Thursday was a big step for the Freeman program.

For the first time, the school went up against another program, scrimmaging against Tompkins and feeling what the competition will be like against other Katy ISD schools and having fun with it.

It was a good day for the Golden Eagles. Players stepped up, it let the coaches know what areas need to be improved on and it was a good experience for a young team growing every day.

“Any time you can see really good competition, especially a team like Tompkins it’s a great thing,” said Freeman head coach Eric Robinson. “It’s always a great time to use this as a measuring stick. It’s also big because these kids are Freshman and Sophomores, they haven’t experienced playing in a stadium like Legacy so to get them out here, compete and learn more about ourselves was a great experience.”

Freeman brought the energy for the game, the freshman team was loud for the top team when they were out against Tompkins and it fueled the junior varsity, who flew around and made plays. The team had a good performance and everyone was positive after, lifting up teammates, coaches talking about how to improve and bringing excitement to the whole process.

“You have to bring that energy, when you bring that, it helps so much,” Robinson said. “The guys in the stands were loud for us today and it helped the ones on the field. Every stop we made there was cheering, every big play there was cheering and it just lifts those guys up. Having somebody up there is always fun especially for these kids and I think they just enjoyed playing in front of people.”

It was a big first step and there are many more to come for Freeman. The team will scrimmage Tompkins again next week and then go up against Comal Long Creek and Legacy Ranch the first two weeks of the season. The teams main focus is just on continuing to grow, correcting mistakes and playing together as a team. If they do that and continue to bring the same energy, passion and excitement to every day, it will be a successful year to Robinson and the coaching staff no matter what the results are.

“That’s what you have to enjoy with having such a young team, these guys didn’t choose us, they got us as coaches, but we did choose them and they are buying into what we are doing. We are going to do everything we can to relate to them, to build those relationships and establish that trust. It’s been so fun so far and the coaching staff and players have done an amazing job. I just can’t wait to see where it takes us.”