CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — H.M. King High School in Kingsville will finish their football season Thursday against the Alice Coyotes. This year, the team faced adversity one usually doesn't face on the football field. The loss of one of their coaches became one motivating factor to their best season since 2018.
"I do believe that he was there in spirit throughout the whole season. I think, as a team, once that loss hit us, it brought us closer together showing us that it’s us against everyone else. Through trials and tribulations, we just have to stick on one another," senior wide receiver Terrell Jackson said.
Jackson and his teammate senior linebacker Jacob Cantu spent the last three years with Coach Marco Contreras before Contreras passed away just moments before the boy's first district game in September. But the two seniors said they used his loss as fuel and made sure to leave it all out on the line each game to honor him.
As of Thursday afternoon, this year alone the team has won the same amount of games as they have combined in the last three years. Although they didn't make playoffs, the H.M King football team held their ground against every team and had many close wins.
"Each game we play, we never lose by more than a touchdown so it shows that the games we’re going against we aren’t getting blown out like last year or the years before," Jackson said.
"From last year where we would average to give up around 40 points a game to this year averaging around like 17 points a game, that's a really big change for us," Cantu said.
Head Coach Ruben Garcia said their progress came with a change in intensity at practice and a change in discipline off the field. But another key to their gradual improvement was the community support they felt.
"Our community and school have gotten way more involved, especially with our team dinners and team lunches they would go out and donate and I’m really thankful for that. Especially the churches in the area," Cantu said.
The players said that going into their last game of the season is a bittersweet moment, but the team and coach hope the momentum from this season carries on to next, hopefully claiming a district champ title.
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