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A new run?
Published November 17, 2009
HARPER — It’s unlikely that many people outside the Harper city limits think the Longhorns have a chance against Altair Rice.
The Raiders entered the playoffs in search of their second straight Class 2A playoff semifinal appearance. After all, this is a team that has won at least eight games every year since the current Longhorn seniors were learning cursive in the second grade. This season was more of the same: An 8-1 regular season, the lone loss coming to 10-0 Sealy of Class 3A, and a first round win over Lexington 21-11. The Raiders are loaded with talent, admits Harper coach Cody White, and have the ability to make another long playoff run.
Maybe the Longhorns will switch things up against the Class 2A powerhouse. Maybe White will change his team’s philosophy.
Not a chance.
“You probably should,” White said. “But not us, man. We ride with what got us here, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
What may have helped the Longhorns to a 7-2 regular season was their winning tradition they brought with them from Class A. While this is Harper’s first Class 2A playoff appearance since moving, White and his upperclassmen are far from playoff novices.
In 2007, the Longhorns advanced through four playoff rounds, winning games the easy way, 32-0 over Sabinal in the third round, and the hard way, 7-6 over Thorndale. That team was finally grounded by Bremond 21-18 in early December. Junior quarterback Jake Whitten remembers that season, his freshmen year, and is reminded of Friday’s upcoming game.
“My freshman year, we were kind of like (Altair Rice) — we had a bunch of studs,” Whitten said. “This year we’re playing on a lot of heart.”
While the comparisons may end with hearts and stud playmakers, one thing is for sure: The Longhorns are as prepared as they’ve ever been in any playoff season, regardless of Class. Harper made the playoffs out of District 27, which includes Blanco and Comfort, which combined to defeat first round opponents Karnes City and Geronimo Navarro 105-21.
“You hope (that district season experience) is huge,” White said. “Our district definitely prepared us for the playoffs because there are some good teams — everybody’s still going, so that’s a good thing.”
“We played teams a lot better than (first round opponent) Poth in district,” Whitten said. “And that’s great to know what to expect.”
Few outsiders will pick the Longhorns to win this Friday at Buda Hays High School, but that doesn’t bother the Longhorns.
“We’ve just got to prepare and do what did last week,” sophomore Reagan Randall said. “Against Poth, we prepared pretty good. Our lineman did a good job. We prepared ourselves.”
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