More than a display of the varsity football team’s strength, the 36-0 win over the Mesquite Skeeters marked a special milestone: Michael Odle’s 50th win as the head football coach of his alma mater.
“There were a lot of players, coaches and administrators that have been so supportive,” Odle said. “A lot of people went into making that happen. It’s a pretty cool milestone, but now we’re looking for 51.”
With an extra week to prepare, the Farmers hope to win No. 51 at home against the Flower Mound Jaguars on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. The team has won three consecutive games against Flower Mound, but the familiarity between schools has kept games close.
“Flower Mound’s well coached and their kids play very hard,” Odle said. “They’ve always given us a run for our money. It’s been a good series; the last games have been back and forth, so we expect no different. We’ve got to go out and play hard to get a win.”
Both teams enter the matchup with a 2-1 record but with different strengths of victory and schedule. The Jaguars offense rolled through its first two games but was limited to just 13 points in a loss to the McKinney Lions, ranked No. 14 on texasfootball.com’s Class 6A rankings.
“They’re going to sling the ball out,” senior cornerback Tony-Louis Nkuba said. “We’ve got to stop the pass and stop the QB run. [If we do], they’ll struggle [to produce] on offense.”
Senior quarterback Jake Watson is the catalyst for the Jaguars offense. He threw four touchdown passes in a win against Fossil Ridge, followed by a 278 total yard, 5 total touchdown performance against Lake Highlands. Flower Mound’s pass heavy offense has been limited as Watson has completed 28 passes on 73 attempts over the past two games.
Flower Mound’s defense will have to stop the run after senior running back Viron Ellison ran for 224 yards and 2 TDs in last season’s 28-21 win. Junior linebacker Elijah Luneke led the Jaguars with 113 tackles as a sophomore. Senior defensive ends Scott Rumsey and Weston Bicknell are experienced pass rushers who will be tasked with stopping the Farmers at the line of scrimmage.
“I definitely expect to have another [big game],” Ellison said. “It’s my last year, so I have a different mentality than the juniors and sophomores. We had two weeks to prepare for these guys, so we have a great plan against them.”
The Farmers’ offensive line has won the line of scrimmage through three games. With four returning starters and junior center Sean Hutton having varsity experience, the line was able to create space for four different running backs to average over 5 yards per carry.
“I’d say we’re doing pretty good right now,” Ellison said. “We were blowing teams out, so we wanted to keep me healthy. I’m playing at different positions, so [rotation of running backs] is going to keep happening.”
Senior quarterback Ethan Terrell has also benefited from the extra time in the pocket. Against Mesquite, Terrell went 6-for-8 for 132 yards and three passing touchdowns, a number he hadn’t reached since his sophomore season.
“It was a good road win,” Odle said. “We had a long bus ride over, it was hot. The guys sputtered a little bit at the start, but once we found our groove, we played really well.”
The Farmers defense stood stronger through three games than last year. The team has outscored its opponents 104-28, allowing 9.3 points per game.
“I feel like we could be the best defense in the state if we’re locked in,” Nkuba said. “We have more speed on the field and there’s more trust on the field. I don’t see any weaklings.”
Junior defensive end Sean Oliver has been disruptive in each game, forcing errant throws and recording three and a half sacks. Nkuba, who led the team with seven interceptions last season, recorded his first interception against Mesquite, returning it 102 yards for the Farmer’s fourth defensive touchdown this season.
“The shutout against Mesquite showed that we woke up from the Highland Park game,” Nkuba said. “We didn’t really play to our best ability. I feel like we were the better team, but needed that to wake us up.”
The Farmers enter District 6-6A competition as district championship favorites, but the yearly matchup between schools reduces the margin for error over the next seven games.
“We’re still trying to figure out who we are,” Odle said. “We’ve played one meaningful game. The other two games were over pretty quickly. We’re gonna find out a lot about ourselves this week.”
