By Marcus Elliott
Sports Editor
With a two game winning streak on the line, going back to the last games of 2009, the Anna Coyotes will kick off their season on Friday night looking to keep the momentum alive against Paris Chisum.
The Mustangs got the best of Anna last year but with an extra year under the belt of most of the Coyotes standouts, coach Curren McMahon believes that the outcome will be different this year.
"We know that the Mustangs are a well coached team with playoff experience," McMahon said. "I am excited about the opportunity to kick off the season against such a great team."
In addition to the winning streak, Anna also goes into the start of the season ranked second in district 10-3A by the Dallas Morning News - a fact that McMahon appreciates but does not want his team to get hung up on.
"Rankings have never won a ball game," McMahon said. "We talked to the kids about our goals and discovered that a newspaper ranking is really a reflection and an extrapolation based on the past ... we wanted to make it relative to the focus of now and not the past."
McMahon added that the coaching staff believes in, and is reinforcing in the students, the Pygmalion effect, which refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often students, the better they perform.
"This gives us an opportunity to see our kids and programs as they could be," McMahon said. "This is not just a football lesson. We believe that those are life lessons that will continue to impact our kids for a lifetime."
In their last live play before their season opener, the Coyotes lined up against Caddo Mills and lit up the Foxes for five touchdowns and a safety. Anna scored 14 points in a 12-minute live quarter where the teams simulated actual game play.
Anna coaches were pleased with what they saw from their team.
"We did a great job of protecting the ball and distributing the ball on offense," McMahon said. "No turnovers and none different kids getting the ball. We are improving our distribution and execution."
After the home opener against Paris Chisum, the Coyotes will play three away games against John Paul, Melissa and Pottsboro before coming home again for homecoming on Sept. 24 against Dallas Life.