Jackets embrace the exposure.

“ It’ s a great chance to show above football who you are,” said quarterback Dax Stewart.

Sheppard went on to say,“ In what walk of life do you not want to participate and compete against the best? You got to compete with other guys for your wife, for your girlfriend. You got to compete for the best job. Then when you get there, you want to be and compete with the best.” There’ s a lot of football to be played between now and November, according to the head coach, regarding the matchup against the Eagles. Before the last month of the regular season featuring all of those heavy-hitters, the Jackets have an opportunity to pick up wins in non-district and early district play against Granbury, Arlington Heights, Arlington Sam Houston and Centennial, who they nearly beat last year.

Offense

Watching his brother, Luke, be the starter under center for three years, Dax gets his crack at being QB1 for the Jackets in his junior season.

Dax sees the culture change Sheppard brought to the team last year and gained plenty of advice from Luke, including that the speed of the game ramps up at the varsity level.

Despite being quiet for much of the team interview, Dax’ s high football IQ was mentioned as his best strength in this offense by both Sheppard and himself. Furthermore, Sheppard believes success leaves clues and Dax is a prime example of that as he went to regionals in golf, bringing a winning mentality to Jackets football.

“ I have every bit of faith in our quarterback room and in Dax that they understand the offense and know where guys are supposed to be,” Sheppard said.

Basically, a whole new coaching staff comes in for Sheppard in 2026, including offensive coordinator Utavius Ingram. Coming over from Lancaster, who Cleburne will see on Oct. 16, Ingram spent the past five years with the Tigers as their quarterback coach and passing game coordinator.

Since his arrival, Husband and the offense are ecstatic about Ingram’ s creativity and implementation of a plethora of plays.

“ At the start of summer, we were just talking about moving the ball five yards, and now, we’ re scoring touchdowns against our defense out there at practice,” said Dax.

In the backfield, all eyes are on Husband to take over as the leading rusher after sharing time with Hayden Leifeste last season. Joining him is junior back Logan Sheriff, who got plenty of good carries in Cleburne’ s scrimmages.

The biggest question mark for the Cleburne offense is its rebuilding offensive line with a large number of underclassmen. Giving Dax time to throw will make getting the ball to receivers Ja’ Rye Scales and Julian Amaya easier, allowing them to find space.

Defense

Salmons, along with defensive lineman Azirya Clarkson, are some of the names Sheppard mentioned as players to watch as they enter year two of the system. Last year, games came down to“ one-step breakdowns” defensively, which were part of the growing pains of Cleburne’ s new era.

Feeling much more confident in himself and seeing the game slow down, Salmons is the leader of the unit that must be aggressive and get to the ball, non-negotiables for their head coach.

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RB Zaidyn Husband WR Ja’ Rye Scales LB Ameryk Salmons

Week 5 vs Centennial( Sept. 25)