The Bay City Black Cats took a “we’ll play anyone” approach in 2016’s non-district slate. It included Columbus, Bellville, Sweeny and Cameron Yoe. It’s a good thing because they play in one of the best little districts that no one talks about.
Bay City lost by a touchdown to a very talented Bellville team and fell to Yoe by a field goal. They toppled Sweeny, 27-8.
The Black Cats opened district with a respectable 29-6 loss at Stafford, which might have made it to state if it weren’t for those thorn-in-the-side East Texas squads. Bay City then rattled off wins against West Columbia, Needville, Brazosport and Sealy before a 35-28 overtime loss to district champion El Campo.
Bay City outslugged Yates 55-28 in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Bridge City in the area round. The Black Cats finished the season with a third-place spot in district and 7-5 record.
The turnaround by coach Guadalupe Florez has been nothing short of remarkable. Though he went 4-6 his first year in 2015, it was better than any team in the program since the 2007 team went 6-5.
The Black Cats did it last year with an odd mixture of seniors and sophomores. But, those sophomores were really good, including quarterback Dylan Davidson, who has two more years at the helm.
Key Losses
LB Elijah Ellis, DB Prinard Payne, WR Darryl Florez
Ellis and Payne were first-team all-district defenders while Florez led the team in receiving with 767 yards and six touchdowns. Christian Sauceda was second on the team in receiving yards (558) and tops with eight touchdown receptions.
Key Returners
QB Dylan Davidson, WR Ladarion Florez, DE Will Grumbles
Dylan Davidson was the district’s newcomer of the year in 2016 as a sophomore and rightfully so. He completed nearly 62 percent of his passes for 2,121 yards and 14 touchdowns, and he led the Black Cats in rushing with 725 yards and six more scores.
Ladarion Florez will just be a junior this year, but he was one of Davidson’s top targets in 2016. Florez caught 32 passes for nearly 400 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
Grumbles led the Black Cats in tackles last season with 82. He also had six quarterback hurries and one interception. Adam Smith had 58 tackles last year and Khambrel Franklin had 42 stops.
The Verdict
Coach Florez has Bay City turned in the right direction. And although the Black Cats lose a lot of talented seniors, they return a plethora of experienced underclassmen, and it all starts with Davidson at quarterback.
The schedule is the same treacherous one as last year, but it’s navigable.
The season starts with Columbus at home before trips to Bellville and Sweeny. Cameron Yoe comes to town to round out non-district and Stafford comes calling Sept. 29 to get district rolling.
Bay City has what it takes to make it back to the 4A Division I playoffs. If the Black Cats can notch second place or better in district, then the playoff path will be a little more favorable in 2017.
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