ROCKDALE, Texas (KXXV) — The Rockdale Tigers have some big goals as they head into year two under head coach Hunter Hamrick.
“Make the playoffs again, go past round one and to make sure everybody's bought in,” junior wide receiver De’Andre Stephens said.
Now as they head into year two under this staff, the players have a blueprint for how to achieve those goals.
“Really just getting into the weight room three to four times a week,” senior outside linebacker Radyn Hamilton said.
“Practicing with each other, going to the field on our own off time and just trying to connect with the younger kids.”
While there’s now an established expectation of how the program should run, the Tigers did lose a large senior class and some of the younger guys will need to step up and fill some big roles.
“They’re going to answer a lot of question marks for me early,” Hamrick said.
“A lot of our youth is going to have to step up and play and in my opinion, that's always an exciting time because it's building for the future.”
The Tigers, haven’t seen a ton of recent success, so as they enter this season the motto is simple, “fight to win.”
“They just want to win,” Hamrick said. “They just got that hunger to win. So that's kind of our push for this year is just trying to get in position to put themselves in a place to win ball games. They’re all going to be tough ones and they have to show a lot of grit to get there.”
Rockdale plays in one of the most competitive districts in 3A Division 1 so every game is a challenge but there’s one in particular that the Tigers always look forward to.
“Battle of the Bell,” Stephens said.
“Battle of the Bell,” senior defensive back Darren Carter said.
“Keep the bell,” Hamilton said.
“You know, that's the biggest one,” Hamrick said.
"We got it at home again, two years in a row and we have it [the bell] at the house right now. It's going to be a goal of ours to make sure that it stays home and, and we don't lose that one.”
Rockdale will open the season at home week 1 hosting Smithville. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
