SMITHVILLE — Despite having lost a large number of key varsity players to graduation, Smithville head coach Justin Wiley feels confident that his team will be ready for district play after going up against quite a few tough pre-district teams.
According to Wiley, Smithville has graduated 48 football players in the last two years, which has made a huge impact on this year’s team in particular.
“Thirteen of our 42 guys on the roster lettered last year and only five have had significant playing experience,” Wiley said.
This obstacle became apparent in the Tigers’ first game of the season at Lexington last Friday, when the Eagles shut them out 60-0.
“Lexington has 21 returning starters, including 11 on defense,” Wiley said. “We have two returning offensive players and only one returning defensive player as starters. They hit us where it hurts the most, which is inexperience.”
Wiley said that his team turned the ball over three times in the second half and every player who dropped a pass was a young starter.
“Then you have players like Aaron Rodriguez who catch the ball every time, and it’s because he’s done all of this before,” Wiley said.
Smithville had seven complete passes throughout the game, while Lexington finished with 15. This caused Smithville to fall behind in rushing yards, totaling in only 19 yards compared to Lexington’s 330.
While Lexington is only a 2A school, Wiley said it was great practice for his team because it is no ordinary 2A school.
“Lexington is as good of a team defensively than any team in our district,” Wiley said. “It’s defense plays a lot like Giddings.”
The majority of teams Smithville will play in its pre-district season are playoff teams, which Wiley feels will prepare his team for its challenging new district.
“When all five of the teams in your district are playoff teams, you have to prepare for that,” Wiley said.
Wiley said he thinks that after all of the valuable practice, the nine sophomores on this year’s young varsity team will be seasoned and ready for district.
“We’ll get better and better every week,” Wiley said.
On Friday, the Smithville Tigers will host their first home game of the season against the Wharton Tigers, which Wiley said he feels good about.
“We’ll be much improved over last week and our kids will be excited to play their first home game,” Wiley said.