RIESEL, Texas — The Riesel Indians struggled in their transition from 2A to 3A in 2020. Now, they hope a change at the top will lead to more success down the line.
Tyler Crow took over for Keith Stifflemeier late in the coaching carousel, moving to Central Texas from Scurry-Rosser High School in late June. At Scurry-Rosser, he served as defensive coordinator.
"This community and this town have a lot of the same values I have and there's some good kids here," Crow said of the transition. "I want to be a part of things like that. And obviously, they have some talent. They've had success in other sports."
Riesel returns a core group of seniors on the defensive side of the ball. Combined with Crow's defensive history, the Indians hope to hold opposing offenses in check.
That will be a difficult task in District 13-3A II, which features three teams ranked in the Top 20. Crow believes his team's defensive speed will be the key to their success.
"We want to play fast," Crow said. "Now, that doesn't mean the tempo of the game is going to be fast. But when the ball is snapped all the way through the whistle we want to play with a lot of effort and energy in the 4-5 seconds that the play lasts."
Senior linebacker Kyson Dieterich will anchor the Riesel defense.
The Indians are projected to finish sixth in district play. They open the season against Marlin.
