On Friday, the Coppell football team (2-0) takes on Arlington Bowie (0-2) at Wilemon Stadium at 7 p.m. Going into the game, Coppell is No. 12 in the state according to Dave Campbell’s Texas High School Football rankings and is looking to keep their momentum going after an overtime victory against Waxahachie.
“Coming off an emotional win like we had last week, coming from behind against Waxahachie, I’ve been preaching to not fall into a trap game,” Coppell coach Antonio Wiley. “It’s easy to have a let down the next week because it’s just such a roller coaster and it takes so much out of you as far as the amount of effort and adrenaline that your body puts out. [We need] to get our guys focused and understand that we have a job to do and lack of execution can cost you a game.”
Coppell has its eye on some key offensive players such as Bowie senior running back Darrion Bowers, senior quarterback Larry Nichols, senior wide receiver Dilon Tallie and senior running back Zion Shelley.
“They’ve got a really athletic quarterback,” Wiley said. “They’ve got a really good receiver and then, they’ve got their tight end slash halfback that’s really, really talented. Defensively, they’ve got a couple of talented defensive linemen and the secondary is all pretty talented. They’ve got a lot of really talented young men so it’s just going to come down to our execution.”
The Cowboys have stuck to the same routine in practice.
“We’re creatures of habit, we do what we do,” Wiley said. “We tweak small things to fit each opponent, but at the base and at its roots, we are who we are.”
This game also strikes a personal chord with Wiley, having previously worked with Bowie coach Sammy Epps when they were at Mesquite Poteet.
“I’ve known coach Sam for a long time,” Wiley said. “He was actually a linebacker coach when I was the defensive coordinator over at Poteet so we’ve got a lot of history and that’s how we ended up playing this game. I just told him ‘Hey, we both need a football game, let’s play’ and he signed up. Other than that it’s just a football game to me.”
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