Bobcats’ first state final a long time coming
Atkinson-led defense corrals Chaparrals, who can’t stop Arnold
Cy-Fair opened its doors in 1941 and took the field for its first football playoff game in 1964.
Today, it is finally a state finalist.
The Bobcats blanketed Austin Westlake’s highpowered offense, holding it to 201 total yards and no touchdowns while forcing three turnovers in a 14-6 victory in the Class 6A Division II semifinals Saturday at NRG Stadium.
Cy-Fair will take a 14-0 record into the championship game against Waco Midway, a 28-26 winner over Longview, at 7 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said Patrick Atkinson, who registered two pivotal fourth-quarter sacks and a fumble recovery. “Coach P (Cy-Fair’s Ed Pustejovsky) has been here a long time, and I’m glad that me and the other players could work hard enough to give him this opportunity as a coach.”
Pustejovsky was happy to receive it.
The old-school vet, who has been at Cy-Fair for 37 years, was as giddy as a first-year coach afterward.
“We’re excited,” Pustejovsky said. “It seems like, from the first playoff game to now, it’s like it was yesterday.
“So we’re enjoying it, and we’re ready to go back to work in the morning.”
Cy-Fair’s defense put in two weeks’ worth of work Saturday.
The Chaparrals entered the game averaging 47.9 points but managed only a field goal in each half, and the first one came after they reached the Bobcats’ 5 following a turnover.
The previously unde- feated Chaps (14-1) pulled within 7-6 on Gabriel Lozano’s 37-yard boot with 6:14 in the third quarter. Hallett doubly good
But the Bobcats owned the final quarter.
They extended their advantage to 14-6 on Erick Hallett’s masterful 30yard reception just inside the left pylon on a fourthand-16. Hallett hauled in Cam Arnold’s on-themoney pass in double coverage, then somehow stayed in bounds with 9:05 left to proved defensive backs can catch.
While on defense, the senior supplied a leaping interception in the first half.
“It’s tremendous,” Hallett said of coming up clutch. “It boosts my confidence going into the next game and boosts my confidence in this team, knowing they know I have their back and they have my back as well.”
Atkinson was equally humble and equally hungry to shock the state.
He recovered a fumble in the first half, after a big hit by Grant Hawkins jarred the football loose, then sacked quarterback Taylor Anderson on each of Westlake’s final two drives, helping the Bobcats wrap up an historic win.
Payton Tally’s fumble recovery — after a second forced fumble by Hawkins — sealed it with 34 seconds remaining.
“I played hard, and I couldn’t do it without the other guys on this team, but everything I do is for them,” Atkinson said. “You could see it.
“I missed the tackle on that fumble recovery, and my guys were in there getting the strip, so that we could have the opportunity, as a defense, to stop them.”
Cy-Fair led 7-3 at the break on the strength of an impressive 15-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:48 in the first quarter.
It featured three conversions on third down and one on fourth-and-6. ‘It’s indescribable’
Arnold, who outdueled Anderson, netting 158 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-24 passing, hit tight end Ryan Nelub on a perfectly executed playaction pass for the score with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats generated 203 yards and 14 first downs, with Arnold finding nine receivers for completions — including himself on one play after the ball was batted back to him — to keep the offense moving, despite struggling to establish a ground game (with 45 yards on 33 carries). A rushing attack has been their strength throughout Pustejovsky’s tenure.
“Cam did a great job,” Pustejovsky said. “He threw the ball well.”
Anderson managed only 98 yards on 9-of-16 passing, and running back Nakia Watson, a Wisconsin pledge who had 1,886 yards and 27 TDs going in, finished with only 51 yards on 16 carries for Westlake.
“Coach (Robbie) Legg and our defensive staff have done a great job all year long,” Pustejovsky said. “They’ve done it for a number of years. It’s preparation. They put our kids in the right spot … and our kids play hard and get after it.”
Now Cy-Fair is going after the school’s first state title next week in Arlington.
“It’s indescribable,” Hallett said. “We’ve been through so much, so much adversity with our team, being doubted throughout the years, and these are my brothers and sisters, so we’re all excited.
“We’re filled with joy.” Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer.