Midland High fans can get a glimpse of the football team’s improvement over the past four weeks when the Bulldogs host their annual spring game at Goddard Junior High School.
Junior college starts at 5 p.m., followed by college at 6 p.m. MHS head football coach Thad Fortune said it would be a scrum type format.
“We had a good spring. said Fortuna. “We’ve improved a lot and hope to pick up where we left off in the fall. The foundations have been laid and the children are delighted.
MHS head football coach Thad Fortune said it would feel more like a “neighborhood game” because of this year’s setting. Due to a graduation ceremony at Grande Communications Stadium and the installation of new turf at Doc Dodson Memorial Stadium, it was decided to stage the game at Goddard.
Fortune said there will be food trucks and things for the kids to do. The MHS band will also be there to play and 2021 starting quarterback and senior graduate Landry Walls and his country band will also perform after the game.
“I told Landry we were going to be the first stadium show of his country music career,” Fortune said.
Walls was one of those seniors who helped transition the program into the Fortune era. The Bulldogs went 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the 2-6A district in Fortune’s freshman year, but the Bulldogs are looking to take the next step next season.
“It was phenomenal to see how these kids bonded from day one,” Fortune said. “The seniors joined from the start. They worked hard and it continues with this group of seniors, the class of 2023. Everyone knows what’s going on and everyone knows what they have to do. We trained very well this spring with a good pace and great intensity.
Obviously, there is a big difference between the first spring of last year under Fortune and this year, as players had more time for conditioning and strength training. Fortune said players have been working hard since Thanksgiving.
“It’s a different football team physically because they’ve been at it for a bit longer,” he said.
Fortune said he would look for the attack to take care of the ball and perform at a high level in the game.
“I’ve seen them do it, but we’ve been inconsistent at times,” he said. “Defensively, I want to see guys run into football and play hard. Mistakes can be corrected as long as we play hard.
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