CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Support is critical for a successful season and the UIL District 16-4A DI Tuloso-Midway football program is finally seeing their hard work pay off. The school district's general fund allocated 5.5 million dollars to rebuild pride for Warrior Nation.
"Progress was always in the works from the beginning, however making it come together was a collaborative effort," Kris O'Neal, Tuloso-Midway third-year football head coach, said. "The kids being somewhere where we can unify as a community it's really important."
Tuloso-Midway ISD's funds built a new turf field from Hellas Construction, press box for media and coaches and a video scoreboard.
"You can ask Coach O'Neal. We were trying to get out here before it was finished. He would always have to come kick us off, but I love it," Braycen Beazell, Tuloso-Midway junior quarterback, said. "It's great and we're fortunate enough to have it. It just shows that everybody in this town they all believe in us and they all know we can do greater things."
The Tuloso-Midway Warriors are leading by example this year, and that's one of the reasons O'Neal chose Beazell to lead the offense at quarterback.
"He studied. He's encouraging. He's really good about finding something good happen with his teammates," O'Neal said. "That's what I really love. He's a leader, and he's a leader by being selfless."
Beazell got some playing time last year. He'll be joined by a new, athletic running back corps
"We can pound it and then we can throw it deep. We can do a lot of things," Beazell said. "We got a lot of great playmakers from receivers to running backs, and very diverse."
The Warriors defense has a new coordinator, James Villareal. He returns nine starters, including senior Jeremiah Garza who was a ball hawk safety last season with 70 tackles and five interceptions.
"In the past the history of Tuloso has not been so great you know, but we're building," Jeremiah Garza, Tuloso-Midway safety and wide receiver, said. "We're building and we're building day by day."
Tuloso-Midway set the foundation for a positive program. Their new team motto is it's our team, our time.
"We are investing in ourselves," O'Neal said. "We feel like these kids deserve the best effort from the T-M community, and that is what's going on."
The Warriors start their season with a road trip to Cabaniss Stadium. Tuloso-Midway kicks off against Moody on Friday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
