The varsity football team began their season Friday, Aug. 28 with a victory over the Borger Bulldogs. The Eagles will travel to Roswell, New Mexico Sept. 4 to play Roswell High School.

The Eagles started their opening game with a touchdown in the first minutes of the first quarter, but Borger quickly retaliated. At halftime, the Eagles led by only one touchdown. The game was close going into the fourth quarter. However, after a rain delay about halfway through the quarter, the Eagles finished the game on top with a final score of 34-14. Junior middle linebacker Dayne Douglass played a key role in slowing down Borger’s quarterback. He said overall the team played well with only a few minor issues.

“We are starting to slowly click together,” Douglass said. “We still have a few weak spots that need fixing, but knowing our coaches, they will know how to address them.”

Coaches began addressing weak spots in the offseason last year and working toward this season started with two-a-days at the beginning of August. Douglass said he has high hopes for the Eagle’s 2015 season.

“I’ve seen this team put in more work than ever before,” Douglass said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team. We didn’t start off the best way we could have, but we know our abilities and we have no limits.”

Junior quarterback Gunnar Palacios passed for three touchdowns and ran for one in his first varsity start. He said he expects a victory against Roswell this week.

“When we are on our game, we can beat anyone,” Palacios said. “Roswell is a good football team, but we just have to play together as a team, execute well and do the little things right and we should have no problem bringing home a victory.”

The Eagles’ first home game will be Sept. 11 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium against the Plainview Bulldogs. Palacios said support from the community at both home and away games is greatly valued by the team.

“It’s awesome how many people come to our games and help us with their support,” Palacios said. “It’s good to know we have a great community behind us.”