MADISON, Fla. (WTXL) - There's something to be said about enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at home with family, but for high school football players, eating Thanksgiving dinner at home with family means you're not playing for a State Championship.
"My uncle coached football for almost thirty years, and he's a heck of a lot better of a football coach then I'll ever be, and he only got to coach in two State Semifinal games," said Madison County head football coach Mike Coe.
There are 477 high school football teams that can compete for a State title in the state of Florida. There's 48 left, four of them in Class 1A- including Madison County.
"As a football coach, you don't enjoy not being out here and preparing," said Coe at practice on Wednesday. The Cowboys will practice Thanksgiving morning one last time before their State Semifinal match-up on Friday night. "Me and our defensive coordinator, Coach Williams, we counted back the other day, since we've been here together, I think we've coached in 40 or 41 playoff games, so that's like four extra seasons."
"We feel like we put in more work in the off season then anybody," said Devarion Edwards. That's how we feel. We ran hills, did snake hills."
"We ran hills, our workouts, good conditioning, we're ready," agreed teammate Kenneth McQuay. "It just feels good to be playing this time of year knowing that we can be playing for the ring, State Championship ring."
All that stands in the way of the Cowboys of playing for that ring is Trenton High School, the 2013 Class 1A State Champions, but the 'Boys are ready.
"They got speed or whatever, but they aren't built like us," said Cowboy Shawn Gallon. "They aren't built like us."
"We gotta fight," said Edwards as the key to getting a win. "That's all there is. They haven't been in a dogfight, so we're going to put them in a dogfight."
"They're a pretty good football team," said teammate Zamaury Page. "They are similar to us, but we carry a tradition around here of what we bring to the football field."
What they bring, are wins. Seven apperances in a State Championship game. Two wins, and hopefully a third on the horizon.
"These kids on both sides have worked their tails off all year long," said Coach Coe. "This isn't a deal where you just show up on Friday to play. You get to this point, this is going way back to last December and January and February when nobody's watching."
Working when nobody's watching, to get a win when everyone is on Friday night.
