This is the 23rd of The Athlete's Connection's 30 football previews in 30 days leading up to the season-opening games Aug. 28. Today, Chad Washington visits with Cy-Fair coach Ed Pustejovsky to talk about how the Bobcats look for the upcoming season.

The days of Sam McGuffie running for long touchdowns and leaping over defenders for Cy-Fair are becoming a distant memory, relived mostly on YouTube. The running back that led the Bobcats to two deep playoff runs is now trying to make the first team at Michigan, while his former teammates and coaches try to move on and keep the momentum he built going.

Head coach Ed Pustejovsky will have to replace more than just McGuffie, as Cy-Fair only returns 15 lettermen from last season.

“We’re trying to improve everyday and working hard,” Pustejovsky said. “Of course, we need more days, but the kids are doing a good job doing what they’re asked to do, and hopefully we’ll be competitive.”

Replacing McGuffie in the backfield will not be easy, but with a 1-2 punch of tailback Tevin Champange and fullback Morrice Lane could be sufficient enough to keep the Bobcat running attack potent, with Chad Greene coming in for spot duty. However, Cy-Fair will have to adjust its offensive philosophy to adapt playing without McGuffie’s big-play capabilities.

“We’ll stay with what we been doing, but we’ll probably have to throw the ball a bit more than we did in the past,” Pustejovsky said. “Those 80-yard touchdown runs may not come so much as they have in the past. But we’re going to stick with what we do and get better.”

That means junior Blake Reese will have to step in and make plays as the new starting quarterback. Luckily for him, he has good targets in tight end Colby Goodwin - an all-district selection – and Patrick Kilday. The line should be in decent shape with returning all-district center Jeremy Strickler and tackle Justin Lippman.

“We have some quality kids (on the offensive line), and they have to learn on the run,” Pustejovsky said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to adjust, work hard and improve.”

Defensively, the Bobcats need to work on a young secondary that gave up a lot of passing yards and touchdowns last year. It will be up to defensive backs Duran Snoddy and Chris Zeh to play more lock-down defense. But the front seven, led by inside linebacker Michael Daronch, defensive linemen Donavon Guidry and Jeremy Elder will make Cy-Fair tough to run against.

“Our front four and our linebackers are our strength, but our secondary is young, and that’s a concern,” Pustejovsky said. “But we have quality kids back there and they’ll work hard to improve.”

The Bobcats have two tough road games to open the season, including the opener against The Woodlands, which will be playing its first game at brand-new Woodforest Stadium. Then there’s a trip to play Klein Collins before hosting another tough team in Deer Park at Pridgeon Stadium.

District 15-5A will be tough once again, with tough games against Cypress Ridge on Oct. 11 and Cypress Falls on Nov. 1. But Pustejovsky is hoping his young team will improve each game and prepare to make another strong run in the playoffs.

“Our main goal is to improve on a daily basis,” he said. “Of course we would like to win the district championship and play Game No. 11. There has been a tradition set and had nice runs the last three or four years. And we like to maintain that.”

CY-FAIR 2008 SCHEDULE
 Aug. 29: at The Woodlands, 7:30 p.m. (at Wood Forest Stadium)
Sept. 4: at Klein Collins, 7 p.m. (at Klein Memorial Stadium)
Sept. 13: Deer Park, 6 p.m. (at Pridgeon Stadium)

+Sept. 26: Cypress Springs, 7:30 p.m. (at Berry Center, as home team)

+Oct. 3: Langham Creek, 7:30 p.m. (at Pridgeon Stadium, as visiting team)

+Oct. 11: Cypress Ridge, 6 p.m. (at Berry Center, as home team)

+Oct. 18: Cypress Creek, 6 p.m. (at Pridgeon Stadium, as visiting team)

+Oct. 24: Cypress Woods, 7:30 p.m. (at Berry Center, as home team)

+Nov. 1: Cypress Falls, 6 p.m. (at Pridgeon Stadium, as home team)
+Nov. 7: Jersey Village, 7:30 p.m. (at Pridgeon Stadium, as visiting team)

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