Mustangs host Bloomington for first scrimmage

The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs kicked off their first scrimmage against the Bloomington Bobcats Thursday, Aug. 15 for the official start of the 2024 football season.

The Mustangs enter a new era under first-time head coach Paul Kirby.

“Honestly, it was pretty, pretty amazing. It feels like every other game, though, you get out there and you still coach your hardest, and you love the kids, and you do everything you can to make them successful. We still have a lot to work on, and it was noticeable, but it was fun,” Kirby said.

The Mustangs showcased their offense and defense for the first time together and Kirby was thrilled with their performance.

“Offensively, we're putting a new offense in to supplement some stuff, and we're trying to speed it up a little bit, and our defense is doing a heck of a job. With Coach McElroy, they're buying into everything he's saying. One of the things we talked about today was, ‘How do you overcome adversity when you get smacked in the mouth?’ And we showed that today,” Kirby said.

The Mustangs will travel to Kenedy for their last scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 22, and Kirby and his team will be practicing more hard than the previous scrimmage.

“We're going to continue to practice our butts off, and we're going to hit a lot of sled. We're going to hit each other harder next week, because we're going to be more well conditioned. I think they're going to be well coached. So we're going to continue to out coach them. That's our goal each week is week by week, game by game. We're gonna have to work hard,” Kirby said.

The Mustangs kick of the regular season on the road against the Luling Eagles Friday, Aug. 30.