Cubs credit cameraderie for run to finals

Somewhere along the way, backup quarterback Michael Buro's home became the home away from home for the Brenham Cub football team.

While the Cubs were in the midst of their early-morning two-a-day practices, Buro's home became a sort of waystation for Cub football players, many of whom lived outside the city limits and didn't want to make a long drive into town to reach practice on time. With that in mind, Buro offered his home to his teammates, allowing them to sleep over before Buro drove them to practice in the morning.

Even now, with two-a-days long since completed, Buro's home is a favorite stomping ground for a Brenham team that credits much of its success to the team's uncanny chemistry.

"When you need a place to stay, all you need to do is call somebody," junior wide receiver Derek Edwards said. "If you need money, need something to eat, they're there. Michael Buro, everybody goes to his house. If you need something to eat, call Michael Buro. If you need a ride home, call me or Tom (Newman). If you need anything, just call somebody on the team and it's going to happen. It isn't 'kind of' or 'maybe.' It's going to happen. That's how much we are a family. That's how much we love each other."

That cameraderie has helped Brenham advance to the Class 4A Division II championship game Saturday at Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin. It is just the second time in program history the Cubs have reached the state finals.

"I can't explain it," Buro said. "I know I personally have dreamed of it my whole life, and just to be able to do it with these guys who I've become so close to is just so much better. It's awesome. It couldn't be any better."

Newman, a senior deep snapper who delayed surgery on his thumb so he could play this season, echoed the sentiment.

"It's crazy," he said. "I've had a piece of paper on my ceiling over my bed ever since I was in junior high that says, 'State champs.' It's always been my dream and now we're here so we might as well put it away."

Brenham may never have gotten here without the closeness that bonds the team. The Cubs trailed Angleton 21-0 in the second half of the regional semifinals before rallying for a 32-28 victory, then fell behind Dayton 17-0 in the regional championship game before coming from behind to win 30-24.

"We all look forward to practicing with each other and hanging out in the locker room," junior quarterback Ty Schlottmann said. "Believing in one another has taken us so far."

The Cubs' devotion to one another doesn't just show up on the scoreboard. Prior to Brenham's home finale against the Magnolia Bulldogs, a night in which the Cubs would honor all 14 members of their senior class, those veterans would get the opportunity to stand up before their teammates and speak. One by one, Buro, Newman, Ken-neth Allen, Joey Burns and a parade of others told their teammates exactly what the team meant to them. An emotional squad then went out onto the Cub Stadium grass for the final time and crushed the Bulldogs 45-14.

For Brenham (13-2) coach Glen West, it's a bond that he sees in evidence every day, from the way the players crank up the music and dance prior to each day's practice to the Halloween party in which place kicker Tanner Schmidt came dressed as wide receiver Tre'mund Moore and Moore came as Edwards' father.

"They were in class one day and one of the students was saying something to one of the football players, saying you know how it is when the other guys start to get on your nerves," West said. "Travis Pearce and Tom Newman were asked that and they said, 'We don't know what you're talking about. That doesn't happen. We don't have fights. We never have arguments.' And I really think that's the way they feel."

Brenham's close-knit relationships came full circle in the comeback victory over Angleton when, with the Cubs trailing 28-10 in the fourth quarter, Schlottmann was the victim of a late hit that forced him to leave the game for a play. With the ball on Angleton's 14-yard line, the Cubs called a fade route to Edwards in the corner of the end zone. Buro floated a perfect pass into Edwards' arms for the first of three unanswered Brenham touchdowns.

When Buro ran back to the sideline, the whole team was waiting for him.

"That just made it so much better, that everybody was with me in my happiness about it," Buro said. "I can't even explain it. It was pretty surreal. I just never dreamed something like that would happen."

For weeks now, the Cubs have been playing for the right to extend their season another week, to play alongside their friends and teammates another day. Now that road that began with two-a-days in August will culminate on Saturday.

"There will be tears shed in the locker room Saturday no matter what happens because they don't want this to end," West said.

Richard Bray, Sports Editor, Brenham Banner Press