NO EASY FEAT

State championships difficult to achieve

Originally published December 16, 2009 at 10:57 p.m., updated December 16, 2009 at 11 p.m.

 

The fourth quarter was winding down at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville last Saturday night when the impending end of another high school football season became a painful reality.

Refugio was on the way to a Class 2A, Division II semifinal loss to Daingerfield, and Ganado had lost to Cayuga in the Class 1A, Division II semifinals earlier that night.

The Friday night withdrawal pains were already kicking in when I realized the area would be without a state champion for the fifth straight season.

Class 1A had not even been divided into Division I and Division II in 2004 when Shiner players, coaches and fans boarded buses for Wichita Falls where the Comanches defeated Stratford to complete a 16-0 season and win the state title.

I was thinking about how long it had been since I had driven to Dallas on Friday before traveling to Wichita Falls on Saturday for the Shiner-Stratford game, when I asked a colleague sitting next to me in the press box the last time he had covered a state championship team.

His answer caught me off guard. He said he had never covered a team that won a state championship.

I realized again just how difficult it is to win a state championship.

As Refugio coach Jason Herring said after the loss to Daingerfield: "They don't give those things away."

During my career at the Advocate, I have covered five state championship football teams.

Cuero won the Class 3A title in 1987 at Memorial Stadium in Austin. Schulenburg won Class 2A state championships in 1991 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco and in 1992 at the Astrodome in Houston. Bay City won the Class 4A, Division I state title in 2000 at Texas Stadium in Irving and Shiner in 2004.

The state championship teams were talented, they were well-coached, they were mostly healthy, they knew how to overcome distractions, and they were also lucky.

The 1987 Cuero team coached by Pat Blessing was one of the most talented teams I have ever covered. The Gobblers manhandled most of their opponents. They had outstanding senior leadership and were still chafing from losses in the 1985 and 1986 state finals. Cuero was able to avoid major injuries and never had to travel very far to play a game, including its state final against McGregor.

The Schulenburg state championship teams coached by David Husmann were well-balanced and determined after suffering back-to-back semifinal losses to Groveton teams led by running back Rodney Thomas. Schulenburg's state championship win over Albany came in the driving rain before the Shorthorns put on a virtually mistake-free performance the next year against Goldthwaite.

Chad Morris was in his first year at Bay City when it won the state championship. The Blackcats had one of the best high school defenses I have ever covered. Bay City played an almost flawless second quarter against Houston Forest Brook in the regional playoffs, but its defining moment may have come in the quarterfinals with a goal-line stand against Nederland. Bay City dominated Denton Ryan in the state final.

Shiner coach Steven Cerny had a chance to enjoy most of the fourth quarter of his team's win over Stratford, but the Comanches needed a late drive in the semifinals against Big Sandy to make it to the final.

Cuero, Schulenburg, Bay City and Shiner worked hard to win a state championship.

But more importantly, they had fun along the way. Something to keep in mind when two-a-days start in August.

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com, or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.