you play the style that we like to play, you've got to play great defense," McCullough said. "The way we play is a defense's best friend and it's an area we want to improve ... but I think we're headed in the right direction."
The Wildcats flexed their potential out of the gates by outgunning high-powered McKinney, 38-21, in their 10-5A opener.
That effort would be replicated two weeks later, when Plano posted 394 rushing yards, including 200 from Campbell, in a 42-12 rout of Plano East. The remaining three district games -- McKinney Boyd, Plano West and Allen -- were notable in their own right with Plano losing all three by a combined margin of just four points.
"It was just a shame that we lost some of those close ones, but it wasn't for a lack of effort or discipline," McCullough said. "We just faced some really good teams and came up short."
That statement was exemplified in the road outing against the Eagles, where Plano took the longtime district kingpin to the wire and elected for a go-ahead two-point conversion with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But a fade from Lagow to sophomore Mitchell Hansen -- Plano's leading receiver on the year with 643 yards and five touchdowns -- was stripped loose by Allen to preserve a 35-34 victory.
"We were seconds away from making history," McCullough said. "We were that close to being the first team to beat [Allen] in their new stadium and we didn't get it done, but at the same time, I don't think a lot of people thought it would be that close."
Fortunately for Plano, a playoff spot had already been secured with the narrow defeats and lopsided wins giving the Wildcats the edge in any potential tiebreaker scenario. Nevertheless, the emotions from the Allen game made for a lofty task in trying to maintain that intensity one week later in a bi-district tilt against another state-ranked opponent in Skyline, which dealt Plano a 35-14 loss to end its season.
"It concerned me going into that playoff game because it's tough to play two games like that," McCullough said. "But looking at the Skyline game, I felt like we played them pretty well and we were feeling good to be within 14 points of them at halftime."
The setback capped the Wildcats' year at 5-6 and marked the finality of the varsity careers of 38 seniors -- nearly two-thirds of the roster.
"I'm going to miss these seniors," McCullough said. "I really appreciate and value the type of the kids they were. They worked hard and were serious about football and being successful. This was a special group."
There are several building blocks in place for next season though, primarily on the offensive line with sophomores Beau Hott, Lukas Arrieta and Tecklenburg, and scattered throughout the defense with Griffith and sophomore Cody Farhat.
The comfort level in that continued evolution is there as well.
"If I was to compare where we're at now to where we were at by this time last year, I feel better about now," McCullough said. "I feel like we've made some big strides in our consistency, communication and discipline. I feel good about the direction of this program."
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