TALKIN’ FOOTBALL with Coach Warren

The Wimberley View sat down with Head Football Coach Doug Warren to talk about last week’s big victory over Navarro and how the season has come so far. The interview is lightly edited.

WV: This is your fourth trip to the state semi finals as a coach. How does it feel to be headed back?

Warren: Any time you are one of the four teams left standing it is awesome. It is what you dream about. It is what you work towards as the ultimate goal, and to see the kids playing at a high level and see them reap the rewards of hard work is really gratifying.

WV: Is it any sweeter to do it while beating a district rival – getting a little revenge for a big lose earlier in the season?

Warren: I don’t think it makes it any sweeter. That was a big time victory for us. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. When you get to this stage it is all sweet.

WV: There were expectations before the season that this team was going to be a good football team, but I think for even the most optimistic fans, this team has beaten those expectations. They are proving they are a great football team. Take me through the growth you have seen over the course of the season.

Warren: To be honest, I thought this team had the potential to be where we are right now. I thought we could be as good as anybody in our region if we put things together. We played a tough non-district schedule, and we got off to a hot start. We were playing well, and we suffered a few injuries in the middle of the year and didn’t play as well during that phase. I think, at that time, people started looking past us, and then we slowly started getting kids back one by one. Once we got the majority of those guys back, we have started to peak in the playoffs, and we are getting better each week. It is a journey. Every time you coach a bunch of teenage boys it is a journey, and you never know where it is going to take you. But this has been a fun ride. It is a great group of kids, and I still don’t think we have played our best football. We can be better, and we will have to be, but the sky is the limit of this group.

WV: Last year, Cooper McCollum showed some flashes last year that he had the talent to lead this team, but he has really grown this year into the type of quarterback that can lead a special football team.

Warren: It has been phenomenal. He has always had that talent. You have to give it to him for working extremely hard and making that big jump as far as leading a team and being comfortable in that role. He suffered an injury last year that cut his season short. He was sitting on the sideline in Bandera, and he was upset. I told him it was a minor set back for a major comeback, and all he said was ‘Yes Sir’ and went to work. He has turned into a really good quarterback for us.

WV: At the start of the season, there were games Moses Wray was getting 5 or 6 carries. The sophomore has exploded late in the season and into the playoffs. Take me through what you see from him.

Warren: He is a young kid. Even though he has that body that doesn’t tell that story, he is still a young kid. The last thing we wanted to do was overload him early in the season with carries. We had some other guys we wanted to get reps too, but he has a special ability and a special skill set that not many people have. Lately he has really turned it on and is our go-to guy.

WV: The defense has also stood up strong with two of the most impressive stops I’ve seen in years in the last two games. First, take me through that two-point conversion at the end of the Rockport game two weeks ago. What were you thinking when there was four seconds left and you saw them run their offense out there to go for the win?

Warren: First off, I had a gut feeling they would go for two. I probably would have done the same thing in that situation. That didn’t surprise me. We had a timeout to burn, so we let them line up, and then we used it. They had some heavy tendencies. They liked to run behind number 80, their tight end who is such a good run blocker. So we had a good feel for where they were going with the ball just by our coaches doing a great job of scouting. They came back out and flipped the formation, and we had a good idea where they were going with the ball. We were correct with that. But then it is still a matter of will and those kids buckled down and made the stop. It is beating the guy in front of you and making a tackle and they did a super job.

WV: Talk to me about the defense last week as a whole shutting down a powerful Navarro offense holding them to just 12 points. Then take me through the four play stand after Juan Olmedo made a touchdown saving tackle at the one yard line only to watch the Texan defense hold on four consecutive plays.

Warren: First off, you always preach effort. Give great effort, and he (Olmedo) gave great effort on that play and got him down. It gave us another play and with that being said, those guys (Navarro) pride themselves on you cannot stop us for less than five yards. It was just a super effort by our kids. It was a matter of wills as far as getting lower and moving that line of scrimmage to allow them to push it back. It was a great defensive stand.

WV: Alright now tell me about Silsbee. What are the Texans facing this week?

Warren: They are very big up front. They have some unbelievable skill kids with a lot of speed, but they are what you would think a team playing in the semi finals would be. They are really good. I think if you called their coach up, he would say the same about us. Typically in these types of games the margin of error becomes very slim. You can’t turn the ball over, can’t have penalties and you have to win the special teams. Typically that is what will win you these type of ball games.

The Wimberley Texans will face off against the Silsbee Tigers in the UIL 4A Division 2 State Semi-Finals on December 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Legacy Stadium in Katy.