Bulice named Three Rivers Defensive Player of the Year

Cabot’s Tristan Bulice, No. 52, tries to block a pass against North Little Rock. Bulice is the Three Rivers Edition Defensive Player of the Year.
Cabot’s Tristan Bulice, No. 52, tries to block a pass against North Little Rock. Bulice is the Three Rivers Edition Defensive Player of the Year.

CABOT — For the second year in a row, Cabot nose guard Tristan Bulice anchored the defensive line for a playoff team. In 2013, the Panthers played for the Class 7A state championship; in 2014, the Panthers lost in the first round of the state playoffs.

During the 2014 season, Bulice, a senior, had 77 tackles, 14 tackles for losses, four sacks, a recovered fumble and an interception. He is the 2014 Three Rivers Edition Defensive Player of the Year.

“I never even thought something like this could have happened for me,” Bulice said on receiving the honor. “I’ve always been the kid looking up to the high school players. As the little kid, you play peewee football, and you go out there and watch games and think, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’”

Bulice said he’s done things on the football field that he never thought he’d do, like make All-State. He also was named as the 7A/6A-East Outstanding Lineman for 2014.

Cabot coach Mike Malham said Bulice had a good year as the Panthers advanced to the playoffs for the third time in three seasons with Bulice on the team.

“He is as good a nose guard as we’ve ever had at Cabot,” Malham said. “He played great technique, worked hard. He had a nose for the ball. He is strong and worked hard on the weights. He could work up and down the line, making tackles from sideline to sideline. He is a tremendous high school football player.”

Malham said that if the 6-foot, 250-pound Bulice were a little taller, like 6-3 or 6-4, he’d be an NCAA Division I prospect.

“He’s going to get a chance to play Division II somewhere, and he’ll do a good job at that level,” Malham said.

Bulice and teammate Jake Ferguson played together in junior high at Cabot Junior High South and in high school. Ferguson was the 2013 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year.

However, in 2014, Ferguson got hurt and missed the final five games of the season.

“We’ve been playing together since peewee football,” Bulice said. “We had led the team together. You have a guy behind you who is going to take the weight off your back. When he goes down, he’s still on the sidelines, having that leadership there, but I’ve got to pick up his weight on the field. It’s something we’ve always had — when someone goes down, the other one picks the other up. And I had to pick him up for the second half of the season. It was just one of those things you had to do.”

During the last five games of the 2014 season, Bulice recorded 46 tackles, including 15 against Searcy in Week 10, and 13 against Jonesboro in Week 9.

Bulice said he will take recruiting visits to Harding University in Searcy and to Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University, both in Arkadelphia.

“It has always been my dream to play college football,” Bulice said. “It’s finally coming true. You don’t really understand the process of being recruited until it comes at you. It’s just a great feeling, knowing that three different schools want me just as bad as the other ones do.”

Bulice said it will be a tough decision to make when it comes time.

“You’ve got to look at each program and see which one best fits you,” he said.

Even though football is his passion, Bulice is also an outstanding baseball player for the Panthers.

“I’ve thought about it a few times,” Bulice said, referring to possibly playing college baseball. “My true love is football. In the long run, I’d be getting more money out of football for college. It is going to be better for my future to play football and help pay for my college.”

Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.

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