Starting this football season off ranked third on Dave Campbell’s Texas Football list, the varsity team hit a couple of bumps in the road and lost their first two games, causing them to drop in the rankings.

However, according to MaxPreps, the Cardinals are still in the top five. Coming off a three-game winning streak, the varsity team will now face district rival and reigning 4A Division 1 state champ Argyle this Friday.

Ending the pre-season with a 2-2 record, the varsity team is now 1-0 in 4A District 7-Division 1 after defeating Paris last Friday night, 47-10.

Senior Sam Fennegan, the first-string quarterback, already has 975 throwing yards, 150 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown in only four games.

Senior Ashton Mitchell-Johnson, the varsity running back, ran 527 yards and got six touchdowns during the pre-season games.

Junior varsity (JV) started off the season with a victory and ended pre-season going 2-1. JV defeated Frisco Memorial and Dallas Carter but sadly lost to Midlothian Heritage. JV is expected to do very well this year and hopefully win the district title.

Instead of having one freshman football team this year, Melissa has two teams, red and black. This is because Melissa has a broad range of players and both teams consist of students from all skill levels.