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NAVASOTA -- Searching for historical perspective on Navasota's playoff run, Lee Fedora drove to Brule Field, where team accomplishments were painted on a wall before the Rattlers moved to their new football stadium this year.
Fedora discovered that the Rattlers' last trip to the state quarterfinals came in 1988. If Fedora wants details, they probably can be found in his family scrapbook. Six standouts from Navasota's 1988 team that reached the state final made The Eagle's All-Brazos Valley team, an all-star squad that included a junior wide receiver from A&M Consolidated named Lee Fedora.
It was more recent history that hit Fedora hard as he watched his team celebrate last week's 42-40 victory over Jasper. The Rattlers went 3-7 in their first two seasons after Fedora took over as head football coach and athletic director. More pressing was a 34-14 halftime deficit that Navasota overcame by scoring 28 consecutive points in the second half.
"After the game, I teared up because of what evolved in that 24-minute span," Fedora said. "It wasn't so much because we won, but because I saw our kids come together in adversity, and that's what I've been trying to teach these guys from the day I stepped on campus.
"In a year or two, when things are going bad, I can go back and remind them about when we were down 20 and beat Jasper."
The victory lifted Navasota (9-3) into the Class 3A Division I Region III final against defending state champion and second-ranked Liberty Hill (11-0). The Rattlers and Panthers will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Temple for a trip to the state semifinal round.
Two playoff victories have ignited the embers of postseason passion in Navasota, thrilling the Rattlers and their supporters. On Tuesday night, an overflow crowd of more than 100 gathered at the Filling Station restaurant during the hour-long Rattlers Tailgate radio show that featured interviews with Fedora and players.
The radio show, which began before the first round of the playoffs, probably tripled the size of the cafe's usual Tuesday night crowd. Folks in Navasota have been hungry for this.
"It really feels great having everybody supporting you," senior defensive back Trey Rausheck said. "People are coming up to me and telling me how much they enjoy coming to the games. Even the lunch ladies tell us how good we play and how excited they are to watch us."
From the Texas Renaissance Festival, where Rausheck works at a soft drinks booth on weekends, to the local barber shop where star running back Dexter Pratt gets his hair cut, people are talking about the Rattlers.
"There's just a world of excitement because everything revolves around the football team in this community," said Mitchell White, owner of the Filling Station. "There's already that electricity in the air with the holiday season, and now it seems like it's amplified tenfold."
Navasota schools will let out early at 12:30 p.m. Friday so fans can attend the Liberty Hill game. Buses will be available for the trip, and business should be slow at local restaurants as supporters flock to Temple.
Fedora is familiar with playoff fever after experiencing postseason success as a player and assistant coach at Consol and as head coach at Rogers and Waco Robinson.
Before their bi-district victory over Needville, the current Rattlers had to get their playoff success stories from older folks. That was the case for junior receiver Gaston Lamascus, whose parents Alan and Gwen have followed Navasota football teams since 1982.
Last week's rally against Jasper made Alan Lamascus recall the 1988 Rattlers team coached by Mike Dacus and led by defensive tackle Johnny Jernigan and running back Rolando West.
"That reminded me of when Navasota played Fairfield in Huntsville," said Lamascus, the treasurer of the Navasota booster club. "We were behind 10-7 with about a minute to go, and everybody started to leave. We drove the ball down and scored with a couple of seconds left and won 13-10."
It conjured up other playoff stories, as well.
"When I was a junior at Schulenburg, we played a Friendswood team that was undefeated, ranked No. 1 and had 16 points scored on them [all year]," Lamascus said. "We came through and beat them 15-13, and I always wanted that for my boy and this bunch of players. Those are things you'll never forget your whole life."
Sports fans around Navasota have believed the current crop of seniors and juniors were capable of making memories since they were 9 and 10 years old, winning championships in Pee Wee football and Little Dribblers basketball. Rausheck said the players have pointed to this season since they were in junior high.
Like most teams still alive in the playoffs, the Rattlers have special talents like Pratt, who is expected to be highly recruited next year, quarterback Jacolby Stokes and defensive end Otis Greenwood. Navasota also relies on players like 5-foot-8, 170-pound offensive tackle Seth Parker, whose passionate halftime speech helped inspire the Rattlers' rally against Jasper.
"I've always been small since I started, and you can't let it slow you down," Parker said. "My mom taught me to never let anything hold me down."
For the Rattlers and their hungry fans, that includes Liberty Hill.
• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.
