While participation numbers continue increasing, the Madill Wildcats prepare for the 2025 football season openeronFridayatKingston.
The Wildcats made some positive signs in last week’s lone scrimmage with athletic Hugo and hope those positive steps continue this week.
One of the biggest positives for head coach Wade Couch is that the Wildcat team numbers continue to rise on almost a daily basis and most of their main contributors got through the scrimmage without any injuries.
“We were very pleased with what we saw last week,” Coach Couch said. “We made good progress in practice last week and started the scrimmage very well. I was really pleased with how we looked defensively in the early going. I was really impressed with our conditioning, effort and attitude. We obviously have some things to clean up but we’re figuring some things out defensively and getting a better understanding offensively. It’s still early but I’m really pleased.
“We have some normal preseason bumps and bruises, but we dressed 36 against Hugo and think that number will be close to 40 this week. Adding numbers that want to be a part of what we are doing is exciting to see.”
Freshman Steven Moreno made a positive sign for the Wildcats with the squad’s lone scrimmage touchdown. Coaches also pointed to the strong effort of Landon Clutter, who led the team in offensive carries and stayed consistent all night while playing both sides of the ball.
Coach also was highly impressed by freshman linebacker Rodrigo Cruces and the increasing confidence of Gustavo Hernandez. Moises Bautista led the charge in the secondary with Kevin Garcia and Dogaberto Gonzalez spurring things up front.
TheWildcatsnowtakeaim on this week’s Bryan County Super Bowl and a game that Coach Couch knows will be much like their Class 4A district slate of games.
“The first thing you notice about Kingston is their discipline,” the Madill coach said. “They throw the ball very accurately and have very good runners. It is very impressive in what they do offensively. They are violent defensively, read, react and tacklewell.Wehaveourwork cut out for us.
“They will be similar to whatwearegoingtoseenight in and night out in district play.Wejusthavetocontinue working on getting better every day. We are rotating several sophomores and freshmen. We are hoping for an opportunity to avoid guys having to start both ways on the line. We are definitely beginning to develop more depth in that area for sure.”