It’s Big Game No. 9 for the Wylie Bulldogs.

Coach Clay Martin each week says there is no more important game than the one scheduled that Friday night (or, occasionally, that Thursday).

Still, Friday’s football game for the Bulldogs in Wichita Falls against a much-improved Legacy team is huge.

It puts Wylie in the playoffs after a one-year absence

It puts Legacy behind Wylie in the battle for playoff seeding

It knocks Wichita Falls Memorial out the playoff picture

It sets up a Nov. 6 regular season finale with Southtown rival Abilene Cooper for second place

A win, then, has great impact as the District 2-5A season closes.

Amarillo Palo last week sewed up its second straight title, winning for the 11th straight time in district play. The battle now is for the playoffs and seeding, with five teams mathematically in the running. Memorial (1-3) has the slimmest of chances, but outcomes and point differentials give the Mavs a flicker of hope.

While Wylie hits the road to face Legacy, Cooper has winless Coronado on Friday and should improve to 4-1.

All that is out there for football pundits to ponder, but Martin and his staff have worked to put only Legacy in the headlights of the Bulldogs’ bus.

“They are much improved … they’ve gotten better over the last two years,” Martin said of Legacy. “They have the majority of their people back … a really, really athletic team on both sides of the ball. Limiting explosive plays is going to be huge this week.”

The Bulldogs also need to play mistake-free football, he said. First-half turnovers last year kept the Leopards in the game to the start of the fourth quarter.

Wylie may not be able to afford mistakes this time.

“I think it’ll be a good matchup. They will play with a lot of confidence, and rightfully so,“ Martin said. “We’ll have to execute to be successful.”

SUPER AGAINST COOPER

Wylie is coming off a strong performance against Lubbock-Cooper, a 42-3 win at Sandifer Stadium.

Wylie now has beaten two teams that finished ahead of the Bulldogs in 2025.

The Pirates have struggled this year, with key injuries a large part of a 1-6 season. Still, LCP was coming off its first win and Wylie-Lubbock-Cooper games traditionally have been tight.

Quarterback Jadin Karleskint threw three touchdown passes and the defense held the Pirates under 75 yards.

“Maybe the cleanest game we’ve played,” Martin said. Wylie had no turnovers and fewer penalties, for starters. Mistakes were minimal.

“On the defensive side of the ball, I was proud of how we executed. I thought everyone was really good at doing their job,” the coach said. He said the Bulldogs have improved at taking care of individual responsibilities.

“Friday night,” he said, “was a pretty good example of that on both sides of the ball.”

LEGACY IS LOADED

Wylie cannot afford to look past the Leopards.

“This time of year, you can’t lose sight of having one opportunity to play one opponent on Friday, and you’ve got to take care of that job,” Martin said.

“Our full focus is on Legacy.”

The 2025 Leopards team was feisty; this year’s group is salty, having won five games overall - matching Wylie and Cooper - and thrusting themselves into the playoff picture.

In only its third year, the football team has improved dramatically as first-season players have grown and improved. Legacy lost all 10 games in 2024, then won two last year, though against weak opponents - Lubbock Coronado and Plainview.

Still, it was a start, and Legacy has been in every game this year. One loss was 43-42 to playoff-bound Greenwood, which also beat Lubbock-Cooper. Another was 41-35 to Abilene Cooper, a game in which Legacy had a fourth-quarter lead.

Cooper scored with just over a minute to play and ran in a two-point conversion. Legacy marched downfield and thanks to a pass interference call in the end zone, got the ball at the Cooper 3 with 5 seconds left. A pass went too high and with 1 second to play, the Cougars intercepted Leopards quarterback Knox Hodges at the goal line.

Cooper won 52-24 the year before, so that scoreboard turnaround shows how Legacy has improved in Year 3.

Like everyone else in the district, the Leopards lost handily to Palo Duro, 50-9. Martin does not compare scores but Wylie lost to PD by almost the same score, 53-10.

That suggests the Wylie vs. Legacy game will be highly competitive.

That, the Wylie coach believes, will be true.

EYE-POPPING STATS

Hodges, in his third year as Leopards quarterback, has thrown for 2,250 yards this season and has hit 64 percent of his throws. He has 22 TD passes against three interceptions.

Jourian Wiggins is Hodge’s favorite target, but by only one catch. He has 43 grabs for 725 yards and six touchdowns, while Josiah Carter has 42 receptions for 870 yards and eight touchdowns. Two other receivers, J’Quan Carroll and Ben Barnard, have more than 20 catches each. Legacy averages 15 yards per completion, with Carter netting 21.

The Leopards are averaging close to 150 rushing a game, with Ja’Ravion Neal (483 yards) and Kavari Brown (310 yards) the go-to backs.

“And I think they’re really better up front,” Martin said. Comparing this year’s team to the 2025 Leopards, “I think that’s the biggest difference. I think they are doing a good job on both sides of the ball. That helps you become a better football team.”

A truism in football is that the team that plays the best on the line usually wins.

“Executing up front makes everyone’s job easier,” Martin said. Offense and defense.Defensively, Wylie has to disrupt what Legacy wants to do or Hodges could have a field day.

Wylie, Martin said, will need to get rushing yards. Cooper Jones and, more recently, Jett Wilson have been effective, but 100-yard rushers are not common. Given time in his run-pass progression, Karleskint is an effective runner, and last week’s showing by varsity newcomer Landry Hammond has given the offense more options in the backfield

“We’ve had some injuries throughout the year and due to that, we’ve created some depth,” Martin said. “We’ll have to have contributions from several people. I’m glad we’re pretty deep in that area.”

The Bulldogs could show a few new things in Wichita Falls

“We've added things every week. Every opponent creates a different challenge and you’ve got to find ways to maximize your efficiency against what they do and take advantage of what we might have.”

2026 DISTRICT 2-5A STANDINGS
Team District Season
W L Pts. Def. W L Pts. Def.
Am. Palo Duro 5 0 228 47 8 1 346 106
Wylie 3 1 135 89 5 3 242 168
Ab. Cooper 3 1 124 104 5 3 216 181
WF Legacy 2 2 144 114 5 3 308 208
WF Memorial 1 3 121 118 3 5 325 303
Lub-Cooper 1 3 71 112 1 7 134 284
Lub. Coronado 0 5 42 281 1 8 146 398

LAST WEEK'S GAMES
WF Legacy 63, Coronado 9 (Thursday)
Wylie 42, Lubbock-Cooper 3
Palo Duro 35, WF Memorial 21
Abilene Cooper open

FRIDAY'S GAMES
Wylie at WF Legacy
Coronado at Abilene Cooper
Memorial at Lubbock-Cooper
Palo Duro open