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Mission Accomplished ... sort of: West wins one on Saturday, but goes no further
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
The main goal for the Plano West 7-on-7 team all summer was to win a game on Day 2 of the Division I FOX Sports Southwest 7-on-7 State Championship Tournament.
The Wolves achieved that goal Saturday in College Station.
But that one win, which propped the team up to 15-0 in state qualifying tournaments and the state tournament itself, was all the Wolves got as they were eliminated by LaPorte in the Round of 16.
Early on, it appeared West could.
Having gone 11-0 in SQTs prior to state, the Wolves rolled through Pool I Friday with an undefeated mark.
"We had never gone 3-0 in pool at state," Mercer said, "so I was excited about that."
He wasn't the only one.
"I was very pleased with how we did over the weekend," said Mike Hughes, West head coach. "This was the best we have ever done at state; the boys did an awesome job."
West's run through pool play didn't start in the most efficient manner though as the team fell into a hole against Waco after quarterback Travis Korry began the game with three straight interceptions.
"I think he was a little nervous at first; plus Waco was playing a lot of zone when we had seen man-to-man all summer," Mercer said. "But Travis didn't panic, he wasn't trying to get it all back in one or two throws, and the rest of the team didn't either. It wasn't the start we wanted, but seeing the kids make their way back told me a lot about this team."
West won that game, 39-26, and followed up with a 46-26 victory over Port Arthur Memorial, the Wolves' presumed toughest opponent coming in.
"We saw Memorial walking over to our field and [defensive coordinator John Bandy] said they looked just as athletic as we thought they would be," Mercer said. "They were obviously good, but I think our defense had their number."
Leading the way for that defense was Davis Roeschke and Tim Okposin.
Stops from the defense made way for the offense, which dominated in the slot with receivers Austin Copeland, Zac Gideo and Will Baldridge going against linebackers on the inside.
"Travis really started to roll in this game," Mercer said. "He was like a surgeon, finding open receivers and going deep when he had the opportunity."
West finished Friday against Tyler Lee, which it had defeated by 23 points in Rockwall. The Wolves would win again, 40-14, to finish first in Pool I, but did so against a largely different group.
"Lee hardly had any of the same guys from Rockwall," Mercer said. "But we were able to jump on them, 14-0 in the first five minutes, and our conditioning took us the rest of the way. I really think what we've been doing in the summer paid dividends at state."
A 3-0 record put West into the Championship Bracket, but it would be for not if the Wolves' lost their opener Saturday.
"You never know how it's going to go when you are in a new environment," Mercer said. "But I was real impressed with how focused and serious the boys were; they didn't stay up late Friday or mess around because they knew we still had work to do."
That work was accomplished Saturday morning with a 41-13 win over Colleyville Heritage.
As was the case against Memorial, defense was the key.
West shut down a Heritage receiver the Wolves coaches dubbed "Golden Richards," after the blonde-locked former Dallas Cowboys receiver, and Collin Eberle grabbed an interception as West led at the break, 21-0, and held the Panthers scoreless until midway through the second half.
LaPorte provided a sterner challenge in the Round of 16.
"We traded punches with them throughout the first half," Mercer said. "Actually, it was really back-and-forth most of the way."
Chad Reed nearly had a hand in turning the game toward the Wolves' favor. After just missing an interception midway through the second half, Reed looked to have one in the waning minutes, but the officials ruled he had dropped the ball on the way to the ground.
That kept LaPorte close and the team gained new life when West, which was leading 33-28 at the time, couldn't punch in a fourth-and-goal play with three minutes remaining.
LaPorte drove down and scored with 30 seconds to go for a 35-33 win.
"It was a really frustrating finish, but you have to give credit to LaPorte because they just made a couple more plays than we did," Mercer said. "It was hard because the kids were devastated afterward, but that's because they had confidence and expected to win, which are qualities we need heading into the fall."
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