Another Long Playoff Run

LONG

PLAYOFF RUN

by Steve Gamel

Many could argue that the Guyer football team wasn’t supposed to make this kind of a run. The Wildcats were coming off a loss to Austin Westlake in the Class 6A Division II state title game in 2019. On top of that, all-world quarterback Eli Stowers injured his knee in that game and would likely not be ready by the start of the 2020 season.

Star running back Kaedric Cobbs was headed off to college, and what no one imagined at the time was that there’d be a head coaching change in the offseason and a global pandemic thrown in as the cherry on top.

Most teams wouldn’t recover from setbacks like that. But Guyer isn’t your ordinary football team.

In what should be applauded as a stellar campaign, the Wildcats overcame all of those challenges to make a run to the state semifinals in January. While they did not win — Cedar Hill dashed Guyer’s hopes of a second consecutive state title game appearance with a 27-17 win — the Wildcats finished 11-3 and proved they should never — ever — be counted out.

“With all the things that happened this year with COVID and us not being able to start in the summer — I love my team so much for the way we fought through adversity that we had in 2020 and the beginning of 2021,” Stowers told the Denton Record-Chronicle after the loss to Cedar Hill. “I can’t explain how blessed I am from God to be on a team where we fight for each other and love each other. You really can’t ask for anything better than that, regardless of what happened in this game. It’s just a blessing to play on a team like that.”

Despite the aforementioned knee injury, Stowers made it back to the starting lineup for the season opener against Hebron and proceeded to cobble together another standout season. The Texas A&M signee threw for 2,487 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 1,078 more yards and another 18 touchdowns. His performance offset the loss of Cobbs (2,641 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns the year before) and galvanized a team in desperate need of leadership.

Guyer opened the year 1-1 but proceeded to rattle off wins in six of their last seven games to close out the regular season. Once in the playoffs, the Wildcats beat Coppell (52-24), Arlington (38-31 2OT), Abilene (38-21), and Prosper (30-24 3OT) to set up its date with Cedar Hill.

Guyer led the Longhorns 10-7 after the first quarter but could not maintain that momentum.

“As I told them after the game, no one likes to lose, and no one ought to feel good right now,” new Guyer coach Rodney Webb told the DRC following that loss. “I don’t feel good, and I won’t feel good for a few days. But there’s going to come a time where we look back on the totality of this season and be proud of what we accomplished. Even with a loss today, I’m extremely proud of our kids for their perseverance, grit, toughness, and class.”

The question now becomes, where does Guyer go from here? The Wildcats won’t have Stowers back next season, but there is a ton of hype surrounding backup Jackson Arnold and a slew of new faces that are sure to carry this team into the future.

If one thing is for sure, don’t be so quick to count the Wildcats out.

MOST TEAMS WOULDN’T RECOVER FROM SETBACKS LIKE THAT. BUT GUYER ISN’T YOUR ORDINARY FOOTBALL TEAM.