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"Our strengths are the attitudes they bring every day," McFarland said of her teams. "It has been a key focus for the program to show up with a hard-work- ing, positive attitude. This brings every- one up and sets up great practices. A weakness is our team size and age. Ideally, we would have 15-20 to each gender to have a JV and varsity for boys and girls. Our kids rise to the challenge and accept the adversity of competing against the other large, competitive teams." What will turn preseason optimism into a season to remember? "Our keys to success are commit- ment and consistency," McFarland said. "This is a sport of endurance and things that are not necessarily skill-related. It takes your best every single day to maintain and improve upon the train- ing from the day before. Getting kids to buy into these concepts early and stay focused all season will be what makes a successful season." When it came to selecting a new coach, Bergen liked Jordan's record of success over the years. Jordan first coached golf in 1998. He's also coached football, basket- ball, track and cross country at the high school level. "I found out that he's got some pretty valuable experience coaching golf," Bergen said. "He won a state champion- ship as an assistant before. He has experi- ence working with golfers and getting the best out of them. He seemed like the right fit, and he's already doing a great job. "… He really struck me as the type of guy who would work well with our girls. At the end of the day, we're here to provide the best experience for them as possible." Jordan is no stranger to campus. He graduated from MCHS in 1989 and was a standout in football and track for the Mustangs. McDonald County starts the season Sept. 1 at the Springfield Catholic Tour- nament, and Jordan has hit the ground running. "So far, it's been a smooth transition," Bergen said. 1 Riordan Rd. • Bella Vista 479-855-2362 1195 Bloomington • Lowell 479-770-0808 www.dairyqueen.com F TBALL FAVORITES!!! From Burgers, French Fries and ice cream specialities, we've got your taste buds covered. 10C McDonald County Press Thursday, August 26, 2021 2 0 2 1 F a l l S p o r t S p r e v i e w Watch for seniors Jared Mora, Andrew Watkins, Jude Horrocks, Montes and Gordon at linebacker. "Defensively, we hope to be an aggressive, sure-tackling unit that stops the run and can take advantage with a good group of DBs that can make plays on the ball when the other team does throw it," Hoover said. "We have a lot of guys coming back that have seen the speed of Friday night football, so I think we should be a step faster than we were a year ago." McDonald County sophomores who are making strides and are in the hunt for playing time include Jayce Hitt (DL), Sam Barton (WR), Destyn Dowd (RB, LB), Sam Murphy (DL) and Toby Moore (OL, DL). "We have to execute more consis- tently," Hoover said. "We showed flashes of being a great football team last year, but still had a lot of inconsis- tency towards the end and middle of our season. We will emphasize doing the little things that it takes to do our job well, and through that I think we will see a lot of improvement as we progress through 2021." The Mustangs kick off the year by playing host to Aurora on Aug. 27. The season holds great promise for this seasoned team. "The experience is the thing you can count on as a reason for opti- mism," Hoover said. "There are a lot of guys that have been there and done that." CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4C MUSTANGS: Coach Says Team's Defense Aims To Be 'Aggressive, Sure-Tackling Unit' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9C GOLF: New Coach Is MCHS Graduate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8C CROSS COUNTRY: Attitude stressed DON'T LITTER! You Can Help Keep Arkansas Clean! A proud supporter of our local athletes! 417-451-1515 newmac.com This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.