The Lubbock Coronado Mustangs are on a history-making pace. At 12-0, the Mustangs already have the most wins in school history but are looking for even more on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. as they take on Colleyville Heritage in Abilene.
TexasHSFootball.com sat down with head coach Seth Parr to talk about the game, his team and what the future might hold moving forward.
Lubbock Coronado head coach Seth Parr. (Photo: Tony Venegas/TexasHSFootball)
Tony Venegas: Coach Parr, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk. Here you guys are at 12-0, currently on pace for the best season in school history. As you look back on the season as a whole, what has been the biggest key to the team’s success?
Seth Parr: One is to make sure that we play every week and make sure that you don’t overlook an opponent. These guys have been playing for three years and they really understand the system and what we’re wanting. What I’ve been really pleased with is their hunger and attitude and they’ve never been satisfied. That’s been something special about this team and we have some very talented individuals as well.
TV: I wanted to ask you about your quarterback Qua Gray. I saw him last year in the playoffs and came away very impressed. You get to see him in practice every day. Where have you seen him make the biggest improvement from last season?
SP: He’s stayed the course from where he was a year ago. One thing that he’s really worked on is his technique. I think we cut down on his interceptions but we certainly don’t need those on Saturday (against Colleyville Heritage). His completion percentage has gone up but through the first three games, he struggled because he was breaking in some new receivers and that’s when he threw his interceptions.
He’s improved his running ability. He’s always been very accurate but finding that with this new group of receivers is where I think he’s seen the most improvement.
TV: Going back to last week’s against El Paso Del Valle, you got off to a big lead but had to hold them off late. What did you take away from that game?
SP: First thing is that the wheels came off a little bit in the second half. We were outscored 31-8 in the half and they got back into it after the game. One thing I was pleased with was that even though we won the game, no one was happy. They didn’t like the way they finished that game and they were pretty hungry this week.
When you have guys that want to do it right and don’t care about the score, you have a special group. I didn’t say a word on the trip back about it but they were disappointed with themselves for not doing it right. Give El Paso Del Valle all the credit in the world, they never gave up.
TV: Heading into Saturday’s game against Colleyville Heritage, what do you see as the biggest key to slowing them down?
SP: On offense, we have to stay on the field and move the ball so that we help out our defense. We also have to cover the two receivers that they try to get it to and make them throw it left-handed. If they beat us doing something different, hats off to them.
We feel like we have two of the best receivers in the state of Texas as well in Blair Conwright and Devin Morrison. They’ve both gone over 1,000 yards and they don’t get as much credit as they should. Our guys see that in practice every day and we’re not going to be shocked by what they throw at us.
TV: In their history, Lubbock Coronado has never made it past the third round. Is that something that your team has talked about this week?
SP: We’re just more focused on our opponent. They’re getting another shot at a team we felt like we didn’t give our best effort last year. We’ve been waiting for this game just because like last week, we didn’t play our best. I don’t mind getting beat but I want to get beat giving everything I have. That’s where I think our kids are and we get another opportunity and we just want to play really well.
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