With district games in full swing, the Coppell football team has one thing on its mind: winning.
Coppell played Sachse, South Grand Prairie, Keller Timber Creek, Plano West and reigning district champion Lewisville, winning every game besides the Timber Creek game, in which they were leading, but was canceled due to lightning at halftime. It is 4-0 on the season with Timber Creek not counting toward the season record.
Since the nondistrict games are over, and district is in full swing, games carry more importance in regards to playoff positioning. All the hype about district has arrived and fans of the Cowboys are expecting big things out of second year coach Antonio Wiley.
“The pressure is something that we look at in a positive way,” Wiley said. “Pressure is a good thing, it allows us to focus and really lock in.”
With the immensity of winning, Wiley stresses the extreme importance of showing up to practice, and practicing with intention, especially with the importance of these games.
On the offensive side, Coppell junior starting quarterback Edward Griffin and all of the players have been running through drills and learning plays, trying to improve every play and not get caught up in their winning success.
“We are using practice to fix plays and watch film,” Griffin said. “We also need to self scout and work on ourselves.”
Griffin also emphasized the importance of practicing with intention and not falling behind.
“We have to make sure to keep going every practice,” Griffin said, “We have to take every practice like it’s a game and the coaches do a great job helping us do that.”
On the defensive side, starting safety Matthew Nietzel and others are learning different formations, blitz, man to man coverage and zone coverage.
“We just need to stick to the game plan,” Nietzel said. “I believe in our players and our coaches, and we take each game one at a time. Wins always feel good but we can’t get distracted.”
Cowboys defensive assistant Zachary Gonzalez touched upon the importance of practice.
“We needed to improve on plays that hurt us in the last five games,” Gonzalez said. “We have done a good job improving the defense and the players’ health.”
After the Cowboys fight so hard to win the first two downs, they have been giving up big plays on the third down which is a concern for Wiley.
“I would like to see the defense win the money downs,” Wiley said. “We play too hard to let up a big play at the end of a very successful drive.”
With all of the expectations, the Cowboys need to win and not get caught up in their success if they want to go to the playoffs.
“We have an extremely talented group of individuals on both sides of the ball,” senior wide receiver Anthony Banks, “If we keep playing at the pace that we are playing at, we should be able to play in December.”
Riding a very successful season last year which ended in a first round playoff exit, the Cowboys look to go deeper into the playoffs.
“I try not to think about the pressure,” Griffin said, “Obviously pressure is good and the expectations are high, but we have to take every game one time at a time.”
With everything going on outside school, Wiley wants to make sure that the players are locked in for the season during practice and games.
“It’s simple really,” Wiley said. “The expectation is to win. We have to punch our ticket in the postseason.”
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