Tonight kicks off the 2011-2012 varsity football season against Judson, 7:30 p.m. at Rutledge Stadium.
Under the new leadership of Coach Ben Cook (promoted last March from assistant coach to head coach) and senior Matt Gramling (who took a hiatus from Football and is now back as the starting quarterback), this season stands to be one of the most interesting in MacArthur history.
Coming back from a deep-run into playoffs always presents pressure for teams, but the boys aren’t letting that or their absence from the “Top 10” rankings phase them.
“I’m very excited for this season,” Gramling said. “I’m a little nervous, but the ‘O-line’ will keep me protected. Those are my boys! We’re not even thinking about the pre-season rankings… We just care about the post-season rankings,” Gramling continued.
Reminiscent of last season’s “David vs. Goliath” attitude, the Varsity Football team, along with Coach Cook, plan to continue encouraging constant chanting of, “On you Brahmas, on you Brahmas… Fight right to that line!” by cheerleaders and loyal onlookers.
“We’re excited about this season— it’s a neat deal because there’s familiarity in the process. This is the best place to be head coach at,” Cook said.
In a motivational message, Jace Amaro, one of the senior team leaders last season, posted this onto ex-teammate Nate Thompson’s Facebook Wall:
“TO ALL MAC BOYS:
I wish the best to all of y’all and I really do believe in you guys. I just saw that you guys weren’t ranked in the top 10…and I just got off the phone with one of the San Antonio Sports writers, asking why you weren’t— he said, ‘Because they have no leadership after losing [Clint and I]’, that you guys will choke under pressure, and won’t win more than 4 games this year…well I hope that motivates y’all, because they said the same thing last year. I believe in y’all…STATE.”