Earning a trip to Arlington was quite a distance for some teams

When the wheels on the bus rolled to a stop deep in the bowels of AT&T Stadium Wednesday morning, Class 1A Six-man football team Balmorhea High stood alone as the team most traveled during the 2017 playoffs.

In just five post-season games, the Bears logged 2,154 miles, including the 892-mile round trip from the tiny Turner County community in far West Texas to Arlington.

That distance is about 228 miles more than South Texas juggernaut Refugio, but well off the misery the Bobcats faced this season thanks to Hurricane Harvey.

“We didn’t play our first home game until the eighth game of the season,” Refugio head coach Jason Herring said. “I can’t even begin to put into words or try to explain what this season’s been like.

“I don’t think we ever worried about whether we would still be playing in Week 17 because in all honesty, every week was Week 17 around here. I’ve learned more from these young men about resiliency in the last couple of months, than I have in 25 years of coaching football.”

Refugio played just two home games all season and lost one game all together thanks to the super storm that came ashore in late August.

The area of Refugio County got the brunt of Harvey’s eye-wall storm with winds whipping at Category 4 speeds.

The Bobcats didn’t play their first game until Sept. 8, a 35-28 road win over Goliad.

“And let me tell you something about that game,” Herring said. “Our boys were gone 14 days from us.

“We had clean up to do, rebuilding projects. I knew if we could get them in here and get back to football, that would start the process for everyone. They showed up out of shape and tired from everything, went up to Goliad, played their hearts out and got a narrow win against a great football team.”

Refugio was 5-1 on the season before getting an Oct. 27 home game against Kenedy.

In total, the Bobcats tacked on another 518 miles in regular season travel for the seven road games.

Unfortunately Balmorhea lost to Strawn, 78-42, and Mart beat Refugio, 34-21.

TOP THREE TRAVEL MILES

Balmorhea 2,154 miles

Refugio 1,926

West-Orange Stark 1,818

DISTANCE FROM AT&T STADIUM

Gail Borden County 276

Jonesboro 118

Balmorhea 446

Strawn 93

Mart 117

Refugio 347

Kennedale 16

Carthage 177

Texarkana Pleasant Grove 211

West Orange-Stark 327

Highland Park 22

Manvel 302

Aledo 33

College Station 188

Allen 44

Austin Lake Travis 206

Waco Midway 109

Houston Cypress Fairbanks 255

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Earning a trip to Arlington was quite a distance for some teams."