COLEMAN – The Coleman Bluecats marched through the regular season and to a district championship with an unblemished record in 2021, but the season came to an end in the third round of the playoffs. With seven offensive and eight defensive starters back from an 11-1 squad, head coach John Elder and the No. 9 Bluecats have loftier goals in 2022.
“The expectations are high,” said Elder, who is entering his ninth season at Coleman with a 57-34 record. “We had a great season last year and we have a lot of momentum coming in with a lot of kids back from that team. The kids have set the bar high, the coaches set our standards high. We look to do good things and hope to be very competitive.”
A total of 15 of 29 lettermen are back from last year’s team, and most of those players were on the field throughout the duration of the season.
“The biggest strength for us is the number of returners we have coming back,” Elder said. “A lot of them are still underclassmen, so with those returners and having leaders all across the field on both sides of the ball, that should help develop a lot of the young players coming up.”
While the starting units are solid on both sides of ball, the few players behind them have little experience at the varsity level.
“Our weakness right now is we’re low on numbers, but that’s 2A football,” Elder said. “Our depth across the board is not very deep. Staying healthy is imperative, very important as it is at any level, but at our level when you get someone hurt you have to move someone else from another position. If we can stay balanced, if we can stay healthy, and kids can develop, hopefully we can be successful.”
Among the Bluecats to keep an eye on, according to Elder, are running back/linebacker Ryland Gentry, quarterback Jadin Jackson, fullback/linebacker Brent Bouldin, receiver/defensive back Braxon Smith and offensive linemen Jorge Salas, David Navarro and Garrett Smith.
“Ryland was the district MVP last year and Jadin had a great sophomore season at quarterback,” Elder said. “Brent’s an inside linebacker who could have a breakout season, while Braxton intercepted eight passes last year and returned four for touchdowns. And then our whole offensive line, we’re expecting big things out of them.”
The Bluecats will be competing in the new District 5-2A Division I this season along with No. 12 Tolar, Hamilton, Goldthwaite, San Saba, Bangs and De Leon. Coleman, which was 5-0 against league foes a year ago, is favored to secure a second straight district championship by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, which also placed the Bluecats inside the preseason Top 10.
League play begins Sept. 23 at home against Goldthwaite followed by a road trip to San Saba, a home game with Tolar, a venture to Hamilton, the district bye on Oct. 21, a home tilt with De Leon, and the regular season finale at Bangs.
“It’s going to be a tough district,” Elder said. “The top two or three are wide open and it’s going to be a battle for the fourth spot. There’s some good teams, some well-coached football teams out there. We’re looking forward to it and hope we can put ourselves in position to win it.”
Coleman will prepare itself for district competition by battling Mason, Ballinger, Brady and Llano.
“We need to look like a mature, seasoned football team early,” Elder said of the Bluecats’ pre-district goals. “We came out and had a good first few days of two-a-days. The maturity level should be of a team that already has an identity, but hasn’t peaked yet. But to be the kind of team we want to be, we need to be hitting on all cylinders earlier in the season.”
Asked how good the Bluecats could ultimately be in 2022, Elder replied, “The expectations are the sky’s the limit. We can be as good or better than last year. Once you get deep in the playoffs you have to have a little luck to keep moving. I know everybody says it, but if we can be healthy in late November and early December we’ve got a chance.”
***
COLEMAN BLUECATS 2022 VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
| Sept. 26 | at Mason | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 2 | Ballinger | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 9 | Brady# | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 16 | at Llano | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 23 | Goldthwaite* | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 30 | at San Saba* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 7 | Tolar* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 14 | at Hamilton* | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 21 | OPEN | |
| Oct. 28 | De Leon* | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 4 | at Bangs* | 7 p.m. |
* District 5-2A Division I game
# Homecoming
