From Floundering to Favorite

The Bridge Creek Bobcats had a winning season and won a game in the playoffs a season ago.

Sound like a fluke? Really, it sounds more like a dream as Bridge Creek is in the middle of one of the state's finest - and maybe most surprising turnarounds.

After all, when coach Jerry Wallis took over the program five seasons ago, he inherited a team that had 20 wins total in 15 seasons. Wallis and the Bobcats went 2-8 in his first two years but then have gone 16-7 in the past two, including last year's 10-2 mark.

The players may still be gleaming after that incredible run, but don't expect them to take it easy this fall. With a strong group of seniors, a coaching staff that taught them how to win, and a community behind them, the Bobcats are out to prove their no one-hit wonder.

"Last year we were predicted to lose half of our games, people thought we were a fluke and scheduled us for their homecoming games," senior linebacker Cory Tallent said. "But we have some good young players, our senior class is very good, and we have played together as a unit, I think it's our year."

The team returns a number of key players on both sides of the ball. Offensively Bridge Creek has a pair of dependable senior offensive lineman in Dallis Forbes and Sean Harrell. Those two will help clear holes for senior running back Shane Leiter, who rushed for 853 yards and eight touchdowns last year. On defense the Bobcats have a pair of gifted linebackers in Tallent and Ryan Martin, who combined for nearly 200 tackles last year.

While the Bridge Creek squad has plenty of gifted seniors, Wallis is also quick to point out a couple of areas of concern at quarterback and the defensive secondary, where the team will need to rely on some young players to step in.

"It's hard to tell, we will have some young players in there, but we have a pretty good chance to be even better," Wallis said.

As many of the seniors prepare for their final year of high school football, it's not hard to marvel at how far things come for the school just outside Blanchard.

"Our freshman year, you could count on one hand how many people there were at the games, now there are people looking for places to sit, you have people lined up along the fence," Forbes said. "Even in away games, there are sometimes more of our people there than home team."

The turning point came five years ago when Wallis took over the program. He heard about the job from former Newcastle head coach and current Bridge Creek coach August Deets, while coaching at Friends University in Wichita, Kan. The Shawnee native wanted to return to Oklahoma and was optimistic about the future at Bridge Creek.

"(Deets) told me about Bridge Creek, and felt like with the right coach it could be done," Wallis said. "It has good schools, it's a growing area, and we thought we'd have a shot at it."

Wallis later brought in a number of talented assistant coaches, including Deets, to help turn things around. The next piece of the transformation was instilling a more stringent off-season workout program, building the players confidence levels, and teaching them how to win.

"We've developed a great work ethic, we have a great amount of respect for each other, and we're not getting into trouble," Tallent said.

"Just getting someone that knows what he's doing made a huge difference," Forbes said. "(Wallis) got in there and changed everything up and everything started clicking."

Wallis not only brought about a new attitude with the players, but also helped win the hearts of the community and the school board. Two years ago the school added a new field house and new facilities for the softball, baseball, cheerleading programs, and the school district also recently approved the construction of a new high school.

Coming to Bridge Creek may have been a bit of risk for Wallis. But in five short years, it's one decision no one at Bridge Creek regrets.

"We're fixing to build a new school, we have a girl's softball team that's been going to state," Wallis said. "There are just a lot of good things going on out here at this time."