Eustace Bulldogs
The Eustace Bulldogs took the field for the first time under coach Kevin Chase in 2022 and adapted to the transition well enough to open with two victories .
“ I feel like the kids grew a lot during the season ,” Chase said . “ We experienced a lot of injuries and unfortunately never had the same offensive line after game two .”
Game one was a come-from-behind , 27-21 win over Farmersville . The second week was a home victory over Maypearl by a score of 28-21 . It was homecoming night and the Dogs made it count .
Eustace was in the hunt the following week against Blooming Grove in their first road trip of the year . The Lions defense proved too tough for the Bulldogs in a 14-6 Blooming Grove win .
Chase noted some key injuries limited the Bulldogs ’ effectiveness as the year went along .
“ That put us in some difficult situation , but I was very proud of the boys ,” Chase said .
On Sept . 23 , Eustace began the tough District 8-3A Division 1 gauntlet .
“ In every district game except for Malakoff , throughout the whole first half , we were right there .”
A good example was the game with Groesbeck . The Bulldogs battled the Goats on even footing for the first half , trailing 7-6 at intermission .
He sees his defense as a strength of the
Eustace building under new coach
Season : 2-8 , 0-6 8-26 Farmersville 27-21 9-2 Maypearl 28-21 9-9 Blooming Grove 6-14 9-16 Grand Saline 0-42 9-23 Fairfield 6-40 9-30 Teague 17-37 10-7 Malakoff 0-77 10-21 Mexia 12-49 10-28 Groesbeck 18-36 11-3 Kemp 0-54 team . “ I think defensively , we were pretty good ,” Chase said .
“ Out linebacking corps was really good .”
On offense , they got good production from junior running back Cannon Kilcrease . Junior quarterback Brody Sutton led the team early in the season .
“ He was playing well until he got injured ,” Chase said . “ After that Ryan McKee came in and played well for us . The skill people were probably the offensive strength and the linebacking corps was the strength defensively .
Many players who battled at Bulldog Stadium this season were underclassmen and will help form the nucleus of the 2023 team .
“ We started a lot of kids and have a lot of kids returning ,” Chase said . “ I ’ m expecting some
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really big things out of them next year . Chase is looking forward to his second season in 2023 .
“ I love Eustace and feel very comfortable ,” Chase said . “ I feel that the kids are buying into the off-season .”
He said he ’ s seeing great attendance for the voluntary morning and afternoon workouts .
“ I think you ’ ll see a very different football program next year when we step on the field ,” Chase said .
Chase was an assistant at Mabank in 2021 and came to Eustace with 25 years in education .