CARTHAGE, Texas — You can smell it in the air the second you step foot on Carthage's campus ... greatness.
There's been a long lineage of successful Carthage quarterbacks during Head Coach Scott Surratt's legendary tenure. Most recently, Kai Horton led the Bulldogs to a couple state championships while never losing a game as their starter.
Next in line was Connor Cuff, who took over as a junior. Now a senior, Cuff has grown into the undisputed leader of the Bulldogs.
"And I think you’ll continue to see him play really good and even better in the upcoming games. He’s a special player, a special young man," Surratt said. "And he does his job on and off the field."
Cuff earned Player of the Week honors after throwing for 229 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-0 district win over Rusk. But like usual, he put up those stats in only one half of play. As the Bulldogs have been dominant all year long, Cuff is usually well off the field by the time the fourth quarter rolls around.
"It's good to get going early and then continue for the whole game," Cuff said. "It's really good for us because we kind of get a break and get well rested for the next game."
At Carthage, the wins don't come as easy as they may look. It took a lot of practice in the offseason and continuous work every week to create the dominant final product we all see on the field.
"I think we came a long way in the offseason. But week in and week out, we have a plan, and we try and execute it in the games," Cuff said.
The quarterback is a big fan of another familiar quarterback with similar styles of play.
As a big Buffalo Bills fan, Cuff said he looks up to the Bills' Josh Allen and tries to model his game after the all-pro quarterback. He'll be rooting for Allen and the Bills to bring home the trophy at the end of the year.
He'll also be on the hunt for his own championship trophy for his Bulldogs by the time December rolls around. And if he keeps up this level of play, the chances are looking pretty good.