The varsity football team begins their season Thursday against Palo Duro High School at Dick Bivins at 7 p.m.

This will be the first official game out of 10 regular games. Senior Cooper Smith will return as a left guard for the offensive line in his last year as an eagle.

“It’s definitely going to be different from last year,” Smith said. “I’m starting, we have a whole new line of people. No one from the last starting team is the same except for me.”

This will be the second year the football team has competed on 4-A level.

“I think we’ll do really, really well our first game,” Smith said. “We’ve practiced hard, and I hope we win. My only goal this year is to get everyone else ready for next year. I’m working on teaching all the new guys.”