Residents of Lake Highlands are eager to attend some high school football games on Fridays again. BubbleLIfe sat down with Lake Highlands High School head football coach Scott Smith to discuss the 2012-2013 football season:

How is the 2012-2013 football team shaping up? How do they look?

Right now, we’re pretty excited about where we’re at and what we’ve been able to do so far. Obviously, our season started a few months ago at the beginning of offseason and with our offseason phase of the season, we’re really pleased with the way our kids worked and their effort and the intensity they’ve put forth in our offseason program.

That led us into our spring practice, which we felt like was really a huge positive. We had a bunch of kids step up and contribute in ways that we were really excited about. We’re going to be very young in some spots so spring was very, very important to us. And then we had a group of leaders that were chosen by our kids, based on what they did in the offseason, and I’m really excited about those five captains that were chosen our team.

So that took us through spring and we’re in our summer practice right now and with our strength and conditioning program going on. Our kids are working hard; hopefully they’re enjoying their summer as well, but they’re working hard and keeping their minds focused on what’s important – August 13 – which is the start of two-a-days.

So we’re excited about it. Where we’re going to be and what our final outcome will be – well, that’s yet to be seen, but I think we put a really good foot forward to give us an opportunity to be where we want to be when we get to Week 11 and that’s playing in the playoffs.

What are your expectations for this upcoming year?

Each year, we kind of reevaluate everything, and we don’t want to go with a different though process, but we individualize it from year to year. I think, generally, with that in mind, we always go in saying that we want to be district champs. Along with being district champs, we want to push deep into the playoffs and playing during Week 13, which is Thanksgiving Week – it’s always been a goal of ours.

But, specifically, with this group of kids, we definitely want to get ourselves back into contention for that district title. This group of kids has been working hard for that, so that’s big for them. I know these guys have been really thoughtful with their preparation and their work.

The other thing is we want to continue to develop good, strong, young men. Character is huge for us; we really focus on that quite a bit. We want to develop young men that are going to be positive role models, not only here at the school but within our community and then when they take it to the next level – going to college or getting out into the workforce.

So, those are kind of our general roles for this year. Our captains will be working here in the next two to three weeks to set our team goals for the 2012 season, which will be fun to watch.

What are the key games of the 2012 season?

As opposed to focusing on one or two particular games, we kind of segment it out a little bit. I think our non-district schedule is huge. We got a very difficult non-district schedule. We play three quality teams – in fact, I think all three of them, or at least two of the three, will be ranked in top 20 in the area, if not higher.

Mesquite, who came off a great year last year, went three rounds deep in the playoffs and they’re returning pretty much their whole team. We kind of had Mesquite’s number the last couple of years, so I know they’re going to be really focused on trying to get a ‘W’ on us.

So that will be a critical game, and then Plano West is a big game for us. They’re saying this could be the best team they’ve had in many a year. And to finish up our non-district schedule, we have Rowlett, who kind of left a bad taste in our mouth at the end of last season and that will a very tough game for us.

It’s critical that we come out of non-district schedule – as opposed to looking at each one of those games individually – it’s critical we come out of our non-district schedule, not necessarily with a specific record, but with a mind set and we need to get better week.

We need to perform; our young kids need to get a lot of repetition in game situations, so that, if we had to mark one game on our schedule that we need to really be focused on – that’s Week 4 and that’s our rival against Berkner. Everybody remembers last year; it was a great high school football game, but we kind of left some stuff out there on the table. We lost it in the last few seconds of the game; we had a chance to win it and couldn’t finish it out.

So, if we had to pinpoint it to one specifically, that’s the huge game for us. But, in the district format, each week is going to be a challenge. Each week is going to be very, very important to us to get to some of the goals that our kids are going to want to set. But, Week 4 against Berkner will be huge – I expect it be a packed house and a great high school football game.

How big of a boost is it to have a player like Kent Perkins (4-star recruit) on your team?

Well, obviously, it has a huge impact on us because of what he does and how he does it sets the tone for the rest of our team. I don’t want to say he’s the hardest working kid on our team because we have a bunch of kids that really work hard, but he’d in that group of kids that aren’t going to get out-worked.

And so, when an athlete of his caliber puts forth the effort and intensity and has the focus that he has to want to be the best he can be – not just on the football field but also that way in the classroom – when a student-athlete does those kinds of things and then also has the recognition and is one of the top offensive linemen prospects in the country, it puts a mark out there for everybody else on our team to say, “If he’s doing it, then I probably need to be doing it.”

And so, it’s a great thing to have a Kent Perkins on your football team – for a lot of different reasons but those are just a few.

Who are some other players that fans should be keeping an eye out for?

We’re excited about our quarterback, Trent Jones, and what he’s going to bring to the table for us this year with our offense. We look forward to seeing him really grow and mature into the position and be the player we think he’s capable of being.

Elbert Landry, our running back, he’s coming back after a solid year last year. We look forward to Elbert doing what he’s capable of doing.

Each year, it seems like we keep putting quality centers back out on the field – each year, we go through and go, ‘Oh man, how are we going to be able to replace that guy?’ And this year, I think we got a kid that’s going to have a great year and we’re looking forward to him. Obviously, Kent’s is kind of the leader of the group but our center, always, is kind of the director of our offensive line, and we’re looking forward to Thomas Thorton having a great year this year.

And one other kid, offensively, that we’re looking forward to stepping up is Tyree Britton – he’s a wide receiver. We look forward to seeing what he’s able to do this year.

Then defensively, all four of our linebackers are coming back with playing time and all four of them have a chance to be really good. They’re Michael Williams, Jon Garza, Jamion Hartford and Darian Morris.

And then, we have two defensive linemen that we’re looking forward to seeing: Ben Laurent is a returning starter at defensive tackle and Nick Thurman is going to play defensive end for us here, and we’re looking forward to watching him grow.

Photos courtesy of Kathy Bankhead