WFISD football season opens with Memorial-Paschal Week 1 matchup

Memorial High School opens its third varsity football season Thursday with a new-look offense, a new head coach and plenty of production to replace.

The Mavericks host Fort Worth Paschal at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in the non-district season opener for both teams.

Memorial is coming off a 7-4 campaign that ended with a 28-14 loss to El Paso Andress in the Class 5A Division II playoffs. Former defensive coordinator Ross Dillard now takes over as head coach after helping guide the program through its first two varsity seasons.

Quarterback Joe Castles, running back Eric Powell and receiver Jamari Dean were all seniors last season. Castles threw 23 touchdown passes, Powell averaged 111.3 rushing yards per game and scored 18 total touchdowns and Dean averaged 95.9 receiving yards per game.

Senior Cole Birkhead now steps into the starting quarterback role after spending the previous two seasons as Castles' backup.

Memorial also returns some experience around him. Junior running back Gage Wuthrich rushed for 626 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 8.8 yards per carry last season, giving the Mavericks a proven option as other players take on larger roles.

The defense will also transition, but Dillard's promotion gives Memorial continuity on that side of the ball. He spent the Mavericks' first two varsity seasons as defensive coordinator after nine seasons at Rider.

Senior linebacker and defensive end Reese Risner also returns after averaging a team-high 6.4 tackles per game last season.

Paschal should provide a solid first test. The Panthers finished 6-4 last season and return junior running back Truman Shelton, who rushed for 1,080 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Thursday offers the first look at how Birkhead settles in, how the defense responds under familiar leadership and how Memorial begins replacing several key contributors.