Quick Thoughts from the Willis Scrimmage

On Friday, the Cypress Woods Wildcats traveled to Willis to scrimmage the Willis Wildkats as they get set to finally begin their 2020 football season. Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. Starting Quarterback?

When I spoke with Coach Neill last week, he informed me that a good battle was brewing between Dylan Cormier and Trey Craft. DC is entering his third season on the varsity and he's done well in his limited action over the last two seasons, so I feel that he has earned the first opportunity to start. 

After what I saw in Willis, however, I came away with the feeling that Dylan's hook might be a little shorter than I expected. I feel that this battle will continue through the two non-district games and we'll see the winner take the field first when the Wildcats open district play against Falls in three weeks. Don't count the loser out of the running, however; Cormier and Craft both demonstrated that they can commandeer this offense effectively during this scrimmage and whoever winds up as the backup should still see plenty of playing time.

2. Trayse Holmes

Is a wrecking ball. His form last year was inconsistent and he would probably be the first person to admit that. His work ethic, however, has never been doubted. Trayse played his best football as the stakes got higher last season and he should be in line for a huge senior year. I believe that he has a great chance to rush for 1,000 yards this season. 

3. Defense

After graduating almost every starter, the Cy Woods defense would have plenty of questions to address heading into this season. With all due respect to Willis, they aren't a great team, so there are probably a few more questions that will require an elaborated answer. However, the kids stepping in look like they are capable of handling the huge expectations they will have to uphold. We know about Chris Agnew and what he brings to the table on the defensive line. He and Tyler Sherrill will be a handful for opposing offensive lines this year.

Josh Jones and Brenton Frizell acquitted themselves well as the presumptive starting cornerbacks. Josh's progress has been particularly impressive considering he missed pretty much the first half of last season due to injury. I've heard (from a bit of a biased source, admittedly) that out of the three Jones brothers, he's the most athletic of the trio. 

The one name to know now and for the future, though, is Dylan Rogers. Dylan got his first taste of varsity football last year as a playoff call-up after dominating at the freshman level. He showed that he could excel on offense and defense, but his upside is clearly higher on defense, and on a team that's retooling on that side, he has a prime opportunity to shine. In all my years being around this program, the one person who I've seen work harder than Dylan Rogers has up to this point probably has to be Daylan Skidmore, and Daylan turned out to be a pretty decent player in the end.

4. Offense

There will be no shortage of firepower from the Wildcat offense this year, no matter who's at the helm. Woods will need to replace almost all of the production from last year's A-backs, but again, Connor Morris, Charlie Bain, and J.J. Williams seem to be up to the task. J.J. should enjoy a breakout year now that he's moved over from B-back to A-back. Ryan Faulk, Casey Cogdill, and John Niles have also made strides at the wideout positions and they'll have to come together to replicate the big-play impact that Cam Sowell had last season. 

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with what I saw in Willis on Friday night. I would love to be a massive homer and say that Cy Woods will successfully defend their district championship in 2020, but that's not my style. The 2020 edition of the Cypress Woods Wildcats will enter with a huge target on their backs and certainly plenty to prove. The intriguing mix of new faces and veterans should keep this team in the playoff hunt in what is shaping out to be a tough District 16-6A. 

2019 Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament

Last weekend, the Cypress Woods Wildcats traveled to College Station to take part in the 2019 Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament. The Cats made their fifth appearance in College Station and this marked the second straight year which they qualified, which is the first time that they've made the tournament in consecutive years.

Overall, the Wildcats finished with a 3-2 record and advanced to the Round of 16 in the Championship bracket. Advancing to the Championship bracket was also a first for Cy Woods 7-on-7; in their previous four appearances at the state tournament, the Wildcats ended up in the consolation bracket and lost the first game all four times. In fact, just winning one game in bracket play set yet another new team record because they had lost the first bracket game every time before this past Saturday.

I also had to go back and fact-check myself because they qualified in 2012 but missed the playoffs in real football that year. That year is the outlier; they've made the playoffs in the fall in every other season in which they qualified for this tournament.

In pool play, the Cats were placed in Pool O with Temple, Hebron, and Sharyland Pioneer and there was plenty of drama on Friday.

Pool O Game 1: Cy Woods 28, Hebron 21

The Cats opened the tournament with a victory but they had to stave off two hail mary attempts from the Hawks at the end. They batted down the first one, which should have been intercepted. The second try, however, was caught. Fortunately, they managed to tag the receiver at the one-yard line just as time expired.

Pool O Game 2: Pioneer 34, Cy Woods 29

Uh... I think I will refrain from commenting on the officiating here. I'll just say that some of their decisions baffled me. Refs aside, a dropped pass in the endzone on a second and goal about midway through the first half ended up haunting the Cats. The Wildcats came up empty-handed on that possession and the D-Backs, who were leading at the time, scored on their next series to extend their lead to two scores. The Cats won a back-and-forth second half but they couldn't quite get over the hump; their comeback bid was squashed following an interception with less than a minute to go. They competed well in this one despite the poor officiating, but they also made quite a few plays that lose games.

Pool O Game 3: Cy Woods 40, Temple 38

I wasn't sure if either team was intent on stopping the other in this game. Well, that looked to be the case in the first half as both Wildcats exchanged scores in a fast and furious first 20 minutes. When the dust settled, Cy Woods held a 27-26 lead. Both teams scored twice in the second half and at that point, the final-game malaise seemed to set in. In the end, however, Cy Woods took the lead within the final 30 seconds and time ran out on Temple, sending Cy Woods to the Championship bracket for the first time.

Meanwhile, on the other side of field 7, Pioneer defeated Hebron 34-26... and then the Royal Rumble broke out. When the dust settled, Pioneer, who had won the pool, and Hebron were both disqualified from the tournament. Apparently, a Hebron player who had been ejected earlier somehow found his way back into the post-game handshake line where he proceeded to continue with his idiocy and it all went downhill from there.

As a result, Cy Woods ended up with the #1 seed in Pool O, which meant that they won their pool for the first time at the 7-on-7 state tournament, although a disqualification technically gave them the top spot.

On to day two...

Championship Bracket Game 1: Cy Woods 34, Parkland 27

The Cats' first game on Saturday pitted them against the Matadors of Parkland, who traveled 684 miles from the northeast side of El Paso to take part in the tournament. Woods scored 34 and won, but they really should have won in blowout fashion. The Cats managed to get three defensive stops but were only able to score on one of their ensuing offensive series. A bit frustrating, but a win is a win.

Championship Bracket Round of 16: DeSoto 32, Cy Woods 28

This one stung. A tipped ball on third down very late in the game just eluded Chase Richter's grasp, otherwise, they would have had at least one more game. Instead, the Cats had less than thirty seconds to work with and they were only able to get one play off before time expired.

Cy Woods' three victories in this tournament might have equaled or even surpassed the number of wins they had in their previous four trips combined because I remember that they went 0-4 in 2014 and 0-4 again in 2018. When you look at how the Cats fared in College Station in the past, this tournament was a rousing success. They snapped what had been at least a nine-game losing streak (I couldn't find pool play information for 2010 and 2012). As I said, they advanced to the championship bracket for the first time and finished as the top seed in a pool for the first time.

State championships aren't won in the summer in t-shirts and shorts, but 7-on-7 is definitely a part of the process of trying to win one in December. I was extremely pleased to watch their progress; they might have qualified for the state tournament on their first attempt but they kept competing and kept striving to get better and they wound up finishing 9-1 in the qualification phase. Winning nine out of ten in anything isn't easy, especially when you've achieved the objective you set out to complete early in the process. Mr. Jones and Mr. Richter deserve a ton of credit for keeping the kids focused during the build-up to the tournament. 

The connection between Jackson Jones and Cameron Sowell will be lethal this season. Cam is a true home run threat... he's a #1 receiver in any offense. I would've really liked to see him in the old spread; he definitely could have been a 1,000-yard receiver. I was also impressed with Amari McDonald throughout this phase. The story on him is that he originally began high school at Woods before moving to Cy Ranch and then moving back. This kid has some springs and hauled in some acrobatic catches. He'll form a potent 1-2 punch with Cam in the fall.

Defensively, the Cats played with some legitimate intensity throughout this phase. They shut out Langham Creek in their first qualifying tournament and in their final tune-up tournament in Spring, they held Pearland Dawson to just six points. In a game that's skewed heavily towards offense, holding an opponent to single digits is impressive. During the tournament, they bent but didn't break and they came up with timely stops to secure wins against Hebron, Temple, and Parkland. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what this group can do when they put the pads on.

Now, I will never personally attack any kid who plays for Cy Woods. With that being said, I did notice a few instances in College Station where the defensive kids got a bit flustered with calls that didn't go their way. Some of those decisions absolutely were terrible. Just got to find a way to put it behind them and keep playing.

The rebuilding process is over. Expectations for the Cypress Woods Wildcats, both internally and externally, are the highest that it's been since... 2014, probably. Once again, this is a program that is expected to compete for district championships and make deep playoff runs annually.

Cy Fair West 7-on-7

I didn't go to the most recent 7-on-7 tournament at Cy Falls because one of my cousins invited me to the Astros game on Friday. I did check Twitter periodically and saw that Cy Woods went 3-0 in pool play, defeating Clear Lake 18-7, Katy Taylor 41-26, and Langham Creek 20-14.

Well, that was nice. Since the Cats have already qualified for the state tournament, there was absolutely no pressure on them to win. As a result, they could just go out and have fun. At the same time, however, they were reminded that this tournament represented another opportunity for them to compete so they couldn't just loaf around.

Woods shut out Langham Creek in pool play last week and then held Clear Lake to a single touchdown in this tournament. 7-on-7 is not geared towards defense, so to hold a team to one touchdown or even shutting them out is an impressive feat. As I wasn't there, I can't offer any opinions on the offense.

Only one more week until the Cats head up to College Station. They'll have one more warm-up tournament this Friday at the Houston Athlete & Training State Qualifying Tournament. This is a tournament that features 32 teams but only two qualifiers as they have the split the field between Grand Oaks High School and the Farm League Park in Spring. The pool winners will advance to a semi-final round and then the winners of those games will play each other for the qualifying spots.

The Wildcats will be playing at the Farm League Park and they've been drawn into Pool A with Channelview, Pearland Dawson, and Magnolia West. Please keep in mind that there will be a $5 entry fee for this tournament. This tournament benefits the Greater Houston Football Coaches' Association and the entry fee will be donated to their scholarship fund.

Wildcat 7-on-7: State Bound!

On Friday, the Cypress Woods Wildcats qualified for the Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament in College Station in their first attempt at qualification. They earned the spot at the Cy Fair East State Qualifying Tournament hosted by Cy Creek, although the pools were scattered across the district thanks to the rain earlier in the week. This is the second consecutive year that the Wildcats have qualified for the state tournament following a four-year drought.

Cy Woods finished 2-1 in Pool D, knocking off Pearland Dawson 34-33 and shutting out Langham Creek 27-0. They did lose their final game in pool play to Klein Cain by a final score of 31-20, but since the Hurricanes have already qualified, that result didn't affect the Wildcats, who essentially won a three-team pool.

The Cats traveled to Cy-Fair FCU Stadium for the qualifying game, where they would face Cy Ranch, who won Pool C. It was a wild, back-and-forth affair between these two rivals until the Cats got an interception near the end of the first half. They managed to convert the turnover into points to take a 26-20 lead into halftime and then scored on their first possession of the second half to go up 33-20. Getting the two-score lead to start off the second half proved to be the difference as they got the cushion they needed to keep the Mustangs at bay. Ranch scored late to make it a five-point game, but with less than a minute to go, the Cats were able to run out the clock and secure the berth with a 46-41 victory.

It might not be "real" football, but I do enjoy watching 7-on-7. It's the official beginning to the preseason, a chance for the kids to enter that competition mode, and a way for them to get familiar with some potential opponents. It's also translated to success when the real season starts as well. If I'm not mistaken, every time that Cy Woods has qualified for state in 7-on-7, they've ended up making the playoffs in actual football each time. Also, it's nice to beat Cy Ranch. Wouldn't you agree?

Cy Woods qualifies for @Texas7on7 State.#txhsfb #tx7on7 @CyWoodsFB212 pic.twitter.com/Ddt0zs9xyN

— txhsfb(Tony Blalock) (@TXHSFB) June 8, 2019

Boom, congrats to @CyWoodsFB212 for qualifying at the Cy Creek SQT! Loved how our guys competed tonight! 212!! pic.twitter.com/BVwQ75DPVe

— Curtis Neill (@CoachNeill) June 8, 2019 

State Tournament Information

As always, the Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament will take place at Veterans Park in College Station. This year's Division I tournament will begin on Friday, June 28 with pool play. Bracket play begins Saturday morning, June 29.

I'm sure the Cats are looking for a better showing this time around after they lost all four games last year.

7-on-7 State Tournament Report/DCTF Predictions

Cy Woods took part in the Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament in College Station this past weekend and they dropped all four of their games. In pool play, they fell 33-31 to A&M Consolidated, 33-15 to Prestonwood Christian Academy, and 28-20 to Mesquite Poteet, making them the only winless team in Pool C. I did not attend on Friday because... I value my job.

The Cats faced Laredo Alexander in their first game in the consolation bracket on Saturday and lost 28-19. Not a weekend to remember, but hopefully they enjoyed the experience playing against some of the top teams from all over this great state. State championships aren't won playing touch football in June in t-shirts and shorts, but the tournament also serves as a barometer to where a team stands during the pre-season. Finish the summer workouts strong and get back to it once you get to put on the pads again.

Also, the state tournament is always my excuse to go on a long roadtrip.

The 2018 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football is now out and I was pleasantly surprised. The magazine believes that the Wildcats will end their three-year playoff drought as they have picked Woods to finish third in District 14-6A. As the largest school in the district, Cy Woods will play in the Division I bracket no matter what; they would be projected to take on Round Rock Cedar Ridge in bi-district if the prediction holds. DCTF is also predicting that the four playoff spots in 14-6A will be taken by Cy-Fair schools this season.

This half of Cy-Fair ISD (plus Bryan and Tomball Memorial) looks to be the more wide-open district than District 17-6A, which sounds like an understatement. The only serious challenger to Cy-Fair is probably going to be Cy Falls.

2018 District 14-6A projected order of finish, per Dave Campbell's Texas Football

1. Langham Creek (DI)

2. Cy Ranch (DII)

3. Cy Woods (DI)

4. Cy Springs (DII)
-------------------------

5. Tomball Memorial

6. Bryan

7. Cy Lakes

8. Bridgeland

9. Cy Park

I got mine as a subscriber. I believe that there are still copies of the Cy Woods special edition available for purchase for $20. Just ask Coach Faith.

2018 Schedule, 7-on-7 Tournament Information

The pools for the State 7-on-7 tournament this weekend in College Station have been released, and the Cy Woods Wildcats were drawn into Pool C with A&M Consolidated, Mesquite Poteet, and Prestonwood Christian Academy. They'll take on A&M Consolidated at 1:00, Prestonwood at 3:00, and finish pool play against Poteet at 5:00 on Friday. 

Single-elimination play will begin Saturday morning. The top two teams in each pool will move on to the Championship bracket, which starts at 9:00 AM. The bottom two will play in the consolation bracket beginning at 8:00.

Now... on to actual football. After a long wait, the full 2018 football schedule has finally been released, and the tenth anniversary season of Cy Woods football will look like this:

Cy Woods will open the 2018 season against Cy Ridge at Pridgeon Stadium on September 1. They'll wrap up the non-district portion of the schedule by traveling to Spring to take on the Spring Lions.

The Cats will open District 14-6A play on Friday, September 14 as they travel to Tomball to face the Tomball Memorial Wildcats. This game will mark the first time that Cy Woods will play a district game outside of Pridgeon or the Berry Center and also the first time that they will play a district opponent hailing from a school district outside of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District,.

Cy Woods will have a bye week in the penultimate week of the regular season, which falls on the weekend of November 1-3. 

Week 1: Cy Ridge (Pridgeon) Sat 9/1, 6:00

Week 2: @ Spring (Leonard George Stadium), Fri 9/7, 7:00

Week 3: @ Tomball Memorial (Tomball), Fri 9/14, 7:00

Week 4: Langham Creek (Cy-Fair FCU), Thu 9/20, 6:30

Week 5: @ Bridgeland (Cy-Fair FCU), Sat 9/29, 6:00

Week 6: Cy Lakes (Homecoming XI at Pridgeon), Fri 10/5, 7:00

Week 7: @ Cy Park (Pridgeon), Thu 10/11, 6:30

Week 8: Cy Springs (CF-FCU), Fri 10/19, 7:00

Week 9: @ Cy Ranch (CF-FCU), Sat 10/27, 1:00

Week 10: Bye (Week of November 1-3)

Week 11: Bryan (Pridgeon), Thu 11/8, 7:00

State Bound!

The Cypress Woods Wildcats are heading to state! They're heading to the 2018 Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament, that is.

Congrats to the Cy Woods 7v7 football team for qualifying for state! ⁦@CyWoodsFB212⁩ #212 pic.twitter.com/qZLFWohs8C

— CyWoodsBooster (@CyWood_Boosters) June 9, 2018

The state tournament will begin on June 29 at Veterans Park in College Station. Cy Woods clinched their berth by winning four games in the Cypress State Qualifying Tournament which took place Friday evening at Cy Creek and Jersey Village. They had previously attempted to qualify at the Richmond State Qualifying Tournament last month but failed to advance out of pool play on that occasion. The Cats last appeared at the state tournament in 2014, which also happens to be the last time they made the playoffs in 11-on-11 football. You know, the variation that's played in pads...

Cy Woods won all three of their games in pool play on Friday, topping Memorial 33-20 in the opener. A long weather delay followed, but they got back to it by dominating Katy Paetow 47-0. They had to go to overtime in their final game as they got away from what was working for them on offense in the second half and Willowridge's comeback was aided by a few, um... questionable calls, but they pulled themselves together and held off the Eagles by a final score of 33-32 to advance to the semi-finals. Willowridge got the ball to start overtime and scored but failed to convert their point-after try. The Wildcats responded with a score and successfully converted their point-after try, and that ended up being the difference.

The Cats were matched up with Terry High School out of Lamar Consolidated in the semi-final. A tight first half saw Woods emerge with a 14-6 lead. A hearty diet of Jake Tesch effectively carried the Cats to the finish line. Cameron Sowell got the ball coming out of a crossing pattern and left everyone in the dust in the second half, and the defense bent a bit, but held firm and got the stops they needed, and as a result, Cy Woods capped off a successful evening with a 33-19 victory to send them to College Station.

Chase Richter was the defensive standout as he recorded five interceptions across the four games and returned one of them for a touchdown against Paetow. Chase had his baseball commitments to fulfill during the spring so he didn't spend much time with football, but I came away extremely impressed by his ball skills out of the safety spot. He'll definitely be a player to watch this upcoming season.

Jake was also helping the Wildcat baseball team in their playoff run, but he was virtually unguardable out of the slot and Jackson Jones just kept exploiting the matchup, especially as the night wore on. Just get him through the summer and he's going to be a huge difference-maker on offense.

Location of Veterans Park, College Station

Get there early. Also, this is a massive complex so you may have to walk a fair amount to get to where the Cats will be playing on Friday.

From Highway 6, take the exit to Highway 30/Harvey Road and turn right. If you somehow missed that exit, you can also take the exit to University and turn right from there. The park will be on the left if you're coming in from Harvey or on the right if you're on University.

Spring Football Schedule

In one month, the Cypress Woods Wildcats will formally begin their preparations for the 2017 football season.

Sprng Ball Practice Schedule:
April 24, 26, & 28
May 1- 5
Sat. May 6 @ 10am
May 8 -12
May 15
May 16 Spring Scrimmage @5 &7pm

— Cy Woods Football (@CyWoodsFB212) February 10, 2017

Time to find out who made the most of their offseason. Time to find out who's going to step up and emerge as a key player. Time to put the nightmares of 2016 behind.

A&M Consolidated State Qualifying Tournament Report

It's 7-on-7 season, which means that preseason football is in full swing.

On Saturday, the Cypress Woods Wildcats traveled to College Station to take part in a 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament hosted by A&M Consolidated High School. This is their first attempt at qualifying for the State 7-on-7 Tournament, which will take place July 8-9 at Veterans Park in College Station.

In the 16-team SQT, the Wildcats were drawn into Pool C with Cy Springs, Jersey Village, and Magnolia. Pools C and D played their games at College Station High School.

Pool C Results

L 27-25 vs. Cy Springs
W 53-43 vs. Magnolia
W 39-32 vs. Jersey Village

At 2-1, the Cats finished pool play tied at the top with Magnolia. The Bulldogs defeated Cy Springs in their final game in pool play, which allowed the Wildcats to advance by virtue of their win over Magnolia. Had Cy Springs and Cy Woods won, the Panthers would have advanced.

In the semifinals, the Wildcats faced off against the College Station Cougars, the winners of Pool D. Unfortunately, they met their end at the hands of the Cougars, who basically had their way with a Wildcat squad that was running on fumes at that point.

As a result, Cy Woods fell one game short of qualifying for the State 7-on-7 Tournament in their first attempt. Despite the rough end to their day, I was impressed with how they competed despite a noticeable lack of depth, which resulted in several players having to play both ways.

7-on-7 football does have its drawbacks, and yes, state champions aren't decided in July, but I feel that it has its benefits, especially when a team is trying to break in a virtually new group of offensive skill players. Cy Woods will basically have an entirely new group of skill players on offense in 2016, so spring football and 7-on-7 are both crucial periods for these kids to build cohesiveness with one another. For some of these kids, 7-on-7 sort of serves as their first exposure to varsity-level competition; they now know that the caliber of athletes that they will be facing on Friday and Saturday will be vastly superior to the types of players they have faced in the past. Although coaches are barred from doing their job during 7-on-7 season, they still have the opportunity to see their players compete.

With one varsity season under his belt, Jack Barrientez is poised to break out in 2016. I can't seem to remember who it was against, but he made several defenders look absolutely silly as he knifed his way to the endzone. Against Magnolia, Jack was involved in a rather nasty collision which resulted in some stitches, but he got patched up and got back to it. Coach Faith lauded him for his toughness at various points throughout the day, while Coach Neill described Jack as someone who really does the little things well.

As I stated earlier, although the Wildcats will have many new faces on offense next season, these new faces showed off their upside; Angel Laca, a junior receiver, made some highlight-reel catches; he made two particularly impressive ones against Cy Springs. Connor Faulk, a sophomore receiver, showed solid hands, although he did get called out for being too lax while carrying the ball.

Jacob Kainer and Semaj Trahan both split time at quarterback, and they both performed extremely well. Semaj has the potential to become a truly special player, and he showcased his athleticism with a few fine catches of his own. Jacob is working his way back from a serious leg injury, but his arm is as strong as ever. His foot speed isn't quite back yet, but he moved around well and didn't look uncomfortable.

The defense has a little work to do; there were periods of miscommunication between the players, but when the Cats needed stops, they came through and got them. When the real season starts, how far the Wildcats go will hinge largely on the success of their defense, which has been a significant issue for the last two seasons.

All things considered, the Wildcats had a solid showing in College Station, and the kids should be very encouraged by how they performed. Some of the bigger guns were absent, but that allowed some of the younger players like Angel Laca and Connor Faulk and Bobby Dodson to step up and showcase their skills. I hope that this was a positive experience for all of them. They contended with three very good squads in Cy Springs, Magnolia, and Jersey Village, and came out on top. Although they didn't qualify for the State Tournament right away, they still have two more chances to do so.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Wednesday at the Berry Center, and they'll bring a varsity and a JV squad. They'll try to qualify for the State 7-on-7 Tournament again this weekend when they'll take part at the Cougar State Qualifying Tournament, hosted by Cy Creek. I did hear from Mr. Kainer that some of the pool games might be taking place at Cy Woods.

Some Midnight Scrimmage Thoughts...

This post will probably be all over the place with seemingly no cohesion between thoughts. I tend to do this when I write. Just a disclaimer.

The 1st & 10 Pep Rally is an annual tradition at Cypress Woods High School (the name is much, much more appropriate than the "Midnight Pep Rally" since it has always started at 10 PM), but for the first time since 2011, there was a practice accompanying this pep rally.

The freshmen led things off; in the past, all they'd do was just run around the track. Seriously. Although smaller in terms of numbers than in recent years, this is a pretty enthusiastic group of kids, and here are a few names you should know from the Class of 2019. This post is probably going to be mostly about the freshmen, mainly for introductory purposes, since you are probably already familiar with the varsity players.

Semaj (pronounced suh-MAZH; also "James" backwards) Trahan is a quarterback with tremendous upside, and right now, I believe that he's the top prospect in the entire class. With a cannon arm and outstanding speed, Semaj fits the Cy Woods dual-threat QB mold to a T. People talk about how Langham Creek is a QB factory, and yes, they've had great players at the helm of their offenses. But no team in this district has churned out legitimate weapons at the quarterback position like Cy Woods. Semaj will become the next in a line that includes Colton Huntsman, Nick Hooper, and Bryson Powers.

Jake Tesch is a running back who may find himself playing multiple positions. He'll be the third Tesch brother to play at Cy Woods; Gary was a wide receiver from 2010-11, while Taylor, also a wide receiver, played from 2012-14. Jake's brothers were both fine players for the Wildcats; he'll look to continue that little family tradition.

Brock Gunderson is a center who is also following in an older sibling's footsteps; his brother, Cole, was the starting center in 2009 and 2010. Brock is already larger than Cole (who is pretty big himself), and I liked how he took charge of his fellow offensive linemen.

The Sherrills, Tanner and Cullen, are wide receivers and identical twins. I believe that they're also promising baseball players as well. One of them scored on the final play of the freshman scrimmage as he ran a hitch pattern, caught the ball, and outran everybody.

Daniel Bouten is a defensive lineman who is rather vocal. That attitude may rub some people the wrong way, but I really enjoy his enthusiasm, and he's a hard worker as well. He's a kid who is truly excited to become a part of this team. I think he'll be a player that opposing offensive linemen will absolutely detest going up against because of his energy, à la Patrick Beverley: Hate to play against him, love having him on your team.

Everything after 11:30 was a blur and was difficult to process since there was about 14 different things going on at the same time and the lateness of all of this was taken into consideration.

The JV was next. Together with the varsity, the skill players did pass skeleton (or, 7-on-7) first, while the linemen faced off against each other before the entire JV came together for a team session. Devon Bowling, a sophomore receiver, had a nice diving catch in double coverage in the JV group. That was probably the one moment that stuck out for me in the JV session. Bobby Dodson, a sophomore running back, is a pretty tough runner. One of the things that struck me was that his running style is a little like Jeremy Conley, an old teammate of mine. Although he doesn't have Jeremy's explosiveness yet, he definitely has his physicality.

Then came the varsity.

Bryson Powers took the first-team reps at quarterback, and he showed off a strong left arm. There's still some stuff on offense that needs to be sorted out, but I think the offense will be in good hands with Bryson at the helm. Austin Goffney was the 2nd-team quarterback, but he's a dynamic athlete who is going to find playing time everywhere on the field.

C.J. Jones looks to be as explosive as ever, but keep an eye out on Jack Barrientez, a sophomore running back. While he didn't break off any huge gains, he is a physical runner. Jack also got looks as a wide receiver, and he may be counted on to play an integral role in the offense this season.

The Wildcat defense has nowhere to go but up after surrendering 455 points last season. Kason Franklin and Myles Wilson are the lone returning starters. Maybe rebuilding a defense that allowed that many points might turn out to be the best course of action. The Wildcats allowed 400 points in 2010, and that total dropped to a school-record 261 the next season. But, in that season, most of the defensive kids who played in 2011 were returning lettermen.

Kason was all over the field from his safety spot. He's gotten much quicker as he put in his work over the summer. Kason will be working on both sides of the ball in order to fully utilize his talent. Myles had a good pass breakup against Tre' Hart, although Tre' got him back a few plays later. Kason and Myles will be expected to step up in their second season.

Ryan Olvera, a cornerback, delivered a nice hit in the open field. He's worked his way up the ladder and is a kid who will get the most out of his ability. Terrell Brown, the other first-team corner, is in the same mold.

Next Friday, the Wildcats will hold their one scrimmage of the preseason, and, like the last 2 years, they'll be going up against The Woodlands. The scrimmage will be held at Cy Woods and the freshmen will lead it off at 4.