Back to the playoffs

New Waverly coach remembers bi-district victory in 1999 like it was yesterday

By Gene Schallenberg

It’s been a long time since the Bulldogs have been in the postseason and even longer since New Waverly won a playoff game. It is especially special for New Waverly’s defensive coordinator Paul Donelson, who was part of the last Bulldog team to win a playoff game.

“It finally hit me on Sunday when someone in my family brought it up to me,” Donelson said. “New Waverly really hadn’t done a lot in a while. I still feel like it had nothing to really do with me. It was just the right time and the right place. But with that being said and being a graduate of New Waverly and wanting to come back to do this, it feels pretty good.

“I wish those first two teams I had when I came here could have experienced this. It’s what all high school kids should experience, what it’s like to be a district champion and what it’s like to go to the playoffs. It felt good to think about it in that way. The kids are still the ones who deserve it the most.”

After finishing his senior season in New Waverly with another playoff appearance, Donelson attended Sam Houston State where he was named a 2004 Sports Network second team All-American. In his senior season as a Bearkat, Donelson recorded a team-high 107 tackles with 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Donelson also had two sacks and two interceptions.

Donelson played with a fiery attitude and aggressive competitiveness, punishing any receiver who was unfortunate enough to catch a pass over the middle of the field.

His intensity is still evident to this day, and oftentimes it is difficult to distinguish between Donelson and his players because he coaches with the same passion he had when he played.

Whether the defense comes off the field after a positive or negative series, Donelson’s instructions or praise can be heard from the stands.

“I coach them hard, hard, hard and let them play on Fridays,” Donelson said. “They don’t take it personally. First thing you’ve got to understand when you’re around me is that you can’t take my coaching personal. I tell them all the time, ‘It’s just No. 32.’ The competitive spirit is still in me being three or four years removed from playing. They’ve just got to understand that when I yell, it’s just passion coming out. They actually listen to what I say and not how I’m saying it.”

Donelson admitted that there are some stark differences between playoff games and regular-season games.

“For one, you know that if you lose, there’s no tomorrow. There’s no Saturday practice and there’s no weight room on Monday,” Donelson said. “There’s none of that stuff.

“Outside of the fact that you know what’s on the line every snap, your effort has to be different. The effort has to go up. The intensity has to go up. The focus has to go up.

“One of things that make me wish I was still playing is the support we got. They support you enough during the regular season. But when you go to the playoffs, especially in the playoffs because it’s still a football town, man, they let you know how much they love their high school football. All those guys on the fences Friday nights are guys that played football here. When you get in the playoffs, you get in that environment where you got good teams on both sidelines and they make plays and you make plays.”

While it’s been quite a while since Donelson played on the team that defeated Troup 20-12 in the bi-district round in 1999, he remembers it like it was yesterday.

“I remember it vividly,” Donelson said. “We were down 12-0 at halftime. I remember that game big-time. I got ran over in that game. I remember coming out of halftime and just turned it on, kind of like this past Friday night against Buffalo. It was magnified more because it was the playoffs. I remember plays like getting run over and making plays in the second (half). We didn’t fumble that whole second half.

“You had to dig down deep. You knew that if you didn’t leave it all out in the second half, we were going home. It was a good one. Too bad we had our butts spanked the next week.”

After defeating Troup, New Waverly lost to Big Sandy 41-15 in the area round.

Looking back at the 1999 and 2008 Bulldogs, Donelson felt that while both teams have their own strengths, the 2008 team would have a slight edge.

“Talent-wise, this group is light years ahead of where we were in my junior year,” Donelson said. “But then again, it’s kind of hard to compare the two teams. I may have to look at film to see. Football has changed so much since then. That would be a good match. We had a good defense my junior year, a real attack-you defense. These kids are the same way.

“I think we were a little more balanced on offense in my junior year. We had two or three good running backs and we had four to five good receivers I could actually throw the ball to. We could run it. We could pass it and we could play defense.

“Put them together and they’re pretty much the same. We might have the upper hand this year because of special teams, which has scored in a lot of games this year. That would probably be the difference.

“I think this team is a lot more disciplined than the team I was on. The kids are different. It would be a good game if you could put it on a video game and play. You would definitely get your money’s worth.”