After one of the most successful seasons in team history, varsity football starts non-district play tonight at Turner Stadium against MacArthur.
The team graduated a strong senior class and is counting on younger players to step up.
Coach Clayton Maple said last year’s seniors provided a great example on and off the field. The younger players are growing into.
“They’re on their way,” Maple said. “We’re not completely there yet, but they will be.”
The team is learning. Their main adversity is inexperience.
“The players and the coaches work together through those adversities,” Maple said. “(You have to) go ahead and not let them beat you down, but go ahead and keep getting better despite any challenges and obstacles that we have.”
Heat has also been an obstacle for the team. During some of the hotter stretches during the preseason, UIL rules dictated the team could not practice outdoors. Maple said indoor practices were less than ideal for the team, but coaches used them as another opportunity to teach the game until they could work outside again.
Maple relies on the defensive returners along with seniors Brayden Moronko, Brady Jones, Aiden Troost and Ky’ell Sheffield to lead and help teach their younger counterparts.
After falling just short of the district title last year, the returning seniors know the team’s capabilities. The team’s “stay relentless” motto encapsulates their mentality going into the season.
“We can’t give up now if we want to better what we did last year,” said Jones, a wide receiver. “We just have to keep the mindset that we got to keep going.
“We got a lot of guys stepping up and taking on the senior leadership role. So we’re hungry. We have high energy.”
After weeks of practicing, Jones cannot wait to step on the field for the first game tonight. Maple said he is more than ready to see his team under the Turner Stadium lights as well.
”The kickoff, the band, the Silver Stars, the cheerleaders, the fans: that’s what I’m really excited about,” Maple said. “I’m excited to see all those people back in Turner Stadium, and then our guys out on the field doing what we talked about.”
