by EJ Holland
Texas high school football coaches often divide footballbrseason into three different seasons.
The first is non-district play. That's followed by district play which determines if you get to play in the third season — the playoffs. Itbris time to enter the Dragons into the second season. And while head coach HalbrWasson understands the importance of it, he isn’t approaching it anybrdifferently.
“To us, it's just the next game. We want to keep everythingbrthe same,” Wasson said. “The kids know the stakes are higher now, but we wantbrto keep the same mindset and start this thing with a bang.”
Due to UIL realignment, the Dragons are in one of thebrtoughest districts in Class 6A. Along with Southlake Carroll, District 7-6Abrfeatures Dallas-area powers Euless Trinity, Coppell and Colleyville Heritage,bran always-tough Hurst L.D. Bell, Richland Hills and Haltom.
The slate gets started this Friday when the Dragons hostbrCoppell. The Cowboys are 3-2 this season, with wins coming over Hebron, EasternbrChristian (MD) and Hurst L.D. Bell. Their two losses of the season came tobrupstart McKinney Boyd and defending state champion Cedar Hill.
Coppell's defense has been inconsistent on defense in 2014,brand the Dragons are coming off their best offensive performance yet, whichbrmeans there might be plenty of opportunities to light up the scoreboard. Still,brWasson is worried about Coppell's physicality in the trenches with monsterbrdefensive end Chris Biggurs.
“Abilene is not Coppell. I'm glad we're improvingbroffensively, but we still have to be more physical,” Wasson said. “I thinkbrCoppell has an advantage up front with their size, so playing physical will bebrkey.”
Southlake Carroll quarterback Ryan Agnew missed most of thebrgame against Abilene with an injury but should be ready to roll againstbrCoppell. With Agnew back in the fold, the offense shouldn't be too much of abrconcern. But the defense is a different story.
It's not that Southlake Carroll hasn't done a serviceablebrjob on that side of the ball, it's that Coppell features one of the bestbrone-two punches in the state in running backs Charles West and Brandon Rice brwho have combined to rush for 820 yards this season. And leading the way forbrthem is stud offensive lineman Connor Williams, a Texas commit.
“Coppell is a talented football team with two outstandingbrrunning backs,” Wasson said. “We have to tackle. We have to have good techniquebrbecause if we don't, it could be a long night. And we can't give up the bigbrplay.”