Bobcats End Playoff Run with Richland Springs
Bobcats 8 - Richland Springs 54
December 05, 2011
The Newcastle Bobcats ended their 2011 playoff run in Tuscola Friday night at foggy Jim Ned High School when they ran into a steamroller known as the Richland Springs Coyotes! I have watched many 6-man football games over my 62 years and I have seen many very good teams over those years, but I have never seen a team as athletic and well-rounded as the Richland Springs team that defeated our Bobcats.
There can be no shame what-so-ever in losing to that football team! Our Bobcats played hard and I never felt as if they threw in the towel. They were fighting the entire game. They just ran into a once-in-a-lifetime team at the wrong time. There is no doubt that we would be in the state championship game against Richland Springs this Saturday, if they were in the other division II region. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw or in this case, the luck of the map dividing 6-man teams into two regions. Maybe we won't be so lucky when the new district realignments are released in February of next year.
The first half was much closer than the score revealed. Going into the locker room at half the score could have very easily been 16-22 in their favor, rather than 8-30. Of course, without some very tough defense in the last 30 seconds of the first half, the Bobcats could have been down by 8-38 too. The Bobcats turned the ball over deep in their own territory and did a great job of preventing the Coyotes from scoring!
Here's the bottomline - the Bobcats had a tremendous season and ended up much better than many folks thought! They started as a varied group of individual, young men with unique talents who welcomed some newcomers into their midst and grew each week into a team through hard work and outstanding leadership on and off the field. Coach Spitzer and Coach Wilkinson with the help of a dedicated statistician and the game time help of Coach Gooch, did an "exemplary" job of getting every single ounce of effort and talent out of these young men. These young men responded in a very positive way to our coaches and there is no doubt that the lessons that were learned on the field will carry over far into the lives of each young man.
2011 will definitely be a football season to remember!! Thank you Bobcats and congratulations for all your successes! I only hope that we, Bobcat fans, don't have to wait another 30 years for another one like this! Let's do it again next year!
