Pilot Point sends two to college ranks

PILOT POINT -- Coach Blake Feldt was feeling twice the amount of pride on signing day. Not only did he have two of his state champion Pilot Point Bearcats sign Division I Football Bowl Subdivision letters of intent on Wednesday ... one of them happens to be his son.

Big offensive lineman Cam Feldt signed with Arkansas, and defensive end teammate Carter Street inked with Louisiana Tech. Each had verbally committed early on: Feldt since the end of his sophomore year, and Street since last summer.

"This a great day," Blake Feldt said. "It seems like forever since Cam committed. It's been almost two years. We've been ready for this day to get here for a long time. I'm so proud of Cam and Carter for all the things that both of them have done. Both of them are so deserving because they worked so hard."

Together as seniors, they helped lead the Bearcats to a 15-0 record and to the Class 2A Division I state championship, beating Kirbyville in the finals.

"Nothing beats winning a state championship and going undefeated in the state of Texas," Cam Feldt said. "It was a great feeling."

Cam, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive tackle, was named first-team all-state by both The Associated Press and the Texas Sports Writers Association, and was also a first-team member of the Herald Democrat All-Texomaland 1A-2A football team. Street, who is 6-3 and 250, was voted first-team all-state by the TSWA and second-team by the AP.

Cam Feldt committed to the Razorbacks the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons after attending a football camp in Fayetteville.

"I got a chance to look at things and see all their facilities, and interact with their coaching staff," he said. "Being around Big 12 schools and seeing that, and after going to Arkansas and experiencing that, from then on I was sold. I'm excited about getting a chance to play in what is arguably the best conference in the nation."

Street and Louisiana Tech remained paired despite a coaching change in Ruston, possibly because of the Texas Tech connection between Blake Feldt and Louisiana Tech's new coach, Sonny Dykes.

"Everything's worked out," Street said. "It's a good school and it's where I wanted to be at. I went to their camp and to their junior day, and I made my official visit and hung out with the players a lot. I liked the players and I liked the coaches. I liked the town; it's a small town."

Street attended, by his estimation, eight or nine summer camps. He said Oklahoma State, Purdue, Arizona, Georgia Tech, North Texas and Baylor were other schools that talked to him. Louisiana Tech was the first to make a scholarship offer, and in the end, the one Street chose.

"I just liked the family atmosphere and I really liked the coaches I had," Street said. "So I decided to go there."

Meanwhile, Cam Feldt expects to redshirt his first season at Arkansas, which is standard practice with major-college linemen.

"He's going to go up there the first of June and enroll, and take some summer-school classes, and get ready for the fall," Blake Feldt said. "The odds are, for offensive linemen, the far majority of the time ... that's what they need to do."

Coach Feldt should know: He played offensive line at Texas Tech for three years, and coached offensive linemen at Texas Tech, Texas and Appalachian State as part of a 15-year career as a college assistant before joining the high school ranks.

Of the next generation of Feldts, Cam may only be the first to go to college. Boone, a sophomore last year, is 6-3 and still growing; and the youngest brother, Jack, a seventh-grader, is on the way.

"Jack may end up the biggest one," Cam said. He added, laughing, "But I can still take him."