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Cy Creek High seniors Austin Pugliese and Da’Marcus Baymon led the Cougars to an unlikely Class 5A-District 15 Football Championship. It would have been impressive if that was their biggest accomplishment at the school. But it wasn’t. Pugliese, a quarterback, and Baymon, an offensive line, were two of five Cy Creek seniors honored with the Mark of Excellence Award in a graduating class of 700. The honor is awarded to “students who have made an outstanding contribution to Cy Creek and who serve as a role model for other students….students who have left their mark on Cy Creek.” On Saturday, both players will compete for the Texas squad in the seventh annual Bayou Bowl at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown. The game matches all-stars from the Houston area against all-stars from Louisiana; all of the players are 2009 high school graduates. The series is currently tied, 3-3. Baymon and Pugliese, both 18, left their mark during their four years at Cy Creek. Whether it was Baymon volunteering to help the homeless on Christmas or Pugliese tutoring elementary school students, the duo made an impact in the community. “For both of us to win that award is an awesome honor,” Pugliese said. Baymon was named Homecoming King, and Pugliese was on the homecoming court. They also excelled in other sports – Baymon reached the regional track and field meet, and Pugliese started on a Cougars’ baseball team took third place in district and made the playoffs. They both made an impact on the football field, leading the Cougars to an 8-2 record after finishing 2-8 and winless in district competition in 2007. Both were first team all-district players, and Pugliese was named honorable mention all-state. “They were the heart and soul of our program,” Cy Creek head football coach Greg McCaig said. “Da’Marcus is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. Austin was the heartbeat of the team, he provided the spark and the leadership we needed. Without either one of them, we would not have enjoyed the success we did.” McCaig said the leadership of both seniors allowed the coaching staff to focus on Xs and Os. Baymon and Pugliese have played football together since sixth grade with a brief hiatus as sophomores when Baymon, a three-year varsity starter, played on varsity and Pugliese was the Junior Varsity quarterback. “When he was on JV, I just couldn’t wait for him to come up because I knew what kind of player he was, what kind of attitude he had, I knew what kind of heart he had,” Baymon said. “I knew we were going to have something special.” Baymon and Pugliese are looking forward to what will be their final game together. Baymon is considering walking on at the University of Texas, where he hopes to study to become a neurosurgeon. Pugliese’s last football game will be the Bayou Bowl. He turned down an offer to walk on at TCU, and he’ll study business at the University of Oklahoma. “I’m really excited to have one more chance to get out there,” Pugliese said. “And there’s no better person to play with than the person I started with.” Said Baymon, “It’s been since November since we stepped on a football field. Now, it’s June. It’s going to be hot.” Both players have special memories of the 2008 football season. The Cougars reached the second round of the playoffs where they lost to Klein Oak – the only team to defeat them last fall -- in the second round. “(There was) a change in mindset,” Baymon said. “I think we got a lot more focused and we believed in ourselves more. We paid more attention in the games, and that helped a lot. We had a lot of leaders who wanted to step up and win.” One of the highlights of the season a 31-21, come-from-behind victory over defending district champion Cy Ridge, led by All-American quarterback Russell Shepard. “That was probably a turning point in our season,” Pugliese said. “If we could beat a team like that, we thought we could beat anybody, and it carried us the rest of the season.” “We just turned it on. We should our true meaning of our team. We just came out and performed. We ended every day with sprints, and it showed all four quarters.” Baymon gave a motivational speech with the Cougars trailing Cy Ridge, 21-14 at halftime. He said it was satisfying to see opponents surprised at the fact they were losing to the Cougars. “At the end of the game, teams would look up and say ‘We’re losing to Cy Creek!’,” Baymon said. “We came out there, fought and kept pushing it. We were all about the fourth quarter as a team. We didn’t give up and kept going.”