The Lions were ahead in the second quarter, quarterback Damon Witmer was back to throw.  An open wide receiver Dominic St. Leon caught the throw at the 50 yard line. He bolted for the end zone making it to the 10 before almost turning out of bounds, but then wide receiver Quinton Quirrenbach showed up with a forceful block to allow St. Leon to run in for a touchdown.  

“Making that touchdown was pretty awesome,” Dominic said. “My grandpa who recently passed away was the first thing that came to my mind. I pointed to the sky to show that it was for him.”

Midlothian scored the first touchdown of the game in the first few minutes.

“Having Midlothian score that early in the game was a real eye opener that showed us just how physical of a team we were up against,” outside linebacker Nick Simpson said. “From that point on, the defense knew as a whole that we couldn’t take a single play off.”

Last season the Lions beat Midlothian by one point at the Dallas Star Stadium.

“I felt we were going to make a statement by winning by much more this year,” Quinton said. “Compared to the single point last year and we did just that.”

Cornerback Andrew Pitts had his third Pick-6 of the season Friday night allowing a cushion for McKinney to win.

“For me, the most exciting part of the game was the pick-6 from Andrew Pitts.” Nick said. “That play was the nail in the coffin that sealed the game for us.”

The team was focusing on themselves and their mentality instead of Midlothian.

“We were focused on playing the best we could as a team,” Dominic said. “We weren’t worried about the opponent as much as we were worried about ourselves. It’s great being 3-0, but we need to act as if we 0-0 each time we step on the field.”

The McKinney High football team is 3-0 in the pre-district season and is set to play the first district game against Plano West at home on September 29 at 7:30.

“While being 3-0 is a great feeling,” Nick said. “The competition that we faced in pre-district is only a warm up for what’s to come. I have a great feeling for this season, we have a great senior class who really wants to do something special. Mental preparation has been the biggest part of practice. We’ve prepared to be a Goliath team with a David mindset.”

The team is keeping their eye on playoffs as they work on focusing on themselves and practicing to make their goal happen.

“This season is on us.” Damon said. “We are focusing on us so the only thing that will stand in our way of success is ourselves.”