The football team will play Irving MacArthur on Friday at Joy and Ralph Ellis Stadium in Irving at 7:00 pm.

“I feel that our team’s best strength is our toughness,” assistant coach Eric Mach said. “Our players have shown the ability to persevere through some very adverse situations multiple times this year and still come out on top.”

Irving MacArthur was 1-5 in its first six games, but head coach Brian Brazil said the game still presents some unique challenges for the team, such as going on the road and playing in a new environment.

“[Irving MacArthur is] a team that has struggled a little bit, so any time you’re playing a team that struggles, you don’t want the team to go in with the mindset that you’re going to be overconfident and thinking you just show up and win,” Brazil said. “You have to go and play your best game always because it’s about improving.” 

Throughout the season,  Brazil said he emphasizes the “little details” such as showing up to practice on time and staying focused on the game, which he hopes will help control their performance. 

“I think defensively, we’ve had a lot of really good stops early in the game, which creates momentum for us and puts the opponents in tough field positions,” Brazil said. “This has created good field positions for us offensively. Our offense has done a good job of using a lot of tempo, which means just trying to go at a real fast rate which helps us to be more successful in moving the football.” 

The team sets small goals week to week to achieve their long-term goals. The team’s aim is to win the day, and by winning each day, they can win the week.

“Ultimately, we’d love to be a district champion, we’d love to go and play until Christmas time and play in a state championship game,” Brazil said. “But you can’t think about those goals until you think about the weekly and daily goals.”