With all three starters back from last year, Abilene High’s defensive line depth chart may have a familiar look to it. But the performance of the players at the top has experienced a serious upgrade in 2018.

After being baptized by fire a year ago, senior ends J.D. Dugger and Griffin Cooke and junior nose guard Tygee Gambrell head a unit that is now among the team’s biggest strengths.

And the trio credits the experience gained during a tough 3-7 campaign last year for the leap they’ve made this fall.

ABILENE HIGH (0-1) AT MIDLAND LEE (1-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday at Grande Communications Stadium, Midland

Abilene High senior Kallin Sipe isn’t relishing his newfound opportunity as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. That’s because he knew what had to happen for him to get it.

After being edged in a prolonged quarterback battle by junior Eric Abbe, Sipe was thrust into the first-team role when Abbe went down with a knee injury in the second quarter of last week’s opener at Amarillo Tascosa.

Now that it looks like he could stay there a while, Sipe’s far more concerned about helping his team accomplish its goals than any personal achievements or aspirations.

Amarillo Tascosa 13, Abilene High 7 — The Eagle defense made things tough on the Rebels all night Friday, but AHS just couldn’t do enough on offense to return to Abilene with a win.

Coach Del Van Cox‘s squad, which lost starting quarterback Eric Abbe to injury in the second quarter, finished with just 169 yards of total offense — all but 42 of those on the ground. Even still, the Eagles had a chance to win late, seeing a 12-play drive end deep in Tascosa territory on downs.

AHS, which was led by Esai Jaques with 57 yards on 19 carries, will try to regroup this week when it hits the road again — this time to the west for a matchup with Midland Lee.

Abilene High’s opener at Amarillo Tascosa proved tough on multiple fronts as the Eagles lost their starting quarterback and the game Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium.

A first-quarter touchdown was all the offense AHS could muster in a 13-7 loss to the Rebels that saw junior quarterback Eric Abbe forced from action in the second quarter when he was rolled up on on a scramble.

The Eagles threatened late, driving deep into Tascosa territory in the waning minutes, but a turnover on downs ended their hopes of a comeback.

ABILENE HIGH (0-0) AT AMARILLO TASCOSA (0-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium, Amarillo

The Abilene High football team scrimmaged Copperas Cove on Friday afternoon at Shotwell Stadium, outscoring the Bulldogs three touchdowns to two across several formats of play.

The scrimmage began with a controlled portion. The teams ran every play from the 30-yard line to start, before switching to drives from the 30 after that.