Palacios ends 43-year playoff drought

To say that Palacios was excited after their win at Yoakum this past Friday night would be a gross understatement. The Sharks needed a victory to clinch a berth in the class 3A state playoffs. One lopsided 51-15 win later and Palacios is in the postseason. It's been a long time coming for the community on the shores of Matagorda Bay.

"This is the first time in 43 years that Palacios has been to the playoffs," said third-year head coach Mike Treybig. "It's been a long time coming for this town."

In fact, Treybig can rattle off a list of dubious distinctions for the program over the years.

"The last time Palacios made the playoffs was in 1964 when they won the class 2A state championship," he said. "It's the first winning season since 1991. We finished 7-3 and it's the first time Palacios has won seven games since 1985. It was the first time Palacios won its final football game since 1988. It's the first time Palacios won its final road game since 1983. And it's the first time Palacios won two consecutive district games since 1991.

"You know, we knew there were a lot of negative records out there that we felt we had a chance to break this year. We broke them and, just sort of a point of record, this is the first time anybody can remember ever that we had a winning record at every level- the 7th grade, 8th grade, JV and varsity. That's sort of a testament to the state of the overall program."

After leading the Sharks to a 3-7 record in both of his first two seasons, it seems Treybig's efforts have paid off. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have two senior Division I college prospects on the team in Texas A&M linebacker commit Aaron Buckley and running back Henry Solis.

"Aaron is just a special player," said Treybig. "We knew that we had a good one in him. A&M got in on him early. I've been getting all kinds of requests for film on him from other schools but I tell them all that he's already committed.

"Henry, we knew his potential, but we didn't know what to expect exactly coming into this year. He definitely lived up to everything though. He finished over 2,000 yards; exactly I'm not sure, maybe 2,010. He had 29 or 30 touchdowns in the regular season."

Buckley says that the whole city is in somewhat of a celebratory mode right now after the team ended a playoff drought that lasted almost the entire terms of eight different United States presidents.

"Yeah it's pretty crazy in Palacios right now," said Buckley. "Everybody's going crazy. We had a huge shrimp and fish dinner over at my house on Saturday."

The manner in which the Sharks clinched the berth was pretty impressive as well, with a 36-point road victory.

"Yeah, we got a good win, 51-15," said Treybig. "We played the run really well on Friday night but we were a little patchy on some short passes. We corrected that at halftime. It was 21-7 at the half. I know you're gonna say 'No you didn't' but we did- we scored three touchdowns in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

"We got the opening kickoff and we scored in three plays. The second play, the fumbled and we scored in two. Then we kicked off again and the fumbled on the first play and we scored in four. So it was 42-7 with seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter and we were ready for that game to be over."

Buckley had an impressive game as well.

"I think this right here was one of my better games," said the 6-foot-1, 225 pound linebacker. "I know for sure I had to have had more than 10 tackles in the first half. They let me run the ball one time and I got a 25-yard touchdown. I usually just play defense but they asked me if I wanted to go in."

While the football team has garnered quite a bit of attention in the small town, they have actually had to compete with another athletic program at the school for top billing.

"Our girls' volleyball team played in the regional championship this past Saturday so that means they went five rounds deep in the playoffs," said Treybig. "We won our first four games and then we lost to the defending state champs, Wimberley, on Saturday. So between volleyball and then the excitement with football, it's been a pretty exciting week this past week.

"My daughter is on the volleyball team and so I've been torn trying to see all her games. I missed the game on Friday, which was the regional semifinal game. We beat LaVernia and I missed that game and I'm not gonna lie to you, I was really torn about that."

Treybig has been in the coaching game for quite a while and he has had a part in the end of another long streak as well.

"I was at Industrial for seven years and we went to the playoffs four of the seven years that I was there," he said. "If you remember Sealy when they won their four consecutive state championships, when I was at Industrial we moved up to 3A the last year I was there and we played Sealy in the first round. We were the team that stopped Sealy's consecutive state championship streak. When we beat them in 1997, we stopped their streak of playoff wins and also their run of state championships."

While much credit can justly be given to a head coach that has been a proven winner over the years as well as some very talented players on the team, Treybig says that there are so many more factors in play.

"I've been very, very fortunate," he said. "We've had good kids and we've had good coaches. We've also had good support from the administration and the community that we've been able to do these types of things. You know, it's not just one person doing it. It really is a community effort."

With their last playoff appearance having ended in a state championship, albeit in 1964, the Sharks are hoping to extend their postseason winning streak. They take on West Oso at Victoria's Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 7:00 p.m in the first round of the class 3A Division II playoffs.