MARSHALL, Texas — This Marshall Mavericks' season is four years in the making.
Of the 36 allowed players on a team, Marshall carries 27 seniors on varsity.
"Twenty seven seniors in this class kind of, kind of helps along the way, with some depth," Head Coach Jason Hammett. "Some are stars, and some of them play important roles you know that are not necessarily heralded, but a bunch of really good kids working hard right now."
The 7-2 Mavericks are have been one of the toughest teams to beat in 5A-2 Region II District 7, which includes an undefeated Texas High School, who handed the Mavericks their only district loss of the season. It was a close one too, with the Tigers winning 43-42.
Marshall's only other loss came to the 6A Longview Lobos.
"Our staff came in three years ago, and we just found the Marshall kids play hard. That's something they've done since we got here. Probably before we got here, they were playing hard," Hammett said.
Hammett's coaching staff molded that hard play into a well-oiled machine, it just took some time to grow up to their competition.
"There was a group that we kind of got here, and they were all young at the time, freshmen in the spring we got here, and just kind of seeing them keep, you know, keep growing, getting bigger," Hammett said. "They got a lot bigger. They got a lot stronger, too."
Now, the seniors are gearing up for their final regular season game of their careers, then it is off to the postseason.
"What we talk about is, what's next for us, and how do we gain another week," Hammett said. "How do we keep this team together for another week? That's really all our goal is."
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