ANDERSON, Texas (KXXV) — The Fightin’ Owls return 9 of their 11 starters on offense including quarterback Connor Daley who’s coming off the heels of an impressive junior season.
“I think the excitement from a coaching standpoint last year was seeing some of the maturity he made and decisions on the field,” Owls head coach Brad Hodges said.
“Then now in this offseason, he's kind of put it together with his leadership and so now to see those two things come together this year ought to be pretty exciting.”
Anderson-Shiro also returns their entire offensive line that continues to work hard throughout the offseason to ensure the protection of Daley and the running backs.
“When you can have that continuity up front it's huge for your team and those guys really bond together and they hang out all the time and they have shirts made and all this kind of stuff,” Hodges said.
“They take a lot of pride in their work and the job they do and keeping our quarterback healthy and keeping the hits off our running backs and so I'm expecting them to have a big year.”
“Oh, I love it,” Daley said.
“I've been with three of the boys since pee wee football so having them and just having that bond and connection together, it all starts with them up front — I praised them before I praised anybody else because if it wasn't for them, I couldn't do anything.”
Even though the Owls are in a competitive district they expect to be competing for a top spot and after breaking the school record for most wins in single season in 2023 — they’re ready to take that next step this fall.
“It's not so much as like a big monkey on our back or anything, but more of something that's kind of in the back of our mind at all times,” Hodges said.
“There are those days it gets a little tough out there and maybe you're getting a little tired but it's always driving you in the back of your mind — we use it as a very positive thing to drive us and I think we got the capability of doing some big things with this team this year.”
Right out of the gates — their competitive non-district schedule will have them ready to go when they open district play on the road at Newton week 5.
“We’ve got that set up to kind of help us once we get into district and get into the playoffs,” Hodges said.
“I think it will benefit us down the line — it'll be fun to play some new faces, but at the same time, it's going to be a tough slate.”
The Owls will start the season on the road against Crawford, kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
