Nothing is as great as Opening Night in high school football. All of the sights and smells hit you just right as you enter the stadium. The popcorn, the hot dogs, the nachos, the bands playing, the drill teams dancing and the cheerleaders yelling make for a very festive atmosphere. However, after the first fifteen seconds of Thursday’s game at Memorial Stadium, Burkburnett was reaching for the reset button. Chance Geary took the opening kick-off 80 yards back for a touchdown as the Coyotes raced to an early 11-0 lead. However, the Bulldogs pulled themselves off the mat, and following a Brian George touchdown, had pulled to within 11-7 at the end of the first quarter. By the time the second quarter had expired and the teams went up the hill to the locker room, it was a very close 24-21 game, with the Coyotes maintaining the lead. And then, then it all fell apart for Burkburnett. The Coyotes recovered an on-side kick to open the second half, and on the following play, Dylan Sheffield hit Devontay Chaffin for a 51 yard touchdown pass and never looked back en route to a 59-35 win over Burkburnett in the 2010 Times Record News Kick-Off Classic. Sheffield finished the night with a school-record 438 passing yards and tied another school record with six touchdown passes. Chaffin finished with a school record 194 yards on eight catches, with four of those catches going for touchdowns of 61, 51, 11 and 5 yards. Sophomore Bubba Mathis also caught eight passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. Seven other WFHS players caught at least one pass. “We have some guys who can score,” WFHS coach Jayson Lavender said. “We have to brush up on our defense, but our offense is good. We knew early that we might struggle, but we had to keep our pace up.” The 59 points is the most scored in the 13-year history of the TRN Kickoff Classic. It breaks the 58-point record set by the Coyotes vs. Hirschi in the 2004 game. The Coyotes, now at 1-0, will host Lawton Mac next Thursday at Memorial Stadium.

Patrick Lowe – North Texas Analyst

Dylan Sheffield set a school passing record throwing for 438 yds and 6 TD’s in a season opening win over Burkburnett on Thursday night.