KILGORE, Texas — The Kilgore Bulldogs are rolling this year with a 3-1 record. They started off their 2024 campaign with a monster win over Carthage, but fell short to Gilmer, 24-22, for their lone loss, so far, of the season.
Kilgore was able to bounce back the following week following a tough battle against Pleasant Glove. The Bulldogs came away with the "W" in double-overtime. They will start district play against the rival Pine Tree Pirates on Friday.
Pine Tree moved down to 4A-D1 after UIL realignment in February, making this rivalry game have even bigger implications.
Kilgore head coach Clint Fuller says Pine Tree is a well-coached team and has great competitors.
"Pine Tree is very good football team," said Coach Fuller. "They're solid all the way around. Defensively -- very good up front. [They] put a lot of pressure on offenses with their D-line and their linebackers, and they're good in the back end."
Fuller also praised their ability on the other side of the ball.
"Offensively, they can run the ball," Coach Fuller said. "They're going to run the ball down, and they have the speed out wide to stretch the field. So they're very good footballing, a very complete football team."
Now that Kilgore has entered their second phase of the season, every win matters and every loss hurts a little more.
However, Coach Fuller doesn't think things need to be changed in his program now that district play is here.
"We don't change the way we prepare," Coach Fuller said. "I think it's really important to use our district, as a way to set your routine and how you prepare on a daily basis, whether it be in practice, meetings or outside of practice. So nothing, not a whole lot changes once we move into district, because we want to prepare to win every week."
Kilgore will take on Pine Tree Friday at Pirate Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.