Cinco Ranch was hit with almost every kind of adversity a team could face last season.

The Cougars came into the year with a young team and were hit with injuries to both their starting and backup quarterback early on before going into district play with a tough early schedule.

But the Cougars rebounded and came very close to getting to the playoffs, only falling short in a three way tie between the third fourth and fifth seeds out of District 19-6A.

That has eaten at the Cougar players all offseason. They are determined to get back to the playoffs and have done everything to set themselves up for success this year.

“Last year taught these guys a lot,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Chris Dudley. “The most important lesson I thought was that it taught them you have to be ready every week, from the first game of district to the last. That’s fueled our kids, to go from back to back regional semifinal appearances to not aking the playoffs leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. They have responded though and that intensity has been three all spring and summer. They realize that margin for error is nonexistent when it comes to our district.”

The Cougars are in a great spot at quarterback as Charlie Adamoli and Davis Roup battle for the starting spot. Adamoli had a great start to the year last year but suffered a season ending injury and Davis Roup and played fantastically as a sophomore throughout district. Tessiah Young and Marcus Gadlin will be a big help by offering them two great options in the backfield, while the quarterbacks have ample targets to throw to, including Kellen LeCronier, Drew Tureau and Scott Eckel, while incoming sophomore Mo Poko is a name to watch at receiver as well. Dudley likes what the team has at offensive line as well and thinks the Cougars can be one of the top offenses in district.

“We think that can really be a strength of our team,” Dudley said. “We have a team that can throw and run the ball and you want that balance as an offense. You never want to be one dimensional and I think we’ve been able to strike a pretty good balance the past couple years and we’re hoping to do that again.”

Defensively, Luke Mathiasmeier has become the heart and soul of the team and will be one of their most important players entering his senior year. The Cougars return just three starters on defense, but they feel like they can take a big step heading into the season. 

“Luke really had already become that alpha leader of our football team last year and it’s just grown even more this offseason,” Dudley said. “It’s pretty rare for a junior to do that be he embraced it last year and has been even better going into this year. Luke is someone that checks all the boxes, he squeezes every ounce out of his ability, takes the mental side of the game seriously, pushes his teammates and he’s just a selfless leader. He’s a throwback type player. We’re lucky to have him.”

Cinco will start the year against two teams who made the playoffs last year in the Woodlands and Tomball and they will have to be ready to go once district comes. The Cougars will start against Seven Lakes and then three straight games against teams that made the playoffs last year as they go up against Katy, Taylor and Jordan. 

But that is a challenge Cinco has been preparing for, and they’re ready to prove they can take anyone in District 19-6A.

“I love having us play in big games and that’s definitely what both our non-district games are,” Dudley said. “I knew both would be really good matchups and get us ready for the gauntlet that is our district so that we can figure out where we are before then. You want to have a premier non-district schedule and I think we are in a place as a program now where we can do that. We want to keep pushing and growing as a program to get better.”