Maybe it’s because Tascosa the last five seasons has opened its seasons with a player or two already pretty much committed to a Division I school like last year with defensive end Avion Carter to Texas Christian.
Whatever the reason, as the Tascosa Rebels enter the 2023 football season Thursday it does so with a different vibe from the past five years with no seniors committed to a college and new faces stepping up in new places.
But Tascosa 15-year head coach Ken Plunk, one win shy of his 100th with the Rebs, isn’t worried about the situation having faith in his established program of reloading not rebuilding.
“I think we still have the same kind of kids we have had, just maybe a bit younger,” Plunk said. “We are still returning our leading rusher, our leader in reception and so we have a lot coming back. We probably don’t have that guy who has been offered like Avion and Major (Everhart) the last two years. Still, we have good players.”
Plunk isn’t alone in his assessment of 2023 Tasocsa.
Tascosa junior speedster TJ Tillman, a returning starter at wide receiver and defensive back with D-I schools showing interest, said keeping the Tascosa tradition alive is the real deal.
“As a program we the players want to keep our success and tradition going,” Tillman said. “At a lot of schools, the coaches want things like that more than the players. Not at Tascosa. At Tascosa the players are the ones making sure nobody slacks off so we make sure the tradition doesn’t drop off.”
Tascosa returns five offensive and four defensive starters, will be starting a new quarterback and have new co-defensive coordinators in Joe Ledoux and Bret Scheve replacing longtime DC Dane Hamrick who took the head coaching job at Borger.
Leading the way to start at QB is gifted sophomore Coltyn Fulton, while juniors Charlie McKinney and Shepherd Stapp are in the mix for guiding the Rebs’ Flexbone attack which fixtures a triple option running attack.
“It’s nothing new for us to not have a starting quarterback going into the season,” Plunk said. “Those three we have are all good football players, so I’m not worried. In our type of offense what we expect from our quarterbacks is No 1 don’t lose yards. Then don’t put the ball on the ground. And realize if you get stopped a couple of plays you can’t panic and feel like it’s not working. It’s not all the sudden going to not work. You have to stick to it and execute the fundamentals. You can’t lose confidence.”
Tillman said no doubt some underclassmen must have success for Tascosa to reach his personal goal for the Rebs of going undefeated in the regular and getting at least to the third round of the playoffs.
“Our young guys are out there working hard and doing a really good job,” Tillman said. “They know they have big shoes to fill but I believe in them. They will get it done.”
Already getting it done for Tascosa is senior running back Treshun Wilson. Wilson is a physical runner with colleges putting him on its radar for good reason. Wilson ranks 12th in Tascosa career yards at 1,530 and has scored 20 touchdowns. He is 288 yards, six touchdowns and 32 points away from breaking into Tascosa’s career top 10 in all three categories.
“We preach competition all the time,” Plunk said. “We did win district at every level last year. Ninth B and Ninth A, junior varsity, and the varsity. We feel like this group knows how to win.
“What I like about this group right now is their work ethic and the fact they get here with a good attitude. They enjoy being down here at the locker room and field. They have been fun to be around.”
Class 5A Division I Tascosa’s non-district schedule includes 5A DII Palo Duro, 6A Midland Legacy, 6A Odessa Permian and 4A DI Hereford.
“We have to improve through non-district,” Plunk said. “Try and get some wins. We are going to go against good teams and go hard. We play that schedule some out of necessity because those are the teams that will play us. Geographically we don’t have that many options up here (of 5A teams) who aren’t in our district. Then I always strive to put teams in there that will push us.
“Look, our district is so competitive a good team is going to stay home. We need to qualify for postseason regardless of what spot that is. And then we start back over in postseason.”
Tillman said losing leaders and D-I signees like Avion Carter and Tayden Barnes to graduation does hurt. But with lessons learned he looks forward to being one of the Tascosa players stepping into that leadership role.
“I want that role,” Tillman said.
Plunk said with players like Tillman, Aushun and Treshon Wilson along with others, Tascosa is in good hands for the 2023 season thanks to the tradition of the T.
“I think the thing we try to strive for is you are not only playing for teammates, you are playing for your school, you are playing for your community, but you are also playing for the people who passed through this program,” Plunk said. “You don’t want to let down the people who built this into a program. I think that’s so important. I think it’s important that you take pride in the fact when people see that T come out of the tunnel, they have a good idea what they are going to see. They know what kind of football is going to be played. A team that plays hard. A team that plays with effort. A team that acts right and never gives up. All those things are important to us. That’s what that T symbolizes.”