LOVELADY, Texas — The regional finals round of the Texas high school football playoffs begins Friday with nine of our East Texas teams still in the hunt for a state championship, including the Lovelady Lions.
The Lions are having a storied season, quietly going unbeaten all year to now outscoring their first three playoff opponents 150 to 21.
"This is what we consider chapter three of our season," Kirchhoff said. "From the preseason to district, and to get to this point and to continue to have that growth mindset is very special with this group of kids, and it's every single one of them."
Leading the charge for this explosive offense is senior quarterback Shaun Easterling, who’s had all four years to mature this offense.
"Everyone this year just came in a lot more focused than usual and wanting to go a lot farther than we have in years," Easterling said.
"What makes him special is, he always puts the team first," Kirchhoff said. "He's not a big talker. He's a big lead by example type of guy. And he's one of the hardest workers in the room every single time he steps in."
Their next opponent, the Mart Panthers, who have knocked the Lions out of the playoffs in the last two back-to-back seasons.
"There's always lessons learned," Kirchhoff said. "You learn more from losses than from wins. And I think this team, especially with our seniors and our juniors that have played against them last few years, have learned a lot of lessons in those games."
Lovelady (12-0) will face Mart (13-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at College Station's Tiger Stadium.