It’s been a process for Chris Dudley since he took over as head football coach at Cinco Ranch two years ago.

The Cougars have won just one game over the past two years, a 21-17 win over Mayde Creek last year. However, with the return of 30 letterman and a strong senior class, Dudley feels like this is the year the team makes the next step.

“It’s been a really good spring and summer,” Dudley said. “The kids understand that we are taking them through this and you can’t skip steps in that process. In spring football, we had a lot of things answered on both sides of the ball and that’s the first time since I’ve been here that we were able to do spring football. That carried into the summer and kids have continued to grow and get better and hone their crafts. They see that all these things fit together, and they understand what we are doing.”

The Cougars return six starters on offense and eight on defense, and Dudley expects to rely on his upperclassman to lead the way.

“It’s really big to have that number of guys back,” Dudley said “When you look across this district, everyone has guys coming back so it’s good for us to be able to keep pace with that and have about what everyone else is bringing back. But it’s big for us because for these kids the moment’s not going to be too big for them.”

Cinco Ranch had a competitive team last season, but just couldn’t finish in close games.

The next step for the team is to turn those close games into wins, as they did against Mayde Creek last season in a 21-17 victory.

“Our kids learned how to win last year in that Mayde Creek game, and it was huge for us to get that win,” Dudley said. “It taught them that it’s a four-quarter game. We made a number of big plays that made a difference in the second quarter, in the middle of the third quarter, and that’s important as well. That and the four games we lost that were so close have been a lesson. The guys remember that, and they know they have to finish games off as well.”

Fordham Parks will be a big piece in the secondary and will help quarterback the defense and get everyone lined up and will also be a punt and kick returner for the team, while Odera Nsobundu will help anchor the secondary. At linebacker, Kasey Murry returns to the team as a senior after having missed last season with a knee injury, and the team returns three starting defensive lineman.

Offensively, Gavin Rutherford will be under center for the second straight season after throwing for 1,372 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore. Seth Salverino and Noah Abboud combined for over 1,000 yards receiving and eight touchdowns last season and will lead the wide receiving corps.

Cinco Ranch will open the season at College park on Aug. 27 and will open district play against Tompkins on Sept. 23 at Rhodes Stadium.

“There’s really a comfort level with the guys this year,” Dudley said. “There’s familiarity and knowledge with the schemes and that allows guys to play faster. The competitive nature of these guys is a joy to watch, and they’re out to prove a lot of skeptics wrong. I just can’t wait to get started.”