Panthers planning for a fall resurgence
In first 7-on-7 state tournament, Cy Springs sees reasons for optimism
Cypress Springs is entering new territory this week.
The Panthers are firsttime qualifiers for the 7-on7 state tournament Friday and Saturday in College Station after beating Magnolia West in the semifinals of Cy Creek’s tourney three weeks ago at the Berry Center.
They open pool play at 1 p.m. Friday at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
“At Cy Springs, we’ve been in such a long drought of major accomplishments, as far as victories go, so any time the kids do something good like this, and have some success, it’s big,” coach Rick Cobia said. “That’s where we’re at. We just want to taste it.”
The Panthers proved it with their consistent turnout for state qualifying tournaments. They made several semis before finally breaking through at Cy Creek’s SQT in a positive step forward for the program.
Cobia said the extra games are particularly beneficial for working on their spread attack.
“It helps our kids develop relationships with the quarterback, and the receivers’ understanding of the importance of routerunning and spacing,” he said. “And so the kids did a good job this summer building that trust with the quarterback, and of course the quarterback’s trust in his receivers.”
The quarterbacks are Francisco Almanza and Taye Barber, who’ve split time in 7-on-7.
“Both quarterbacks have had a lot of success, and made mistakes and learned from them, and they both have interesting styles. (Barber) is more bythe-book and (Almanza) is more creative, so it’s fun to watch the two different quarterback styles. Both of them are real successful with what they do.”
Almanza entered last season as Brian Harden’s backup but was forced into action when Harden went down with a seasonending neck injury. Barber came up for the last few games as a sophomore.
Cobia would like to name a starter by the opener Aug. 27 against Mayde Creek, and the decision will come down to who does the best job learning the schemes and creating chemistry with the receivers. “We have a strong feeling that we can use both of them,” Cobia said. “They’re both very talented. We’ll probably try to get to where one is the actual starter, but that’s (undecided). We had a great spring with both of them, they’re having a great summer, and we’ll look at them during two-a-days and our first scrimmage. We scrimmage A&M Consolidated, so we’ll see how those two quarterbacks work out.”
The leading wide receivers in 7-on-7 are Donnell Dunn, Drake Carter, a good route runner with good hands, and O’shae Clark, who’s also a running back and accomplished quartermiler in track.
Dunn is the leading returning receiver in Class 6A in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, with 1,229 yards last season.
“He goes big,” Cobia said. “He’s got explosive releases and great hands.”
Cornerbacks Bobby Wilson and Kejuan Reynolds and safety Abraham Bakare pace the defense this summer.
After beating Magnolia West on June 20 to secure their first trip to state, the Panthers were all set to face Stratford in the final of the Cy Creek tournament, but inclement weather forced its cancellation.
“They wanted it,” Cobia said. “They wanted to play, but both coaching staffs and the parents who were involved felt like enough was enough. It was a long day, we had lots of rain delays, (and) we had played Cy-Fair, Tomball, Magnolia West and Cinco Ranch, and won all those games, so by the time we got to that fifth game … it was time to go home.”
Cy Springs, Cy-Fair, Cy Falls and Langham Creek qualified for the state tourney.
Cy Springs opens play in Pool G, which includes Pflugerville Henderson, Plano and El Pas Montwood, at 1 p.m. Friday.
The Division I championship is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.
“I’m proud of the fact that Langham’s going, CyFair’s going, we’re going and Cy Falls is going, too,” Cobia said.
“That’s a good group of teams.”