It’s that time of the season again. The Tigers are facing the Austin Panthers in a match up to see who will take home The Claw. With the Panthers having the claw for almost seven years now, the Tigers are hopeful to win back The Claw on home soil.
“The claw hasn’t been at El Paso High in seven years. But, you know, Austin also has had some talented players over the years, but our team feels confident”, said Head Coach Ray Aguilar.
With the Tigers on a two game win streak against San Elizario (37-0) and Fabens (26-8), they’re looking to continue the streak today at the R.R Jones Stadium.
It was a group effort. I mean, they played really really well against San Eli. You know, we had the shutout and to get a shutout period is hard”, said Coach Aguilar.
With these recent performances, there were some players that really stood out and had a big role in these past couple of games, such as Outside Linebacker Edgar Garcia and Running Back Chris Valenzuela.
“Chris played really well and he shined and performed like we know we can do”, said Coach Aguilar.
In regards to the Claw game, the Tigers having been training everyday to prepare for one of the biggest games the Tigers will play this season. The Tigers are expecting the Panthers to run the ball more. The Tigers are ready to adjust to the game style of the Panthers.
“Our defensive will be on the field most of the time, but we have been preparing for Austin to mostly run the ball”, said Edgar.
With the Panthers having a different playing style, the Tigers express how frustrating it is for the Panthers to just run the ball. With that, Coach Aguilar has implemented a different training method to help the Tigers.
“I though it was a good idea just to create focus. Ive been blasting stadium noise to help them mentally and ive been making them run to the sideline and back to get them used to those long drives”, Coach Aguilar.
With all the media and the people, the Tigers express how excited they are to play the Austin panthers once again and see what they have in store this year.
“I know they have some big players, but that doesn’t matter. All we have to worry about is how we play”, said Edgar.
