Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas

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September 3, 2012

Point After: Tigers are reloading

Ryan’s 5A advantage on display in 2nd half, but that’s OK

By Chuck Williams Corsicana Daily Sun

Corsicana — General sentiment among the Tiger Football faithful was that last Friday’s contest against 5A Denton Ryan would be a good barometer of where this team stood.

When Denton Ryan trailed 22-0 in the second quarter, stunned faces were aplenty on both sides of the stadium. Are the Tigers as good as 22-3 at the end of the first half or are they the team that lost 37-6 in the second half?

NFL legend Bill Parcells used to say, a “team is what it is.” Using that logic, the Tigers were 13 points shy of beating a team that Dave Campbell’s football magazine picked to win 5-5A.

Not bad for a squad that lost one of the best senior classes of players in the modern era. Classifications are classifications for a reason and that is based on the number of students to choose from. Denton Ryan has 500 more potential players at their disposal.

In the late quarters of a game played in sweltering heat, that advantage was on display. While the Tiger starters, many of them two-way starters, began to succumb to leg cramps, Denton Ryan began to substitute more players. The Tigers lost the game by losing the war of attrition.

“I know we had a lot of people cramping,” said quarterback Devontay Bell who picked up where he left off last year finishing the night with 214 rushing yards. “But we have to do what he have to do. If we need to play five quarters, then we will play five quarters. I guess we need to get in better shape.”

One is prone to wonder if the game was on a 70 degree night, if the result would have been different.

Out of the gate, the Tigers looked like the semifinal team that went 13-2 in 2011. The biggest question about the defense seemed to be answered early. Tiger defenders were like bees on honey. The ferociousness of hits in the first quarter alone was enough to raise collective eye brows.

Offensively, Bell, well he was vintage Bell with a 43-yard over-the-top-perfect touchdown pass to Bobby Wallace for good measure.

The Tiger train was rolling, and it appeared the only thing that could stop the Tigers were the Tigers. Or Tiger cramps.

Daily Sun Sports Editor Todd Wills posed the question just prior to the season of “Are the Tigers reloading or rebuilding?”

I think they answered that question on Friday night. Joey Florence and the Ryan Raiders have been a solid program for the last decade.

The Tigers are reloading.

“We overcame some adversity tonight, but we also have to improve in a lot of areas” said fourth-year head coach Phil Castles who has led these Tigers to the playoffs every year since his arrival in 2009. “We have a lot of work to do, and we have to get in better shape.”

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