The varsity football team defeated Hereford Oct. 16 in their first home game of the district season. The Eagles will play Palo Duro High School at Dick Bivins Stadium Oct. 23.

The Eagles started scoring quickly while shutting Hereford down on defense for the entire first quarter. At the end of the second quarter, the Eagles scored on three consecutive drives to end the half with a score of 35-7. The defense held Hereford scoreless for the entire second half, ending the game with a score of 55-7.

“We just had the right play calls for what they were doing defensively, and we all did our jobs,” junior quarterback Gunnar Palacios said. “All year we have been focusing on mental toughness.”

The team has a winning season so far with an overall record of 6-1. They are undefeated in district after two games. Palacios said he expects a good game from Palo Duro this week.

“We just have to play our game and execute and we will be fine,” Palacios said. “We have been doing very well but we still have improvements we need to make.”

Junior strong safety Kagan Bradley said improvements included watching film as a team and as an individual to learn about Hereford’s offense in order to be more successful on defense as well as practicing every day leading up to the game.

“We were expecting to come out and play our best since it was homecoming,” Bradley said. “We all worked together and did our part and I think we were all expecting it to turn out the way it did.”

Bradley did his part on defense, leaving the game with two interceptions and several other key stops to hold Hereford to only one touchdown the whole game while the offense continued to score, solidifying a homecoming victory.

“I was happy with how well we were playing and just trying to stay focused on playing all four quarters,” Bradley said. “It felt great to win like that on homecoming night.”