Wylie East did what it needed to do in week one, holding Mount Pleasant scoreless in the second half in the 19-14 season-opening win. This week will be another tough challenge, as they host 6A Irving Nimitz in another non-district matchup.

Here are three keys to a Raiders victory this week:

1. Mistake-free football

Against Mount Pleasant, the Raiders were lucky to only be trailing by one at halftime. Despite driving the ball pretty well, Wylie East struggled with multiple turnovers, fumbling the ball three times, including twice in their own red zone. In the second half, the Raiders benefited from a much cleaner half of football, forcing the Tigers into mental mistakes instead to earn the victory. Coach Marcus Gold said he was proud of his team’s ability to overcome these early turnovers, but they needed to clean those up if they wanted to win.

On the other side of the field, Nimitz enters this game after mental mistakes cost them in a week one battle against Princeton. The Vikings committed several penalties, finishing with 87 penalty yards on 10 flags. Additionally, Nimitz committed costly turnovers, including a game-deciding pick-6. A series of mistakes on special teams were also evident, including a bobbled snap on an extra point that lost the Vikings the game.

In this week two matchup, whoever commits the most mistakes is likely to lose. With both teams looking for more efficient outings, the Raiders will need a mistake-free football game to give them the best shot at a victory.

For the full story, see the September 1 issue or subscribe online.

By Jackson King * [email protected]