CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We have reached Week 2 of the high school football season.
And over at London, the Pirates will be opening their season when they travel to Robstown on Friday night.
London is still a very young program.
There’s lots of excitement as the Pirates enter just their seventh season of UIL district play.
This is a football program that is busting out at the seams and that’s a good thing.
Numbers are way up and more students want to play football. There’s more than 80 suiting up this season.
The Pirates have grown from a small Class 2A school to a big Class 3A program.
“We have grown so much over the years and we are starting to develop a culture around here,” London quarterback Ty Leonard said. “People want to come see us play and it's just crazy to see how it's growing. We just hope to keep going."
Wide receiver Zachary Bolich finds parallels with other established programs in the area.
“I came here in fifth grade and it really grew and started taking off kind of like the Calallen area,” Bolich said. “It's growing and just getting bigger and bigger.”
And those numbers are paying big dividends. The Pirates have been to the playoffs six straight seasons. They won a record nine games and claimed a district title in 2019.
Coach Robbie Moreno is the only head coach in London history. He believes this year's team could again be very special.
"I want to say right now we are up there with some of the best skills we have had in our tenure here,” Moreno said. “Our line is pretty solid and we feel good speed-wise, skill-wise and it's going to be an interesting year for us.”
The Pirates will compete in the newly formed District 16-3A Division I. And this year the district is broken up into two zones as the Pirates will compete against Santa Gertrudis Academy, Lyford and Progress for a berth in the district title game.
It should be a lot of fun this season.
