There are precious few Texas high school football followers, the DCTF experts included, who would have predicted Sanger’s start to the 2020 season.

Friday night, the Indians stopped a late two-point conversion attempt to hold off Canton, 27-26, and improve to 4-0. Tallyn Wellborn rushed for 189 yards and two scores, including a 58-yard run that gave Sanger a 27-13 lead in the third quarter.

Canton rallied, cutting the lead to 27-26 on Jason Brisbos’s 1-yard run with 1:08 left. The Indians’ defense stepped up on two-point try, denying the Eagles in the end.

“It was a really good game,” Sanger coach Rocky Smart said. “They had some momentum early and then we took the lead, and we held on at the end.”

To put the four-game win streak in perspective, Sanger hasn’t had many opportunities to hold on at the end of games in recent years. When he arrived for the 2019 season, Smart inherited a program that had fallen from a 10-win team in 2015 to a 10-loss team in 2018. His initial season produced just one win – a 50-38 win over Mineral Wells.

Friday’s game should have been a rematch of that 2019 meeting, but Mineral Wells had to cancel on Wednesday. Instead of settling for an off-week, Smart connected with Canton coach Casey Hubble, traded film and both teams headed to Forney for the game with nothing more than a walk-through to prepare.

“We found out after we’d had our last real practice of the week,” Smart said. “We traded film and the coaching staff went to work. We didn’t build a new game plan. We just took out what wasn’t going to fit from the original plan, told the kids and they responded.”

Sanger’s response to the quick change didn’t surprise Smart at all. Midway through his second season, he’s seen a willingness to do what’s necessary from a team that’s still gaining the experience it needs to compete.

“We were really young last year and we’re young this year,” he said. “Having the same language and routines for two years in a row has really helped them, and the kids are super-eager to win and receptive to what we’re trying to achieve with our culture. These guys love being Sanger Indians.”

Smart said the early 2020 success has been a team effort that began in the preseason. Wellborn set the tone when he reported to camp having dropped 30 pounds from his massive frame.

“He’s about half the size he was last year, but he’s twice the player,” Smart said. He’s already rushed for 700 yards and 10 touchdowns, and the rest of the team’s improvement has been evident, too.

“Our quarterback (Rylan Smart) is night and day better,” the coach said, “and we have five or six receivers who catch everything. That makes a huge difference. Our offensive line, where Morgan Bowland is our only returning starter, is doing a great job. Defensively, our two linebackers Creed Carter (19 tackles per game) and Carson Stamper (15.5) are making so many plays.”

Already off to their best start in since 2015, the Indians must deal with the success as district play draws near. Smart knows the four wins to start the season are exciting, but more important games are coming, especially for a school that wants to return to the postseason for the first time since 2017.

“We need to stay humble,” Smart said. “Whether we are going to play the number one team or the number 100 team, we need to prepare the same way. All that should matter is that we do what we can do to improve our team every day. We want to get better, so we give ourselves a chance to win games in district play. I believe our best football is yet to come.”