Up against a team they have not beaten in seven years, the Cowboys travel to Eagle Stadium to face Allen on Friday at 7 p.m. 

Coppell (1-1) is not in the same district as Allen (2-0), but the matchup has pushed Cowboys training further. 

“We’ve been watching all of the Allen game film and going through and picking out little details and things that we need to work on,” Coppell junior safety Will Kraus said. “We’ve been changing up our defense to match their offense. If they have a certain play we’ve never seen before, we’ll change up our defense to match that.”

Coppell senior quarterback Kevin Shuman is still out with a concussion from the season opener against Sachse, bringing Coppell junior quarterback Ryan Walker to start for the second game in a row.

“Practice this week has been on a whole other level,” Coppell senior offensive lineman Nick Quilens said. “As a whole, as an offensive side, we’ve just been clicking on all cylinders.”

Having experienced both a win and a loss so far, the Cowboys have been able to determine what aspects of their game are strong and what needs to be adjusted. 

“Our greatest strength on Friday will be our passing game,” Quilens said. “We just have so many electric players, like [Coppell sophomore wide receiver Anthony Black]. He’s electric. [Coppell senior wide receiver Kyle Meister], he’s a great receiver as well, very fast.” 

Allen, which has not lost a regular-season game since the loss to Coppell in 2012, is hosting its Homecoming night. Though not home turf, the Cowboys remain unfazed. 

“Me personally, I don’t think it influences the game at all,” Quilens said. “For my fellow offensive linemen, it’s just another football game. We had a player named [Coppell junior offensive lineman Shoy Border], it was his first varsity start against Sachse and just because the stage was a little bit bigger, he was getting a little bit scared. I was telling him throughout the week and up until the first quarter, ‘it’s just another football game. You go play your game, you go play football, everything will take care of itself.’ Even if we’re playing in front of 18 thousand fans, we’re going to go out there and perform.”

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