Mustangs in search of district win

NIXON — The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs (2-5, 0-2) are still in search of their first district win, despite playing “extremely well” last week, according to head coach Carlton McKinney.

“We actually played extremely well for the first time in a long time,” McKinney said of his squad. “We did make some mental mistakes, but it wasn’t lack of effort.”

The Mustangs lost 28-20 in a tight contest against Natalia (6-1, 1-1) last Friday. However, the coaching staff believes the team has made a step forward and if they can play the way they did last week, they’ll have a shot at taking down Dilley (3-4, 1-1).

Poth is the lone undefeated team in District 15-3AD2 as everyone else in the district is 1-1, meaning the field is still wide open for a playoff berth.

“That’s the positive, that’s why we felt good about our performance,” McKinney noted. “Our kids have some fight in them. Poth is out in front of everyone else but everyone else is jumbled up. So for us, it’s competing to improve. If we play like we did Friday night and eliminate mistakes, it gives ourselves a chance to win.”

The Mustangs are still in position to control their destiny. But now is the time for the team to win and “get it done,” as McKinney said.

Going up against Dilley, the Mustangs will face a Wolves’ offense that’s lost their starting quarterback weeks ago. Dilley has changed their offense a bit, focusing more on their current passer’s strengths and weaknesses. The Wolves will be working with the quarterback under center, though they’ve shown some spread looks as they take advantage of their size up front.

Defensively, the Wolves star player is their middle linebacker, and Nixon-Smiley will again need to go up against a defensive line with size.

“They have size,” McKinney said. “Teams that have size on us, we struggle, because we don’t have the size to match. [We just have to] follow our assignments and do the best we can.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at home.