What a season the Bulldogs have had so far. For the first time since the class jump, the Bulldogs have officially secured a winning record and for the second time, they have clinched a playoff birth. However, this isn’t by chance, the fight the Bulldogs have shown this season is incredible. Let’s take a look back at the season and what the Bulldogs have accomplished thus far.

The Bulldogs started off the season strong with two road wins before taking three straight losses. Their first loss was a home opener against State quarter finalist Lubbock Cooper where we first got to see a glimpse of the Bulldogs fight. The Bulldogs took the early lead against the Pirates, but they answered right back with a kickoff return touchdown the very next play. The Pirates, led by sophomore Jackson Austin, would proceed to take the lead and barely keep the Bulldogs at an arms reach the rest of the night. The Pirates snuck out of Hugh Sandifer Stadium with a close 33-28 Victory.

The next game was the Bulldogs’ homecoming night against the defending 4a State Titleist, Stephenville Yellow Jackets. The game started off the same way with the Wylie offense the first to light up the board, but the Jackets would respond with three straight scores with no response from Wylie. They would take this lead into the half; however, the Bulldogs would come out the locker room strong and start to put a fight back together, but it wasn’t enough. The Bulldogs lost a nail biter on homecoming night as the jackets won the game by one score. 56-49 was the final score.

The next week the Dogs would travel up to San Angelo to face the larger 6A opponent San Angelo Central. The Bulldogs were welcomed to the stadium with a score on the first few plays, but they wouldn’t give up yet. The Bulldogs answered right back with another score. The two schools would go back and forth in a shootout all night where Wylie thought they had gotten the final say. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown in the last 45 seconds to give them the lead. However, on a prayer hail Mary, the Bobcats came up with the score to take the win from Wylie giving them their third straight loss.

Since then, the Bulldogs have turned the season around with a 4-0 run in district. They even racked up a win called their “biggest win since moving up to class 5A”. The Bulldogs took down the number 8 ranked Wichita falls Rider in a close game. Previously Rider was favored to win the district, but now it all comes down to this Friday night.

Abilene Wylie sits at 4-0 and will face off against south town rivals Abilene Cooper. The two schools started playing 5 years ago, and Wylie has not won a single matchup. However, a win against Cooper this Friday will secure a district title as well as a Home playoff game in the first round. This game could possibly be the biggest game of Wylie’s regular season and is sure to be the biggest game in the Big Country in week 10. The coaches and fans are proud of the boys’ work, and the entire community is excited for this Friday’s senior night at the Hugh.

Although a win this Friday would be extremely satisfying for the team and the fans, the bigger picture comes after this week. Wylie set their hopes high for a great post season run and an opportunity to clinch their first postseason victory in class 5A.