Bear-ly recognizable

A look inside San Antonio Brennan's rise to dominance.

As playoff caliber teams come forward, and the pool of schools still competing at the high school level diminishes drastically, the once friendly competitive spirit that loomed over regular season starts to diminish as well. Of course,  every team has a growing target on their back, but those negative sentiments aren’t  shared between two of the teams still remaining in Texas high school football.  That’s because the coaches at Scurry-Rosser and Fairfield share something more than just tickets to the post season – They  share a namesake within a deeply engrained history of football. Scurry-Rosser head coach Jason Bachtel is the first cousin of John Bachtel, head coach of Fairfield.  While Fairfield has seen more success in recent seasons than Scurry-Rosser, the cousins delight in the fact that both teams have made it to the post season. In fact, both teams can claim a perfect 10-0 season, a feat that hasn’t happened at Scurry-Rosser since 1993. What makes the two teams so successful? For Scurry-Rosser, several young players that have grown at the Varsity level since starting as freshmen. For Fairfield, it’s an incredibly hungry group of seniors that have worked to make a statement in playoffs for the past four years. But for Jason and John, two key components to the teams’ success - and their success as coaches -  simply can’t be ignored. Both Bachtel’s also have their fathers on staff.  Jason’s father Mark has long been familiar in the high school football scene, coaching under legends like Gordon Wood at Brownwood and Randy Allen of Highland Park.  Mark took the reins at Brownwood after a stint at Howard Payne University, and then went on to turn around the programs at Wills Point and Sachse before retiring .  When his son Jason was offered the head coaching gig and began establishing a staff at Scurry-Rosser two years ago, he couldn’t pass up a long awaited opportunity. “My younger brother and my older brother both coached under him at Wills Point, and I was the only one who hadn’t coached with him,” said Jason. “I really thought I had lost that opportunity to coach under him when he left Wills Point.” Mark came on and the Wildcats suffered through two unimpressive seasons before things started to turn around.  “The community is on fire and now it’s electric. But then [you realize] you get to coach with your dad,” said Jason. “We are the only two on staff that have been there since the beginning when the worst of the worst was happening.” When Scurry-Rosser struggled through their 3-7 2011 season and then a mediocre 5-5 season, Jason and Mark had support in East Texas.  “Jason and I texted a lot, and I know Mark and my dad did too,” said Fairfield coach John Bachtel. Just like his brother Mark, Kent Bachtel has had plenty of high school experience under his belt – Kent coached  for nearly forty years before joining his son in Fairfield. Unlike Jason and Mark, John had already spent five years under the leadership of his father at Midway High School. John left to take on the head coaching gig at Bosqueville, but when he wound up at Fairfield and was looking for help on the defensive staff, he knew his father was just a phone call away.  Kent came out of his short retirement to help his son, and is so dedicated to the Indians that he drives from Waco to Fairfield  for practices early in the week, and comes back each weekend to assist his son from the press box. Football runs deep in the family lineage, and wherever a Bachtel ends up, another is sure to follow. Before the group’s coaching careers kicked off, all four played for Howard Payne University. Kent, Mark and John were offensive linemen, but the final Bachtel led the team as a quarterback. That difference in playing experience has carried over to their coaching careers, and for Jason, his relationship with his father on the sidelines has taken on a yin and yang persona. “I played quarterback in college so I take the approach of a quarterback – laid back, where you let things come to you. He’s the one that brings energy and you can hear him a mile away. But the kids love it,” said Jason. And that affection for the elder Bachtel is evident in Fairfield as well.  “As a coach, my dad taught me to treat players with respect,” said John.  For the Fairfield duo, the Indians perfect season is a dream come true, but Kent has instilled a greater vision for leadership in his son. “With X’s and O’… we really might not be the smartest, but if we can raise good young men, then that’s what we want to do,” John explained. “If we can raise good football players then that’s a bonus.” Regardless of how the Indians and Wildcats fare this weekend, the Bachtel family’s ever-expanding dynamic has made more of a lasting impact than most 10-0 seasons. Mark coached his son Jason in high school  at Wills Point, and Kent coached John at Midway. And now that both fathers are coaching under their sons, the Bachtel name will likely continue on.  Jason and John’s high school experiences are being emulated by their own sons -  Jason’s son Talan is starting for the Wildcats this season, and although John’s son just wrapped up his 7th grade season, he will most likely join his dad and grandfather on the sidelines in two seasons. With the constant Bachtel family ties that Texas high school football has seen over the past forty years, it makes one wonder how strong the bond truly is – or if Jason and John will ever decide to take a different route than their fathers.  The coaches can both agree that having a father’s leadership – and proven successful track records – next to them on the sidelines is nothing short of a blessing. “Both of our fathers have been very successful high school coaches, and we want to be as successful as they were,” said Jason. “My dad was the best hire I’ve ever made.”