Mustangs look for improvement in home opener

NIXON — Last week’s season opener against Hebbronville was, admittedly, a mess.

Nixon-Smiley head coach Carlton McKinney knew his team had to overcome a lot to try to get a win last week and unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as they lost 27-6.

“It was to be expected,” McKinney admitted. “The situation was overwhelming. It was their first varsity football game [for more kids]. A lot of mental errors. Hopefully it’ll be cleared up.”

As talked about before scrimmages, McKinney mentioned that the lack of a junior varsity team last year has had an adverse effect this season, since most of the younger athletes who have been called up to varsity don’t have the necessary reps to compete just yet.

“They were overwhelmed and hesitant,” McKinney noted.

Nonetheless, the team will be moving forward, as they host their first home game of the season against Three Rivers.

Three Rivers has a new coaching staff, but after scouting the team, McKinney sees similarities between last year’s team and this year’s team.

“They have a lot of the same kids,” he noted. “They do a lot of what they did last year, [but] I imagine [the new coaching staff] will try to incorporate [their] system as the season goes on.”

Three Rivers will rely on their young quarterback and running back, both sophomores. Similar to Nixon-Smiley, Three Rivers will run some formations out of the Slot-T.

“They’re very methodical in what they try to do,” McKinney said, “they use their weapons very well. For us, it’s a matter of taking care of our assignments.”

On defense, McKinney expects Three Rivers to try to put down a nose guard in their “50” defense.

“Very similar to what we’ve seen in them in the past, with a few new wrinkles because of the new staff,” he said.

Even then, the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs are focused on improving themselves. The team took a step back last week, but McKinney has noticed the work ethic this week and improvement will come.

“We have some kids that are doing a good job, but we only have probably three, or four full-time starters from last season,” McKinney said. “Everyone else has played less than half to no minutes. [But] the best way to get them in game speed is game action.”

Kickoff tonight is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium.