Published: November 07, 2009 08:44 pm      

Point After: Cutrers come full circle with win over Cleburne

Fate came in the form of a coin. Resting on the south side home parking lot at Tiger Stadium this past Wednesday was a quarter dated 1982. Call it cornball, but upon my discovery I thought the Tigers were a lock to win Friday’s game.

Picking up the coin I thought of that year, and thought about the state semifinal playoff game that pitted Corsicana and Cleburne.

The starting safety and zone defensive player of the year for the Tigers that storied season was Richey Cutrer. Cutrer led his defense and the Tigers to a 7-3 victory to advance to the state finals for the first time in 19 years.

Cutrer is now a Tiger coach.

Fast forward 27 years later and Cameron Cutrer, Richey’s son, plays quarterback for the same squad dad played for back in 1982.

The final game of the 2009 season once again pitted Corsicana and Cleburne.

This time the game meant a trip to the playoffs. The game meant an end to a two-year playoff drought. The game meant the beginning of a revitalization of a program that had somehow lost its way. The game meant validation for a new coach, Phil Castles, who brought a tough love philosophy back to Corsicana.

Again, Cutrer came through.

Forgive Cleburne if they never want to hear the name Cutrer again. Be thankful as a Corsicana fan that you get to hear the Cutrer name again.

Cutrer, the son, took a page out of dad’s playbook and scored the first two touchdowns of Corsicana’s biggest game of Tiger Stadium’s 4-year old existence.

Adept at running the quarterback sneak, Cutrer is rarely thrown for a loss on the play. Built with a strong lower body, Cutrer picks his spot and then drives for positive yardage.

“We call them the Cutrer legs,” a smiling Cameron Cutrer said following game. “My granddad was a running back, and I guess you know what dad did as a player.”

Added dad, Richey, in the locker-room following the playoff clinching victory. “Cameron did a fantastic job, no doubt, but make sure you credit those fellas up front for paving the way.”

Modern CHS history point’s way back to the 1979 season as the turnaround year for the modern era Tiger program. History will again point to the 2009 season as the one that got the Corsicana program back on track. Coach Cutrer was on the Donnie Denbow-led squad that started a 5-year streak with 55 wins against only seven defeats.

The player Cutrer may have started another streak.

The junior varsity finished 7-2-1 and the eighth grade squad finished 8-1-1 with a loss to Desoto and a tie to Duncanville. The future is promising, and the present is still beaming from the Friday night playoff clinching Tiger Stadium victory.

Castles has the Corsicana Tigers back in the playoff picture. All of the hard work in the offseason and two-a-days paid off with a trip to Week 11. It’s every team’s goal in August to make the playoffs. Castles, Cutrer and Co. accomplished that feat.

The quarterback Cutrer is one of many, many reasons why this team is playing in Week 11.

“As a coach, I am proud for all of these kids. They have really worked hard,”

 Richey Cutrer said. “As a father, I am so proud of Cameron. He deserves the credit, and I would just assume you write about him and leave my playing days behind.

“I am proud that the tradition is back.”

That tradition includes 1982 and now a 2009 that lives to write history another week.

The tradition includes two players named Cutrer and now a coach and a son named Cutrer.

“It’s definitely exciting,” said quarterback Cutrer. “It feels good to have another game on our schedule, and I am really proud for our team.”