COLEMAN — If there was ever a Big Country football team that deserved to taste the postseason, it was the 2020 Coleman Bluecats.

Led by a group of seniors who had guided the program through a difficult rebuild, that squad had faced and overcome adversity and earned the opportunity to play in the playoffs with 6-3 record through its first nine games.

Unfortunately, that opportunity never came. Instead, the Bluecats became the only area team to have their season cut short by COVID, which forced them to forfeit their regular-season finale to Winters and watch Goldthwaite — a team they beat 28-7 — take their playoff berth with a win over De Leon. It was a heartbreaking end to what was otherwise a breakout campaign for Coleman and a gut punch for the seniors who had to see their careers end that way.

But if you’re into silver linings, one does exist. First, CHS returns 18 lettermen from that squad and has an outstanding sophomore class coming up, so that setback was likely only temporary. And second, that experience has provided the 2021 Bluecats with a unique motivating factor — and placed a Texas-sized chip on their shoulder.