High school football countdown: Mansfield Summit

By Star-Telegram

Mansfield Summit

District 15-4A

Last season: 10-2 (7-0 in District 7-4A), lost to Aledo 59-23 in the area round.

Key players: DL Bryson Henderson (6-5, 260); WR Patrick Tshituka (6-0, 175); LB Quan Matthews (5-8, 180); DB London Williams (5-8, 150); QB Ryan Cuevas (5-9, 170); DB Dayton Boling (5-9, 180).

The big picture: Summit's new district offers fewer familiar foes since the only teams that came along from 7-4A are Mansfield Legacy and Arlington Seguin. The Jaguars' biggest task in repeating as district champions will be finding depth on the offensive and defensive lines and at wide receiver. Patrick Tshituka is the most experienced returning receiver, and he was fourth in receptions last season. Summit returns quarterback Ryan Cuevas, who threw 20 touchdown passes last season. The Jaguars might have to rely on their defense, which returns several starters in the secondary and defensive line.

Quotable: "Each year you've got to develop new chemistry on your team. The more you can get your kids around each other the better. Varsity is always changing. We have four returning starters on offense and the other seven guys are going to be new in some regard. We've gotten a lot of chemistry established and leaders are starting to emerge." -- coach Travis Pride

"We got closer over the summer, we're just constantly around guys and you get to know them better. We got better on our timing and understanding of the offense and spread offense." -- WR R.J. Hester

Notable: Summit lost its leading rusher from a year ago, Calvin Burns. Burns rushed for more than 1,500 yards with 29 touchdowns, which also led the team.

-- Josh Bowe

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