Interim Schulenburg Coach Says Friday a ‘Step in the Right Direction’

Few could have seen the winless Schulenburg Shorthorns heading into halftime tied against the 4-1 Thrall Tigers Friday night, especially in the first game back from a mid-season coaching change.

“I think our guys did,” said Schulenburg’s interim head coach, Marty Bigham.

Just seven days before, Schulenburg ISD relieved head football coach and athletic director Clay Ferguson for undisclosed reasons. Bigham had been working as an assistant football coach, and the school named him as interim head football coach that same day. Bigham inherited a team that had been outscored 245-52 at that point in the season. At halftime, the scoreboard read 20-20 before Thrall pulled away to win 41-20.

“We told them beforehand, everybody’s got us down,” Bigham said. “I said, ‘It doesn’t matter. You guys are good.’ These seniors have been to the playoffs for three years. They know what playoff football looks like. (We’re) just trying to get back to those roots. I think they did a great job. Is it where we want to be? No, but I absolutely think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Both teams scored quickly on their opening drives. But then Thrall jumped ahead 20-7 before the start of the second quarter. On all three touchdowns, Thrall ballcarries weaved through a porous Schulenburg defense. First it was a 60-yard touchdown reception by Tiger receiver Logan Heselmeyer. Tiger running back Ty Matthews ran in a 40yard touchdown followed by Mason Rodriguez with a 35yard touchdown run. Down 20-7 with nearly 11 minutes left in the half, the Shorthorns found a spark. They managed a drive that ended with a touchdown keeper by quarterback Owen Brenek. The Horns recovered a fumble on the second play of Thrall’s next drive. But then the Tigers forced the Horns to punt.

Once again on defense, the Horns found another break. Brenek, playing linebacker, caught an interception. Three plays later he tossed a touchdown pass to Denver Carr. The extra point was no good. As time expired in the half, the game was tied, 20-20.

There would be no Cinderella Story, however. Thrall came back from the half and never allowed another point, while tacking on 21 for themselves. It wasn’t a win, but it was a huge sign of improvement.

“The attitude, the effort, the energy, all of that stuff was better today than it’s been all year long,” Bigham told his team after the game.

After the game, Bigham told reporters that he and the coaching staff went to work immediately last weekend after learning about the coaching shakeup. They made some mid-season adjustments, but Bigham said he knew it would be difficult to implement too many play-calling changes in just one week.

“I just kind of lean on people around me, my old mentors, and just try to make as many phone calls as we could,” he said. “And we worked our tails off this weekend and I just think I ran out of time. I feel like a lot of the stuff we put in, we only had 3 days to practice it. We haven’t been doing it all year long.”

Bigham, a Schulenburg native, is much better known in coaching circles for his expertise in baseball. He’s a former college baseball player and led the Horns to the regional game last year in his first season as head baseball coach. In an interview after the game, Bigham reflected on his coaching journey.

“Even in high school, I didn’t play football my senior year,” Bigham said. “I had to have shoulder surgery and I was trying to go pitch in college. When I came back to this and started working, I was doing football stuff in Giddings. I enjoyed it. It was fun. But I knew my love was always baseball. Tonight – this was pretty fun.”

Bigham also mentioned his father’s influence on his career. Just about everyone in Schulenburg knows his dad, local attorney Ken Bigham Jr. The elder Bigham never coached professionally, but he has mentored scores of Schulenburg kids as a volunteer coach for youth leagues and St. Rose of Lima Catholic School.

“He’s been my coach my whole life,” Bigham said. “Shoot, he still is. He’s still my life coach. I’m very close with my father. We talk a lot.”

The Horns, now 0-6, still have a chance to turn this season around. Theoretically, they could make the playoffs with two district wins. This coming Friday, they’ll have a shot at their first against Anderson-Shiro, who are 4-2 after beating Lexington last week 42-33.

“We’ve got stuff to clean up,” Bigham said. “We still have four more weeks of the season. No way do we feel good about how this ended, like, ‘Oh, we can breathe now.’ No. We’ve got a long way to go, but I think it was a step in the right direction.

Notably, following the coaching change, there were some new players on the sideline last Friday, including Eli Blansitt, Connor Lichnovsky and Koi Prihoda. None of them were suited out for the game. But Bigham said he looked forward to their contributions later this season.

District 13-3A District Overall

Lexington 0-1 4-2 Thrall 1-0 5-1 Anderson-Shiro 1-0 4-2 Rogers 1-0 4-2 Florence 0-1 1-5 Schulenburg 0-1 0-6

Friday’s scores:

Thrall 4, Schulenburg 20 Rogers 53, Florence 0 Anderson-Shiro 42, Lexington 33 This week’s games:

Schulenburg at Anderson-Shiro Rogers at Lexington Florence at Thrall