After one of the losingest seasons in program history the West Greene football team is looking to turn the page in 2026 and change the culture under the leadership of new head coach Caleb Slover.
“These guys want to win. They want to change the culture. I know they have had some down years, and job number one is getting these guys to believe in themselves,” Slover said. “This will not be an overnight fix, but we will continue to challenge these guys to get better. That may not always show on the scoreboard, but we have to be focused on being better.”
The new-look Buffaloes will get their first chance to show how they have grown in the offseason on Friday on The Range against Cosby.
“We want to go out and play hard for four quarters,” Slover said. “This will show us where we are at with our conditioning and our toughness. We feel like we have a good game plan, but we have to execute it the right way.”
A year ago at Cosby the Eagles prevailed 34-7, and the bulk of that Cosby squad will be back on the field on Friday. That starts with powerful running back David Baker who ran for 1,183 yards and 15 touchdowns last year.
“They have the tailback back from last year who is a just a physical, downhill runner. He runs with a purpose. He’s not going to try to go around you, he’s going through you. That will be a test for us,” Slover said.
Baker is one of 18 seniors on Cosby’s veteran squad while the Buffaloes only have three seniors on the roster.
The Eagles will likely use two quarterbacks on Friday night with senior Matthew McMahan, who started parts of last season, back and Spencer Moore arriving from Austin-East. Both are vying for the starting role.
West Greene under Slover will run a spread system that throws the ball all over the field. Leading that effort will be sophomore Aiden Thompson at quarterback, and the youngster has impressed the coach over the course of the offseason.
Hunter Franklin and Tristan Banks look to be among Thompson’s favorite targets, and Shwan Bailey is back at running back for the Buffaloes.
West Greene and Cosby have met 12 times dating back to 1993 and the all-time series is tied at 6-6. Cosby won last year, but the Buffaloes took the four prior contests in 2020, 2019, 2014 and 2013. The game was a Region 1-AA contest from 1993-1995.
Last year West Greene was 1-10 and fell to Oneida 38-6 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. Cosby went 6-5 and fell to Midway 27-13 in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.
Kickoff for Friday’s contest is set for 7 PM at West Greene.
