Teams to watch: College Station could be a party crasher in the 5A playoffs

[caption id="attachment_26672" align="alignright" width="350"]College Station DL Ben Wolz (Photo by Samuel De Leon) College Station DL Ben Wolz (Photo by Samuel De Leon)[/caption] Steve Huff recalls 12 cars in the parking lot. It was the first day of school at his new job as head football coach of newly formed College Station High School. His players were in ninth or tenth grade, and few of them could legally operate a motor vehicle. “The parking lot was mostly bikes. There were barely any cars in the student parking lot. Most of my star players were riding bikes to school,” Huff recalls. “Building traditions is huge. We had to develop a culture and really slow down as coaches. This staff was full of varsity experience and now I was asking them to coach ninth and tenth graders. We had to do a lot of teaching.” That teaching turned into success in 2015. The Cougars, with their first senior class with four years of experience at College Station, went 10-3 despite quarterback Ty Brock missing the season with a broken leg. A hopeful return this season was dashed when he broke his other leg. TiMarcus Davis, the most recruited prospect on the team, was hurt in June and is out for the season. “Last year, our group did really well rallying behind Ty. We’ve moved players around and faced adversity well at the position. Our starting quarterback from last season is now a starting safety. Two of our four captains are injured. That’s a lot of leadership lost. Fortunately, those two have stayed a part of the program. Our guys look up to them and it’s been great for the young players to have them around,” Huff said. “The tone was set early at this school and it wasn’t just about sports. The standard was set for academics to band to athletics. Our culture is to be successful and that’s a credit to our administration. You either got on board or were left behind.” The Cougars are leaving the competition behind and are one win away from claiming a District 18-5A title and going undefeated for the season. College Station is 9-0, outscoring opponents 449 to 79. In Brock’s absence, Marquez Perez is 88-for-123 for 1,325 yards and 20 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He’s added 474 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Running back Chris Monroe has 800 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Wide receivers Braden Tschirhart and Eric Peterson combined for 16 of the team’s 27 touchdown receptions. “We have a good group of seniors who have bought in to doing the daily work necessary to become successful. It all starts with leadership,” Huff said. “We have high expectations and we’re happy to have those expectations placed upon us from the outside. Being a new school had its disadvantages, but it is paying off. We spent a lot of time with these players when they were first starting high school and even in middle school. A guy like linebacker Mark Wagner is in his fourth year as a starter. That experience is important.” A showdown with state-ranked Temple is all that is left in the regular season. College Station’s off week is in the final week of the season. Huff understands the challenge Temple presents and is coming around on the idea of the open week falling so late in the season. “Temple is extremely athletic and gifted with talent. Add great coaching and it is a really good football team. You look at the record and see two losses, but those were against bigger competition and Temple is a better football team now on film,” Huff said. “When I first saw the bye week that late I thought ‘this could be a quick season’ because if we don’t make the playoffs, it is over by Halloween. That makes for a long offseason. Now that we’re in the playoffs, I think it’ll be a positive for us to get healthy and mentally prepared heading into playoffs.” A look at the projections for 5A Division II shows some intriguing names between the Cougars and a state title berth. In their own region, they'll have to contend with Cedar Park, Crosby, an emerging Barbers Hill squad and perhaps rival A&M Consolidated. Region IV could present a team like Calallen or Boerne Champion, but just getting to that point will be tough. How College Station performs against Temple could be an early sign of how much trouble the Cougars will give their foes in the playoffs.

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