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COLUMN: Making a name for themselves: Has Plano West finally experienced its breakthrough season? I think so
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
I've been covering Plano West football since I started here in 2006.
And every year before the start of the season West football head coach Mike Hughes would say, "We want our program to make a name for itself" or "we think this program is on the verge of something big."
That breakthrough finally came in 2012.
The impact of this season's West team goes much further.
After a disappointing crowd for the playoff opener (a 42-35 win over Lake Highlands), the Wolfpack had a significantly stronger showing for the team's 37-27 area victory against South Garland, filled the majority of their side when West played Lufkin at Waco ISD Stadium and actually held a sizable fan advantage when returning to that venue Saturday against Westlake.
And, for perhaps the first time in program history, the Wolves generated buzz outside of Willow Bend, drawing interest throughout Plano and surrounding cities.
That interest really ramped up after beating Lufkin, 55-52, in the regional semis.
"Yeah, what West is doing is pretty amazing," said Oliver Pierce, Allen senior wide receiver, after that game. "Obviously when you're in district you want to beat them, but right now, I'm rooting for West."
He wasn't the only former foe to take that stance.
"I think all of the Plano coaches circle each other in red when the schedules come out," said Johnny Ringo East football head coach. "But when we're not playing each other, we pull for each other because we're all Plano teams."
That was evident throughout the past week as I was asked numerous times leading up to the Westlake game, including by East boys basketball assistant coach Greg Thomas, if I felt, "West was going to win" or "If they had a chance?"
That type of interest stands to reason given West matched Plano East's best playoff run (1999) and this was the deepest postseason advancement from any Plano ISD school since 2007 when Plano Senior advanced to the Class 5A Division I State Semifinals before its run to a record-setting eighth state title was ended by Euless Trinity, 30-27 in double overtime, in what is still one of the best high school games I've ever seen.
West enjoyed a banner year in 2007 as well, advancing to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in team history.
The Wolves advanced to the postseason the next two years as well.
The team wouldn't gain any notoriety out of those trips though as they lost in first round all four times (albeit by a combined 18 points).
The lone West varsity player on all of those teams was Jackson Jeffcoat.
While covering the Wolves, Hughes has twice referenced someone on his roster as having the potential to be, "One of the, if not the, best player in the country by the time he is a senior." The first was Jeffcoat, a notion I internally scoffed at in the moment as I had just started and it seemed like a long shot projection for a freshman.
Of course, Hughes was right as Jeffcoat was at one point the No. 1 ranked recruit in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com and his commitment to Texas made national headlines.
Hughes' other prediction is well on its way to coming true.
That player would be sophomore running back Soso Jamabo.
The hype, which started last season when Jamabo couldn't play on varsity because he was a transfer student, appears to be justified. And if you don't believe me, just ask Ohio State, which has already had multiple coaches on campus to see the 6-foot-2, 195-pound running back.
Jamabo was solid during the regular season, but exploded in the playoffs with 13 touchdowns (including three game-winning scores) in the first three rounds before injuring his shoulder in the first half of Saturday's loss to Westlake.
In the coming years, Jamabo may well join Jeffcoat as the most touted recruit in program history, which says a lot considering West has at least six players (Ben Bass, Kyle Bosworth, Korey Bosworth, David Lofton, Jordan Pugh, Vickiel Vaughn) that were or are on NFL teams.
Jamabo, however, is part of a West team that has done something none of his predecessors could: win multiple playoff games.
But making history doesn't seem as if its enough to satiate the still-hungry Wolves.
"It's not every year a team goes four rounds deep in the playoffs, so this season has been something special," said Auston Anderson, junior running back. "We've set a new standard here at West ... now, we have to live up to it."
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