Coming into the season, Wylie had one defensive lineman with significant varsity experience, and that showed at times during the team’s scrimmage against a big and physical Odessa High squad.

The progress made between that outing and last Friday’s opener against Georgetown, however, has both the players and their coaches optimistic about that group’s future.

While the final score — a 31-7 defeat — may not indicate it, the Bulldogs front held its own against a talented Eagle line, limiting Georgetown’s explosive offense to just 3.6 yards per rush attempt while sacking quarterback Jackson Sioson twice and using pressure to force a number of throws into coverage.

The key now is to build on that growth.

Georgetown 31, Wylie 7 — Struggles in the red zone and a couple of near misses on long pass plays kept this game from being closer than than the final tally, but the Bulldogs have some positives to build on after their season-opening loss to the Eagles.

Though it was unable to move the ball consistently, amassing just 186 total yards, Wylie was competitive with a ranked Class 5A Division I team for a half and could have put some real pressure on Georgetown had it been able to capitalize on a handful of really strong scoring chances.

As it was, however, Jaden Speegle‘s 97-yard kickoff return generated the only points for coach Hugh Sandifer‘s team, which also got 108 total yards (85 rushing; 23 receiving) from Bailey Hicks.

Missed opportunities in Georgetown territory proved too much to overcome for Wylie on Friday in a 31-7 season-opening loss to the Eagles at Bulldog Stadium.

After taking a 7-6 first-quarter lead on a 97-yard kickoff return by Jaden Speegle, Wylie saw six trips past the 50, including three inside the Eagle 25, result in zero points. That allowed Georgetown to take a 13-7 lead into halftime and take control of the game with scoring drives on the first two possessions of the second half.

For more than two decades, high school football fans have been speculating that a jump in classification was imminent for the Wylie Bulldogs. With each passing realignment period, certainty grew among rivals that the next one would be the one for the longtime Class 3A/4A power.

Well, after years of premature speculation, those predictions were finally proven true in December, when the University Interscholastic League announced its conference cutoffs for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years and, for the first time, placed the Bulldogs in 5A.

After spending so many years as one of the largest schools in its classification, Wylie will now get to experience the opposite side of that equation — a challenge the Bulldogs seem genuinely excited to tackle.

A new football season at Wylie High School means two things.

First, that the Bulldogs will have a challenging slate of games ahead of them that would push many teams to their limit, and second, that a new group of senior leaders must — and most likely will — emerge to help them navigate it.

Aside from the obvious fact that Wylie will be competing in Class 5A for the first time, the 2018 campaign will mirror most others before it in those two regards.

With five opponents ranked in the top 20 of their respective classifications by Texas Football magazine, the Bulldogs’ schedule will force them to show up every week ready compete. And with just three starters back on both sides of the football, they’ll be relying on some new faces to tackle that challenge.