Travelin’ Men
1/24/2004
As Coach Schluter’s Wildcat hoopsters maintained their Travelers Trophy
in a solid 8 point win at Brighton Friday night, it was hard not to look
ahead somewhat with the strong belief they would be a favorite to
capture their 3rd straight District Title in March.
The team has a tough, defensive-minded football mentality about them,
and they’re willing to grit it out with anybody that gets in their way.
And speaking of football, as most hard-core fans know, Thursday Feb 4th
marks the first day early signees can commit to the college of their
choice.
Adding to the interest, the Fab 50 in the state of Michigan has a
definite Novi flavor… Play along with me. Elite athletes like Trent
Varva, Roger Allison, and Will Johnson of Lake Orion have committed to
Michigan, while DeMarco Hughes of Detroit MacKenzie will most likely
attend Michigan State. Meanwhile, TE Kellen Davis of Adrian has also
selected Michigan State and many sharp football minds feel he has NFL
potential.
Enter the Novi Wildcats…Last season, the Cats traveled to Lake Orion and
defeated the Dragons and their 3 future stars 17-13 capturing a District
Title. Last November, Novi toppled 3rd ranked Adrian and All-American TE
Kellen Davis 27-25 to garner a 2nd straight District Title. The
following week Detroit MacKenzie fell to Novi 20-19 as the Wildcats
brought home their 2nd Regional Championship in the schools history. 300
pound DeMarco Hughes could not prevent the inevitable.
Novi may not have anybody on the Fab 50 list, but collectively they’ve
been fabulous. And as I’ve always believed, scouting talent is an
inexact art and an inexact science, or I think you’d see Josh Buck’s
name on that list and the words Notre Dame would be next to it.
You never know…Someday Buck may cross paths again with the
abovementioned players. Hopefully it will be on the gridiron, but it’s
certainly a probability that it will be somewhere. Perhaps the
conversation will come up about the time they all hooked up for a little
game of championship football.
At that point there will be no interpretation, opinion, or science
involved, just fact. I can picture it now…
“I remember, Allison, Hughes, Varva, Davis and Johnson will have to
say.” “You guys won.” Strike a blow for the Novi Wildcats
No matter what happens, no one can take that away. I guess you could say
those Cats really get around.
(c) 2003 Novi
Information Network
www.novi.org
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Bernie Fratto's column
appears right here each week. Bernie is a member of the Minor League
Baseball Alumni Association and in his former life, he spent time in the
Cincinnati Reds Farm System. He is an accomplished Freelance writer, and
sought after keynote speaker, appearing often at Award Ceremonies,
Athletic Banquets, and Company functions. He is passionate about sports
and the life-lessons they teach. "Behind every sports story lies
the hearts and minds of real human beings," Fratto said..."And
these athletic endeavors often serve as a metaphor for the game we call
life."
Bernie is also the voice of Novi Wildcat Hockey
and host of Wildcat Face-off, a local
radio program dedicated to youth sports in Novi.
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