2008 Battlefield Bobcats Football Preview

Bobcats Are Sleepers No More

First in a series of 10.

It’s 7 a.m. on brisk Saturday morning – a perfect time for high school students to stockpile some sleep in preparation of the upcoming school year. But here they are – the Battlefield High School football team – getting in an early-morning practice, just six days away from their first game of the season.

“[Last year] everybody took us lightly,” said Battlefield head coach Mark Cox. “We were still a new school. This year, though, they will all be out to get us. I think that we have a target on our back this year.”

And so the Bobcats prepare for the upcoming season, no matter what the day, no matter what the time.

After posting a 5-15 record in 2005 and 2006, the Bobcats are the reigning Cedar Run champs, earning the young program’s first title with a impressive 9-2 overall record last year. Even more impressive was the Bobcats perfect 7-0 record in the district.

“Last year, we had some seniors who played with us for four years and they didn’t want to go out without making it to the playoffs,” said Cox. “We had a little bit of an extra incentive last year with those seniors.”

That isn’t to say that this year’s 32 seniors don’t have the same goals.

“People think that it was fluke that we got to the playoffs. They think that we shouldn’t have been there anyway. We have to come back and do that same thing so people don’t think that it was a fluke,” said senior running back Adrian Ingram, one of nine returning starters on the offensive side of the ball. 

Ingram and the Bobcats will have a tough road ahead. After starting out with defending Cardinal District champion Potomac, Battlefield will take on out-of-district rivals Gar-Field and C.D. Hylton before jumping into their district slate.

“We have probability one of the toughest schedules around,” said Cox. “You have to play those schools in order to get better. You don’t getting any better playing teams that aren’t going to test you. If we are fortunate to get into the playoffs, we will be playing teams like Gar-Field, Potomac and Woodbridge and Hylton. I think that it is a plus to play those kinds of schools.”

Never-Say-Die Mentality

Facing a 21-7 deficit to Stonewall Jackson in Week Four last year, the Bobcats rallied to win by a field goal. On Oct. 27, the Bobcats came back from a 20-point deficit to beat Fauquier in overtime. The Bobcats will hope to bring that same never-give-up mentality to this season.

“When your team starts clicking, things start to fall your way,” said Cox, who also admitted that his squad also got a bit of luck. Stonewall was hit with game-changing penalties on their final drive and the Bobcats blocked a key punt against Fauquier. The team was also blessed with a big boot from kicker Ben Burden, who will miss the first half of this year after undergoing off-season knee surgery.

Added Ingram: “We just had the refuse-to-lose mentality and everyone was behind it.”

Quotable:

“We have a lot of kids that were there last year and have the bitter taste in their mouth from losing in the playoffs.”

— Battlefield Coach Mark Cox