The Pilot Point Bearcats football team used a tough, hard-nosed playstyle to secure a 3A Bi-District Championship, and they picked up right where they left off with their annual Bearcat Showcase on Saturday.
The Bearcats’ varsity and junior varsity squads put on their pads and put their physicality on full display at Massey Stadium in front of the Pilot Point faithful.
“Compared to where we were last year, we had a really great day,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “There weren’t many negatives, and we had a whole lot of positives. We had a lot of kids making plays, and you can just see how they’ve progressed today from top to bottom.”
The drill involved the three defenders—a defensive lineman, linebacker and defensive back—facing off against four offensive players—an offensive lineman, a full back and a receiver.
Each of the players were lined up by position in 1-on-1s, when the offense blocking as a tailback tried to navigate through the defense while the defenders tried to bring down the ballcarrier.
The Bearcats also allowed each of the players to get multiple reps by rotating new players at every position prior to each snap.
The drill focused on getting each position group acclimated to full-speed contact and allowed the coaches to evaluate players’ potential for playing time.
“There are still some battles going on for varsity positions, and we won’t have those decisions made until we’ve finished our last two scrimmages and set our rosters,” Worrell said. “We still have several positions that are up for grabs, and we have younger kids battling for those spots, so that makes for a really good situation.”
Senior outside linebacker and wide receiver Michael Marsh, who coaches are expecting to be a big contributor for the Bearcats this season, shared his thoughts on the showcase.
“It was great to go out there and show the community how far we’ve come and that we’re not the same team that we were the past couple years,” he said. “We’re bigger. We’re faster, we’re stronger, we’re more physical, and we’re more poised to make a deep playoff run than we have been in the last few years.”
Bearcats starting quarterback Garrett Evans added that the team is playing with confidence as they prepare for this season.
“I believe we can go out and win every game in predistrict,” the senior signal caller said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we can win every game this season and go deeper in the playoffs than we did last year.”
The Bearcats tested their progress after press time in their first scrimmage Thursday against Sanger and will have a second scrimmage at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 in Tioga against the Bulldogs.
