Most memorable Henrietta games covered

Bearcats' string of success started with 2004 state semifinalist squad

“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” 

It’s difficult to be knowledgeable about an area’s history if you’re not from there. 

I began writing full-time at the TRN before the 2004 high school football season. Back then I didn’t know Iowa Park had won consecutive state titles in 1969-70. Or that Vernon had enjoyed a dominant stretch in the 1980s and ’90s.  

I definitely couldn’t tell you that Henrietta had historically been one of the area’s least successful programs.

The Bearcats didn’t make the postseason from 1974-1999. They only had four playoff victories during the 20^th century. Even now after a generation of success, Henrietta’s program still has lost about 110 games more than it’s won.

I couldn’t tell you these things because the first year I covered the area’s football scene was the Bearcats’ best season in history.

Henrietta won a program-record 12 games in 2004 (they’ve since matched that twice). It was a magical journey that included a double-digit comeback in Childress (the Bearcats were a 17-point underdog!) and a shutout against an explosive Holliday team on a muddy home field.

The Bearcats won their first three playoff games – nearly matching the town’s total from the previous 80 years – before falling in a heartbreaker to Boyd in the semifinals (more on that game below).

Henrietta has fielded some special teams and special players since. But none that have gone that deep in the playoffs. And I was fortunate enough to be there for the ride, a fresh-out-of-college journalist traveling to Amarillo and Stephenville and Bedford to chronicle those Bearcats.

What I learned then and what’s held true the past two decades is that Henrietta football fits the definition of blue-collar. You can thank many people for that, but I’d like to think Byron West and his staff (like longtime defensive coordinator Gregg Graves) have a lot to do with that mentality.

The players I remember the most from 2004 – well besides shifty tailback Matthew Key – were a couple of guys who did everything they were supposed to do. Cody Bates was a receiver/linebacker who was always around the ball. And you could have pulled bruising fullback Heath Moore from the ground-and-pound style of the 1950s. He was such a throwback player (think Mike Alstott of the Tampa Bay Bucs).