Football can be a game won and lost in the trenches. Luckily for the Farmersville football team, they boast plenty of experience heading into the 2022 season.

The Fightin’ Farmers had a tough go last season, starting four underclassmen on their offensive line. With a year of experience under their belt last season, head coach Zac Quinlan feels very confident about the group this offseason.

“We’re still young, but we were really young last season,” Quinlan said. “We have four returning starters who are all underclassmen heading into this season. So we’ll be able to build on our group for sure.”

Farmersville is led by the return of starting tackles Callen Phelps and Tayshaun Davis, along with center Tate Quinlan and guard Diego Capetillo. Phelps, Quinlan and Capetillo are returning juniors for the Farmers, while Davis gets his second consecutive starting season as only a sophomore.

With four cemented starters in place, coach Quinlan has been impressed with this group’s work ethic this offseason and eagerness to improve on the field.

“They’ve all worked really hard this offseason,” Quinlan said. “They’re a well-coached group, JJ Williams does a great job leading them and they’ve been putting in the work to get better this offseason. Offensive linemen are typically hardest working and these kids have all shown they want to get better.”

Coach Quinlan, a former offensive line coach himself, has said that the continued repetition of practice and games will only make the offensive line even better for the Farmers in 2022.

“This position is a passion of mine, but this is really a position continuing to see the game and learning the speed of the highest levels,” Quinlan said. “Once they get that down, it can really be a special group.”

That passion is passed down to Tate Quinlan, the returning center and son of the new head coach. While being a coach’s son can never be the easiest process for the coach or player, Quinlan sees the attributes he embodies in how his son approaches the game.

“He’s one of the hardest-working kids on the team,” Quinlan said. “Given his size, he was thrust into the position and continued to grow into it and be passionate about it. Being the coach’s kid can be difficult because he’s held to some of the highest standards I have. He puts pressure on himself to be the best player he can.”

To read the full story, see next week’s issue of The Farmersville Times. Support your community newspaper for less than $40 a year.

By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]