The Mason High School varsity football team will officially get off to its first live-action competition of 2021 against other schools on Friday, Aug. 13 as the Punchers travel to nearby Llano High School for a preseason scrimmage against the Jackets.

There will be position battles aplenty on display for Friday night as the Punchers will look to develop their young roster on both sides of the ball versus a very talented Llano team. The Jackets, who finished with a 13-1 overall record in 2020, made it all the way to the 3A-1 state semifinals before losing to Hallettsville High School.

This will be a golden opportunity on Friday for the Punchers, who will try to get plenty of reps for their core players in a run-heavy offense and compete against a Jackets spread offense with a healthy dose of returning playmakers.

The Punchers will be down 13 key senior players from the 2020 team that showed a ton of resilience following an 0-4 start to finish with an 8-5 record and two playoff victories.

This is still a very tight-knit football program that will look for another big run through district games, and eventually be looking to ride that wave into the postseason. Michael McLeod will be at the helm of the Punchers, entering his third season as the head coach at Mason with an 18-8 record.

Be sure to check out next week’s edition of the Mason County News for more updates on Punchers and Cowgirls varsity athletics. There will also be an in-depth 2021 Mason Punchers football preview that will be released later this month prior to the start of the regular season.

Sports editor Andrew Salmi can be contacted via email at [email protected] or by cell phone at (818) 645-1115.