The varsity football team beat Kaufman 45-10 Thursday to begin the regular season at the Christus Rose Stadium in Tyler. After losing to Kaufman last year, this win was redemption for the team.
“I felt like it was a good win to start the year,” head coach Chris Cochran said. “There’s a lot of stuff I think we need to clean up, but that’s how most first games are. I do think it was a good win for us.”
On offense, senior Connor Boyette led the way with six receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown. Junior Jordan Jenkins rushed for two touchdowns with 91 total yards on 17 carries, and senior starting quarterback Brayson Campbell threw one touchdown pass with a 9-15 completion rate for 136 yards. He also had 78 yards on 10 carries.
“I’m happy but it’s also a competition every week,” Campbell said. “I have to stay sharp and be able to perform as well as I did the first week.”
Junior Corey Sanders led the Eagles in tackles, with a total of eight. Fellow junior DJ Walton had six total tackles with two being solo tackles, and junior Airik Williams intercepted the Lions’ ball twice to go along with his two tackles. Senior Matt Grady had five tackles and a half, while junior Jaret Allen tackled four Lions in his return to the field from an ACL injury.
“Early on, I didn’t think we [were playing] great,” Cochran said. “We did some good things, but what I was proud of as the game went on was that we did a good job cleaning up.”
For the special teams, junior Landon Love converted one field goal and all six of his extra point attempts following the team’s touchdowns. Senior Colton Beeler punted the ball four times, giving him 103 yards, and senior Connor Boyette had 99 yards on his three returns.
“[We] just want to keep winning, so I hope that’s the case,” Cochran said. “We will find out [Friday] night if that’s true or not, but it was just a good start for us. The last several years we’ve started out 0-1. Hopefully we can use that and let it spring us forward instead of having to climb out of a hole.”
The Eagles take the field again Friday at 7:30 pm against Forney. The game will be held at Forney High School’s City Bank Stadium.
“I was happy because we won our first game,” Campbell said. “that’s the first time we’ve won [the first game] in the past three years, so that will motivate us to keep winning”
