Scurry County high school football teams returned to the gridiron this week and according to their head coaches, the players are bringing the energy.
The Snyder Tigers went 3-8 in 2019 and are entering their second season under head coach Wes Wood. The Tigers will be adjusting to a 3-4 defensive scheme and several new faces will be challenged to fill open positions, but the majority of the team is back and the familiarity with Wood’s system is showing. Wood said the kids brought a lot of energy on day one, kicking off the 2020 season exactly how he wanted.
“I liked their energy. That got me fired up,” he said. “You get rain on the first day, you get hooting and hollering, the Tiger pride chants. We had kids supporting each other, encouragement and leadership going on all the way from the freshman to the varsity level. I’m just excited to see what we can do and excited to build on what we’ve been trying to put together for a long time now.”
New Hermleigh head coach Heath Gibson is keeping his team’s marching orders simple.
“I just told them that I’ll do anything in the world for them, but I need their respect and their best effort,” he said. “When you get out here and you haven’t had summer workouts and you have a couple kids that may not have played football in a while, we just want them to give us their best effort. So that’s what I expect. Not a lot of kids have this opportunity. Thankfully we have the opportunity to play football and we need to take advantage of that.”
The Cardinals had 18 players come out on the first day of practice, a big improvement from the 10 that showed up for practice a year ago. Gibson said he was excited to be around the athletes again.
“When the kids come in the building, it’s just a different feeling,” he said. “I couldn’t wait until they got here today. You just feel like a high school kid again. After last year, when we finished the year with really just six varsity kids, you hope to have a big group. We have a big group of freshmen and that helps. It just gives you some depth that we didn’t have last year. I am extremely happy.”
The Cardinals will host Loop for a scrimmage on Aug. 21.
In Ira, the Bulldogs enter a year in which they are replacing seven starters, all 2020 graduates. Head coach Toby Goodwin said his team is up to the challenge.
“With the circumstances, they’ve been out here a lot on their own and they are really excited,” he said. “It’s a group of kids that has been waiting in the wings and that just adds to the excitement. I look forward to it. We’ve had good numbers and the kids are ready to go.”
Goodwin said the energy level has been where he wanted it to be.
“The energy’s been great,” he said. “That’s needed. Lots of energy. Some new faces and a lot of excitement. We’re pleased with that.”
The Bulldogs will hold their Midnight Madness practice Friday and an intrasquad scrimmage will be held after Meet the Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium on Aug. 14.
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