Following a breakthrough playoff run last season, the McKinney Lions entered the 2023 campaign with the weight of expectations. So far, they’ve lived up to the billing.
In a battle of state-ranked teams, McKinney knocked off Longview 23-21 in a back-and-forth battle at McKinney ISD Stadium on Thursday night. Cole Dauper drilled the game-winning field goal late in regulation to secure the victory.
The Lions jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the second quarter thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns from running back Kahli Best and quarterback Godspower Nwawuihe. The Lobos battled back to reclaim a 21-20 lead with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but two huge defensive plays from McKinney’s Jonathan Agumadu and Xavier Filsaime helped turn the tide and set up Dauper’s game-winner.
“There were so many things that impressed me about our football team,” McKinney head coach Marcus Shavers said. “I think the biggest thing was how we responded to adversity. We spent a lot of time talking about, throughout a football season, it’s not always going to be perfect, just like in life. I think if we can teach our kids how to respond to adversity in this game, it’ll give yourselves a chance to win some. We’ve been in some of those situations in that first game, and we haven’t always been able to close out the close ones. We’ve grown tremendously as players, as coaches and as a program.”
One of the biggest storylines entering this high school football season was the triple-digit heat. Multiple teams across the state pushed back their games’ start times to lessen the impact on athletes and fans in the stands. The Lions felt that they were well-prepared for the sweltering conditions.
“We feel like our kids are in really elite shape,” Shavers said. “Our athletics trainer does a fantastic job of keeping our kids in safe conditions as well as hydrated. Our district set up some guidelines to allow us to be able to prepare in the safest way possible. We always tell our kids that the weather is to our favor, and we didn’t feel like it had a negative impact at all on the outcome of the game.”
McKinney continues their non-district schedule next week with an away game against Berkner, and the Lions are hoping to keep this early-season momentum rolling. That desire comes with a modicum of perspective about the long season ahead of them.
“We were excited about being able to go get a win. You can’t win them all without winning the first one, but we really take this a week at a time,” Shavers explained. “A letdown isn’t something that I’m worried about. We have yet to play our best football. We are yet to be the type of football team that we need to be to go compete for a district championship. There’s plenty for us to be getting better, and there’s a lot of motivation to showcase those improvements on Friday night.”