Texas prep football teams hitting road

MULESHOE — First-year Muleshoe coach Jason Richards is hoping his team’s performance in a scrimmage last week is an indication of things to come.

Richards noted the Mules forced six turnovers while coughing up none of their own during the practice game against Olton. Muleshoe is looking to turn things around after going a combined 1-19 over the past two campaigns.

“With those kind of (turnover) numbers, you’re going to win a lot of games,” Richards said as he prepares his team for Friday’s season opener at Sundown.

Other area Texas prep openers on Friday send Farwell to Ralls and Bovina to Boys Ranch. All are slated for 7 p.m. (CDT) kickoffs.

Richards said he knows Sundown’s coach, Adam Cummings, pretty well, and he has a good idea of what to expect from the Roughnecks.

“Sundown has great size and a very good run game,” Richards said. “It’s going to be a real test for us.”

Winning the turnover battle is a big key as the Mules try to build some confidence early in the season.

“A lot of my guys are young,” Richards said. “We’re starting four sophomores, four juniors and three seniors on offense.

“Their running back and quarterback are good players. We’ve got to contain the running back and force them to do things they don’t want to do. Offensively, we’ll try to keep them off-balance.”

Farwell at Ralls: This will be the first meeting for the Steers and Jackrabbits, at least in recent memory, although the teams have scrimmaged in preseason a few times.

First-year Steers coach Darren Kelley said the teams mirror each other in style.

“They’re a good football team,” he said of the Jackrabbits. “They kind of run the Navy option on offense. We’ll have 22 guys within three yards of the football.”

Kelley was encouraged by his team’s play in last week’s scrimmage against New Home in Farwell. The only downside was losing sophomore backup linebacker Devon Sotelo, who broke his leg trying to make a tackle during the scrimmage and is likely out for the season.

“We did a lot of things well,” Kelley said of the scrimmage. “We had some little things that we need to correct.

“We need to get a win (at Ralls). We should be fine if we just take care of our business. Hopefully we can get better week-to-week.”

Bovina at Boys Ranch: As with Muleshoe, the Roughriders are looking to break out of a long dry spell. Bovina coach Coby Emery said, though, that Boys Ranch isn’t to be taken lightly.

“They’re playing harder and with more intensity this year,” he said. “They’ve got a new coach, and I think he’s brought some life into their team.”

Emery said he’s seen things from Boys Ranch’s view, noting that the Roughriders’ situation is similar to one he was in as an assistant coach with a Class 4A program at Willis, Texas, in 2008. The Wildkats ended a 25-game losing streak with a 20-14 win over Hargrave in their season opener.

“We had the second-longest losing streak in 4A at that time,” he said. “We had parents who were crying in the stands because they never thought they’d see their kids win a game.”

Meantime, the Mustangs are trying to improve on their own situation after going 4-7 a year ago. Emery said things could’ve easily gone better, though, if a couple of close losses in district play had been reversed.

“I think we were a little better than what our record showed,” he said.