Stone Phillips Anchor • Profile

PAMPA, TEXAS - A Friday night frenzy is a natural here as the North Texas wind.

The small panhandle town of Pampa, Texas is ready for some football:  high school football, Texas-style.

Stone Phillips, Dateline anchor: How big is football here?

Brett Ferrell, Pampa High School football player: It’s huge.  It’s more than big.  You know, it’s what you live for in this town. 

With the bleachers bouncing, and the ball in the air, a remarkable story begins.

It’s about the boys beneath those helmets and pads, their hopes and heartaches.  And a dramatic game with an emotional ending people here will never forget.

In a town that hates to lose, will a sophomore be poised enough to handle the pressure of starting at quarterback?

In a state teeming with talent, will a senior be good enough to land the scholarship that could make him the first in his family to go to college? 

In a sport, as cruel as it is competitive, will this team pull together enough to overcome injuries and a tragedy off the field that tore another boy’s world apart?

At the center of it all is a former player, whose return to Pampa is a homecoming story even Hollywood couldn’t dream up. 

Phillips: What’s this home opener gonna be like for you?

Coach Andy Cavalier: I’ve been through a roller coaster of emotions and still am daily since I’ve come back to Pampa.  From very excited to very nervous to waiting with anticipation to scared to death. I’ve been through it all.

The Harvesters' new head coach 32-year-old Andy Cavalier is following in the footsteps of a Friday night legend. He was the greatest football coach this town ever had. His name Dennis Cavalier, Andy’s father. Over 16 years he built a winning program and character in hundreds of hometown boys.

Phillips: What do you think was the key to his success?

Coach Andy Cavalier: Loving kids and letting kids know that he loved them.

Andy’s dad instilled in him a love of the game from an early age. He coached Andy as a Harvester quarterback. And after college, Andy worked alongside his father as an assistant coach. Their lifelong bond forged through football was shattered. Three years ago when Dennis Cavalier died of a heart attack. He was 58.

Phillips: How deep was that loss for you?

Coach Andy Cavalier: I mean, it was the man who raised me. It was the man who coached me. It was the man I coached with. And, you know, it was very, very, very deep.

Dennis Cavalier always walked off of this field as a winner and he taught the boys of the team to do the same. 

Half of Pampa gathered at Harvester field to say goodbye to Coach Cav. And it was there that Andy and his family scattered his remains, knowing there was no place he’d rather be. 

Phillips:  So you will literally be walking the sideline where your father’s ashes are spread.

Coach Andy Cavalier: I will literally be doing that.  But more importantly than that, where he’ll be watching.

Also watching the game, with her heart pounding, Kathy Cavalier, Andy’s mom.

Kathy Cavalier: My husband’s shadow is huge in this community. In fact, those were the words I had used to Andy, “Do you think you can live in your dad’s shadow?”

Coach Andy Cavalier:  I’m filling the shoes, walking the same path that my dad did.  I mean, I don’t know how it’s gonna come out.  But I hope it’s acceptable. 

Andy Cavalier is not the only one with the eyes of Pampa, and the weight of the world, on his shoulder.  The rookie head coach is counting on another rookie—  #7, Casey Trimble. This is a big week for Casey. He turned 16, got his driver’s license and a vote of confidence from his coach. Now, he was making his own hometown debut in a critical role. 

Phillips: Quarterback of the varsity football team.

Casey Trimble, quarterback: Yes, sir.

Phillips: You’re a sophomore.

Trimble: Yes, sir.

Phillips: That’s pretty good, isn’t it?

Trimble: Every since I was little I’ve always wanted to be on varsity, but I didn’t know it’d come this soon. 

Casey never imagined he’d be starting as a sophomore, and neither did Brett Ferrell. Coming into this season, Brett was Pampa’s quarter back... until he got hurt.

Brett Ferrell, quarterback: It’s been my dream ever since I was this big, you know, to be the Harvester quarterback.  And I worked my butt off to get to where I am.  And now that I’m finally here, this happens.

Standing on the sidelines is not how he envisioned his senior year.  

Phillips: What happened?

Ferrell: I just got tackled in the first scrimmage and broke the inside bone in my arm.  And they thought I was gonna be back, originally.  They were telling me about six weeks.  And I went back to the doctor yesterday and it’s healing crooked. 

We were there when the doctor showed Brett and his parents the X-rays. Then he told them, what surgery would mean.      

Dr. Hampton: Pretty much the end of football season for you.

Brett's mom: I’m sorry. (cries on her son’s soldier)

It’s a bitter pill for the whole family, and a vivid reminder of just how brutal the game of football can be.

Not a word is spoken, as Brett and a teammate drive back to school, passing the stadium that was to have been his field of dreams.  After telling Coach Cav, the emotions come out.    

Coach Andy Cavalier: My heart goes out to Brett.

Phillips:  How do you help him with that?

Coach Andy Cavalier: I don’t know. Other than letting him know that you love him and that you want the best for him. And I want him to be as big a part of this team as he was as if he was playing.

With the senior looking on, the sophomore is about to be tested. It’s Casey’s first big play against the Matadors from Lubbock, Texas. Up in the stands, his mother feels the pressure.

Phillips: Are you nervous?

Mrs. Trimble, Casey's mom:  Yeah!  Can’t you tell?

For Casey, a completed pass is a big confidence builder.  And Coach Cav is about to call his number again.

Casey Trimble: It felt good, really good to break one free. I was pumped.

And his team is now in position to score.    

“Touchdown Pampa!"  In the end zone. And the Harvesters have struck first. They have a six nothing lead.”

For the rookie head coach and his rookie quarterback, their first touchdown in front of the hometown fans is a cause for celebration.

Coach to Casey: Great drive down the field, Casey.  Great drive down the field.  Nice job.  Nice job!  Almost scored your first touchdown! Come on.

But in Andy’s book, there is a moment for the highlight reel, too—Casey Trimble getting a pat on the helmet from Brett Ferrell, the injured senior he replaced.

Ferrell: I know he’d do the same for me. I just have to keep my head up and know that God has a bigger plan for me than high school football.

But right now for Casey Trimble, nothing could be more important than football.  And his stellar start is about to give way to a sophomore mistake.

Coach Andy Cavalier: He waited just a little too late to make the pitch...

The young quarterback hears about it from his coach.

Coach Andy Cavalier: You gotta pitch the ball. Pitch it. Get it into Chase’s hands. And let’s go.

Casey’s mistake could cost the Harvesters the lead.  The Matadors have the ball, the momentum and they’ve driven deep into Pampa territory.  The only person hoping Pampa stops them more than Casey is Andy’s mom.  Having been a coach’s wife for years, Kathy Cavalier knows all too well how much is riding on the outcome of each game.

Kathy Cavalier, coach's mom: They could be putting a “For Sale sign” in your yard one day and they can be asking you to run for mayor the next.  It just depends on what the score of the game was on Friday night.

What call should Andy make to keep the Matadors from scoring? What would his father have done? And what would he be thinking about his son’s coaching so far tonight?

Coach Andy Cavalier: He’s probably thinking, “You’ve got a lot to learn, boy.”  That’s probably what thinking.  (Laughs).

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