Thursday Night Lights in Carrollton
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Updated: August 28, 2014
McKinney North (Team History) #40 Pre-season ranking
Carrollton Newman Smith (Team History)
Thursday, August 28th, at 7PM, the McKinney North Bulldogs travel to Standridge Stadium to square-off against the Carrollton Newman Smith Trojans. For the third year in a row, these 2 teams kick-off the season against each other, with the Trojans winning in 2012 and the Bulldogs last year. Both of the previous matchups were tightly contested, but this year’s contest is of two teams coming from different directions. The Bulldogs are coming off one of their most successful seasons, going 6-4 and 3 rounds in the playoffs. While the Trojans are looking to rebound from a disappointing 2-8 season.
The Bulldogs’ Coach Mike Fecci and his staff have some work to do with 11 new starters, 6 on offense (4 on the O-line) and another 5 on defense. The Bulldogs should have a strong running game featuring running back Ronald Jones, a 4-star recruit and pre-season All-American.
Their defense has two standouts in Justin Madubuike (Nose Guard) and Bryce Balous (Safety). Coach Fecci says, “I am very impressed with Newman Smith’s Defensive Line. They are big and very athletic. Newman Smith will be a big test for our program.”
Coach Paul Ressa, who has seen both highs and lows with the team, is entering his sixth season at Newman Smith. His Trojans return 6 offensive starters and 7 defensive. Ressa knows they don’t have that “one guy” like the Bulldogs, but he says “We have a bunch of guys that operate well as a unit. To beat them (the Bulldogs), we’ll need to play our game and play it well.”
by Cameron Govan
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