Article on Splendora from Chron.Com

[Guest etbu]

July 11, 2008, 1:49PM

FOOTBALL

Splendora takes steps to open offense

Sweat delivers at QB in 7-on-7 league

By TODD HVEEM

Chronicle Correspondent

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The Splendora Wildcats are never going to operate out of the shotgun and sling the ball all over the football field. But third-year Wildcats coach Chris Nelson is hoping his team can put the ball in the air a little more during the 2008 season.

"I think we have averaged throwing it about four times per game over the past two years," said Nelson with a laugh. "We would like to throw it 10-15 times per game. But you have to be able to throw it and catch it if you want to do that."

This summer, the two-time defending District 22-3A champion took a step in the right direction by playing in a 7-on-7 passing league against Livingston, Shepherd, Tarkington and Cleveland.

"We have an incoming freshman (6-foot-1, 170-pound Jake Sweat) who has stepped up and looked pretty good (at quarterback) during 7-on-7," Nelson said. "The more and more reps he gets, the better he is going to be. There is a good possibility he could be our quarterback in the fall."

And, if Sweat is at quarterback, the Cats just might throw the ball more.

"Our problem, unlike many of the other teams we face, is that we are just not very fast," said Nelson. "We have to run a lot of play-action and quick passing game stuff. If we take five-step drops, we have to run quick routes to have a chance.

"We are not blessed with great speed like Cleveland and Coldspring. We try and create mismatches where we can, and run pick routes and whatever we can do."

Nelson said teams often have thrown 11 guys inside the tackle box to try and stop the run-happy Wildcats.

"That makes it very hard to run the ball," he said. "The last two years, we have had some good size offensive linemen. This year, we are going to be very young. The possibility of running the ball against that kind of front this year is not as good. We have to come up with other options. Throwing the ball is one of them."

Nelson said the Wildcats finished 3-5 in 7-on-7 football league play.

"We split 1-1 with Cleveland, Tarkington and Shepherd," he said. "That is the best we have done in my three years here. The only team we didn't beat was Livingston. Livingston is very athletic. The matchups just were not there.

"Still, we got to throw and catch the ball a lot, and that is something we need to work on. I am not a huge advocate of 7-on-7. We are not normally going to throw the ball much during the season. But this year, we may have to do a lot more of that."

Splendora has lost to Silsbee and Jasper in the first round of the playoffs each of the past two years.

"I think a first-round (playoff) win is going to come," Nelson said. "I sure hope so."

Splendora will open fall drills on Aug. 4. It will scrimmage Huntington and Bryan Rudder before playing Stafford, Needville, Chavez and Beaumont Kelly in non-district.

"We got (Class 5A) Chavez when realignment first came out,." Nelson said. "It was either play them or Caldwell that was three hours away. We decided to play Chavez.

"We may come out of non-district 1-3 or 0-4, but we need to get used to playing these type of people. The more athletic teams we can play before district, the better. We are going to see them in district in Cleveland, Coldspring and Liberty. And we will definitely see them in the playoffs."

Splendora is projected to move up to Class 4A during the 2010 realignment.

"We are projected to open our doors right at the 4A number this year," Nelson said. "I definitely think we will be there next time."

[Wes57]

I would think that Splendora throwing the ball would suprise me more than Liberty throwing the football 15 times. With our new coach we just might do it though.

[playdefense]

SPLENDORA GOING 4A IN 2 YEARS - WOW.  I HAD NO IDEA THAT AREA WAS GROWING THAT FAST.  AMAZING.  DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THAT WILL HELP THEIR CAUSE.

[Ulrich von Lichtenstein]

I wish I had a dollar for every time over the years I've heard someone from Splendora cry about how much more "athleticism" and "speed" that all their opponents have...

Is that supposed to motivate their kids somehow?

[Guest luke tha drifter]

Ulrich....not sure anyone is crying, just stating fact....cleveland, coldspring, and liberty have more big play threats than the cats do

[Ulrich von Lichtenstein]

Maybe "crying" wasn't the correct word to use, but boy, have I heard too many times about how inferior the Wildcats are athletically from people inside the Splendora program.  I'm just saying that after a while, it gets old.  We get the picture already - they don't think their boys are athletic...

[Go-rilla]

I think splendora has been athletic enough to win.. They have something that alot of those teams have not had.. Toughness.. If your going to run the ball 60 times a game you better be good on the o-line and fullback spot and they have been.