Published: September 11, 2006 11:05 am         

Bobcats excited about upcoming season

BRIDGE CREEK — Bridge Creek returns a lot of youngsters who will be asked to step up and play well this year. Third-year coach Jerry Wallis has his team excited about getting back out on the field.

“We're going to be much better this year,” the coach said. “I just don't know how much better.”

Last year, they were 2-8 with a very young team. This year they'll still be young but have a season of growth and experience under their belts.

“We had a good spring and summer,” Wallis said. “We've got a new weight room and field house and the kids are pretty excited.”

After the re-alignment, Lexington and winless Little Axe were the only holdovers from last year's District 3. Hobart, Lindsay, Comanche and Frederick join the Bobcats in their move from District 2 and Bethany comes over from District 1.

Bethany, Hobart and Lindsay will fight it out for the top three spots with Bethany being the coaches' favorite. After that, there's some dropoff to the second tier of teams, none of which had a winning record last year.

Comanche, Frederick and Lexington are rebuilding after losing a lot of players to graduation and should contend for the fourth playoff spot, but Bridge Creek could challenge and, with some luck, possibly get into the post-season this year.

“We've got a bunch of good young kids but we'll need some of our sophomores to step up,” Wallis added.

Chase Collins will be the quarterback when the 'Cats open at Bethel, a middle of the pack District 2 team, with Michael Aska and Jarrod Reed in the backfield. Collins will be throwing deep to wideouts Craig Hill, Josh Simpson and Derek Nichols or tight ends Dallas Forbes and Clay Ferrall.

Veterans Tate Kelly and Rowdy Bates, a pair of three-year starters who tip the scales at around 240, will anchor the lines and provide some leadership for the pups.

Defensively, Zane Mellinger will patrol the secondary with Collins, Simpson, Hill and Reed in the nickel. Ferrall will anchor the linebackers and Forbes will double at defensive end.

As with any young team, success will depend on how quickly the players learn “on the job” and how they'll handle the first few weeks of the season.

After opening at Bethel, the Bobcats get Class A Carnegie at home. The Wildcats are rebuilding after a heavy graduation so the Bobcats could sneak up on them. This will be a good barometer of how both young teams will build on the season.

Next up is Luther, again at home, another middle of the pack Class A team that could result in a win. Then the district fun begins.

Week four puts the team on the road to Hinton, then home games with Comanche and Bethany. Week seven and eight will be on the road at Frederick and Little Axe, Senior Night will be in week nine with Lexington coming in and the finale will be at Lindsay.

The Bobcats will have to try for an early win to get some confidence and beat Comanche, Frederick, Little Axe and Lexington. Those four district wins, with some help, will get Bridge Creek into the playoffs.