MERKEL, Texas — The Merkel Badgers 2023 football season has been a surprise to the high school football world, as they ended their 2022 campaign as the 73rd-ranked team in their district.
This year, the Badgers are 5-1, which is their highest win total since 2018. Not only that, they rank 12th within 3-A District II, in Texas.
The sudden shift in success has caught people by surprise, but to players Aiden Jackson and Bryant Jones, it was not a shock because of the work they put in this offseason.
"All summer we were here working out, even when it was not mandatory. That is where all the (team) chemistry was formed, our energy was formed. Nothing can compare to it and it is why we are where we are," Jones said.
While a five-win season is significant progress from where they have been in years past, this team believes their best football is in front of them. Their mentality has not switched due to the recent success, because the pain of losing is always in the front of their minds.
"Growing up in Merkel, there has always been a stigma about Merkel that we are no good and we cannot play football. We have a lot more wins than most of the teams that we see are higher than us in the rankings, but we cannot pay attention to that type of stuff. We are really focused on going 1-0 this week," Jackson said.
Friday night, the Badgers welcome the Eastland Mavericks to their home field, where Merkel is looked at as a 10 point favorite. The Badgers have went 1-19 over their last 20 matchups against the Mavs, but they could not care less about recent history.
"We do not care about the noise, but a win this week would mean everything. I mean, Eastland, (our) all-time rival, we (have) played them for however many years. This means everything," Jones said.
Should the Badgers win this week, they will be 6-1 through seven weeks, but it will mark the highest win total and the best start through 7 games, since 2011.