In its fifth season as a varsity program, Benbrook came oh-so close to winning its first-ever district title as the Bobcats just fell just short to Kennedale, 16-13, in overtime in a game that ended up serving as the district title decider.

Coming off a 6-5 season in 2020, the Bobcats will go in search of that first-ever district title as well as the first playoff win in program history this year. With the sixth varsity season of Bobcat football fast approaching, TexasFootball.com sat down with Benbrook head coach Cody Slater to get his thoughts on his football team and the 2021 season.

Q: What are your thoughts on last season especially considering it was played through a pandemic?

“Just super proud of those kids to fight through so much adversity with COVID. Basically, at first, we didn’t even know if we were going to get to play because we were put under that Tarrant County restriction. The judge put a deal saying that Tarrant County wasn’t going to be able to participate until a certain time [Tarrant County schools were ordered to be closed in-person until September 28, 2020]. So we’re having to scramble and people were dropping us with games, and I had to find games. They came back and said we could play, and the rest of the state is playing. We had to fight through all of that. We had to fight through the protocols: day-to-day things that we had to go through to keep our kids safe. It was a little different on everybody. Going in last year, we fought hard those first three ball game. Going down there and playing a China Spring team that was just loaded with talent and made a big deep [playoff] run [China Spring won the game 74-35]. We had to pick them up because we had been dropped. Then we played Ferris, and stubbed our toe and went 0-2 [Ferris narrowly edged Benbrook 20-17].  Then we had to pick up Wichita Falls Hirschi, and they were loaded with a defensive end that was going to TCU [Chris Murray] and a sophomore running back that’s being recruited all over the state of Texas, and we played them tough [Hirschi won 34-28]. We’re 0-3, and then had to start off district. Our kids just battled every district ball game. Got us to the point where down there at the end of district, we played Kennedale. Thought we had our chances to win it there, but we didn’t get it done and got beat in overtime.  Against Stephenville [in the bi-district round], we were beat up, and they got after us a little bit. But, just super proud of them. That group wanted to make the playoffs and have a chance to win a playoff game, and we were just super proud of their efforts.”

Benbrook has now completed five varsity seasons with a 20-32 overall record. However, the Bobcats have now made the playoffs and finished above .500 in two of the past three seasons.

Q: How do you feel about the state of the program?

“I think we got a really good thing going. On the sub-varsity last year, because of the pandemic, most everyone was playing JV because [teams] were really scared about losing kids and having to pull kids up. A lot of people we played didn’t carry three teams, so we only played two teams. Our sub-varsity finished 6-4, and so we were proud about that. Our seventh and eighth grade teams both went undefeated here in our leagues in Fort Worth. The future is bright. We see the fruit of our labors, and the kids see the fruit of their labors of the hard work that putting in is starting to pay off. We knew going in when we started this thing six years ago, we were really behind. We were really behind on the fundamentals of football, and we were really behind on the strength phase of football. We’ve had to implement our bigger, faster, stronger strength program, and it has really started to show. We’re still trying to achieve where we need to be to get up to the levels of the Argyles, Waco La Vegas, Stephenvilles, Midlothian Heritages, and Kennedales, but I feel like we’re closing the gap pretty quick.”

One hole that Benbrook has to fill this season is at the quarterback position. William Green was a three-year starter for the Bobcats and helped lead them to their first two playoff appearances in school history. Last season, he threw for 1,823 yards and 24 touchdowns to just seven interceptions.

Q: How is the quarterback position shaping up this season after Green’s graduation?

“It’s pretty wide open. We’ve got a few kids here. We had a kid move in from outside [Benbrook is still waiting for his PAPF form to go through]. We’ve got Maddox McKinley who started on our sub-varsity for us, and we have Jayson Henley, who also played wide receiver for us. All three of those kids are going to have a shot at it. It’s going to be pretty wide open going into those first two weeks of two-a-days and those first two scrimmages. We’ll get really tested in those two scrimmages because we’re going to go over and face Brock, and they’re bringing back a lot of talent, and then we got to go to Glen Rose. [Brock head coach Billy] Mathis and [Glen Rose head coach] Cliff Watkins do a great job, so we’ll get to see who is going to stand out and hopefully we’ll find out that before our first game against Sanger.”

There are a couple of other question marks for Benbrook heading into the season. Leading receiver Don’Tre Sinegal (512 receiving yards and five touchdowns) graduated, while there is uncertainty about whether leading rusher junior Dee Kennedy (730 rushing yards and eight touchdowns) will return as he already has Division I baseball offers.

Q: What players are you looking at to be your offensive leaders this season?

“We’re hoping to get Dee back. He has already been baseball offered through A&M, so we don’t know if he is going to play or not. We’ll welcome him back if he comes back. I know how it is that you want to look out for the best interest, but we have a lot of other pieces that we feel like can jump right in there. We’ve got a senior on the offensive side, he also plays on the defensive side, [running back] Roderick Hodge. We feel like Jayson Henley, whether he is at quarterback or wide receiver and he also plays free safety for us, is also a big piece to that. We have Gage Toberny, he’s our starting inside linebacker, and he also plays h-back. We feel like he’s a big part of that. We’ll put the pieces of the puzzle together to try and make another run at it, but we’re really excited about the opportunities that present itself.”

Last year, the Benbrook defense didn’t allow more than 16 points in a game in district play. That unit will return the two leading tacklers from a year ago in senior Harry Gonzales (100 total tackles) and junior Gage Toberny (101 total tackles).

Q: What are your expectations for your defense this year?

“I’m really excited about the defense. I’m excited about offense, trying to get some new kids in and see how we can fit it all together, but defensively, I think that’s going to be our backbone. We have two big bookends. Jackson Littlepage, he’s going to be a senior, plays defensive end, and on the offensive side he plays some tight end for us, and Jayden Montalvo, he was in here last year and plays defensive end and tight end. Both of those guys had a really good offseason. They’re both over 6’3” and both weigh around 215-220 pounds and move real good. At inside linebacker, with Harry Gonzales and Gage Toberny returning, we’re really excited about that. On the backend, the two safeties are back, Roderick Hodge at strong safety and Jayson Henley at free safety. They both started for us last year at those two positions. We’re really looking forward to having those seven starters back on that side of the ball and that being our catalyst while we try and find our identity offensively this year.”

With its 16-13 overtime victory over Benbrook a year ago, Kennedale secured its ninth-straight district title. Fort Worth Western Hills, meanwhile, secured its first playoff berth since 2010, while Dunbar missed out on the playoffs for just the second time in the past ten years. All told, there are plenty of storylines in District 6-4A Division I heading into the 2021 season.

Q: What will be the key to your team getting over that hurdle and bringing home its first ever district title this year and who do you expect to be the contenders in your district in 2021?

“Kennedale is the bar in this district. Coach Barrett and his staff do a heck of a job every year, and it seems like they just reload. We’re kind of closing that gap, but I think everybody else is trying to close that gap as well and doing a super job. We’ve got really good football coaches in this district. You go to Dunbar and Coach Lawson and his staff do an excellent job, and they utilize their speed and talent. I think they’re going to be a frontrunner this year because they have two really good running backs that are back. One of them, [Dariante Hall], was at the state track meet and ran the 100 meters. Anytime he gets loose, you’re going to have problems. I think Kennedale is the front runner. I think Castleberry and Western Hills are sleepers, and I think Coach Murray over there at Carter-Riverside is doing a good job getting things rolling. It’s kind of like every year. You’ve got to go in, and you’ve got to be ready because by the time district rolls around, you’ve got to be healthy and you’ve got to be playing your best football. That’s what we try to tell our kids. We get a preseason for a reason. Preseason is to get us ready for district play. Last year, we went 0-3 in preseason. It’s the same way this year. We’re going to see where we’re at going into preseason. We’re going to get the kinks worked out by the time we reach district play. It’s going to be different this year because last year, it was a pool, so we knew who we were playing and what order we were playing. Now this year, we’re going back to a straight seven and if, for some reason, you get a COVID outbreak, you’re going to have to pretty much cancel that ball game and take it as a forfeit. Like I said, it’s all different, but we’re excited about our opportunities here. Kennedale is the bar every year. Richard does a great job and his kids play hard. You know what you’re getting. They’re not going to sugarcoat anything. They’re going to run the wing-T. On defense, they’re going to come right at you and bring it every play, so we got to get ourselves ready.”

Q: What are your expectations and goals for the 2021 season?

“We’ve got a goal, and the first goal is to find a way to get into the playoffs. Our expectation is for our kids to give us everything they got. Have a great attitude and play with great effort and to show good sportsmanship and enjoy the game of football. We tell these kids all the time, it’s a short time from the time you walk in as a freshman till the time you leave as a senior. In the blink of an eye, it will be gone, so enjoy it. Enjoy the camaraderie with your teammates because this game teaches you so much about the game of life. We not only want to win on the football field, but we also want to win at the game of life. And then every year, we’re going to try to go win a district championship. We know that Kennedale is going to be in the way. The way it sets up this year, if we can take care of our business in district play, it will set it up for the last ball game of the year against Kennedale. It’d be another fun game to have those guys the last game of the year to see if we can get our first-ever district championship.”

Benbrook will open its season with non-district showdowns against three playoff teams from last year in Sanger, Ferris, and Mineral Wells before heading into district play. If both Kennedale and Benbrook defeat the other six teams in their district as they did last year, they will be on a collision course for a showdown on Saturday morning November 6 that would decide the district title for the second year running.

And while there is a lot of football to be played before that would happen, keep an eye on Benbrook, led by its stout defense, as it looks to make its sixth varsity season a memorable one.