Cowboys go head-to-head with state’s no. 2 team

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Coppell senior running back Gavin McDaniel tries do elude Allen defenders in the Cowboys’ 31-10 loss in Allen. The last time the Eagles came to Buddy Echols, however, the Cowboys pulled off a 27-24 upset victory.

Marcus Krum, Sports Executive Editor

As the Allen Eagles (2-0) travel back to Buddy Echols field for the first time in four years, fans of Coppell football (2-0) have been waiting for this moment. When the Cowboys take the field, they will sit, hoping, praying for shades of 2012’s thrilling victory.

The Eagles started the season off with two routs of out-of-state schools, defeating Hoover (Ala.) 25-7 week one and Evangel Christian Academy (La.) 45-10. This week will be their first week returning to playing Texas teams.

“When we look at the scouting report, they’re a really good team on both sides of the ball,” senior wide receiver Matt Dorrity said. “They’ve got a good quarterback, a good running back,  they have a great secondary. But both of our previous games have been hard-fought games. We just want to treat every game as if it’s the state championship.”

The Cowboys come off of two close wins to start their season, beating L.D. Bell, 28-21, in overtime, then scoring a 31-21 comeback victory over McKinney Boyd in which they trailed by as many as 14 points.

“We just hope to build on the second half [of the Boyd game],” Coppell coach Mike DeWitt said. “I thought we had a good week of practice, and obviously we hope we get off to a fast start against a really strong opponent.”

Eagles have yet to be tested this year in their first two wins. However, last time the Eagles came to Coppell resulted in Allen’s last regular-season loss, a 27-24 overtime win for the Cowboys.

“We like to reflect back on that a little bit, but in reality, this is the biggest game right now,” Dorrity said. “We’re not looking at the past too much, we’re just focusing on tonight and going forward from there.”