Boerne Champion will begin its 2026 football season by taking on a familiar opponent – Laredo United South.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in Laredo at Bill Johnson Stadium.
The Chargers and Panthers will meet for the sixth straight year, and Champion has won the last five meetings.
The last two meetings were kind of lopsided after the Chargers won 58-10 and 31-17, but the three before that were close (3727 in 2023, 27-22 in 2022 and 24-12 in 2021), which is why Champion head coach Blane Ellis likes playing them.
“I think all those Laredo schools are well coached, it’s always a good test,” he said. “They’re known for playing very physical football.”
Ellis said the biggest advantage they get out of the game is they are forced to endure a long bus ride, something they hope to do once the playoffs start.
“The biggest thing for us is the travel, getting on the bus and travelling,” he said. “If you get to the second round of playoffs, we can expect to be traveling to that area. It’s a huge benefit for us and it makes it a lot easier for our guys the next time we have to do it; it helped us last year.”
The Chargers did play a postseason game in Laredo last year and won that contest.
Ellis said the team has looked good in scrimmages so far and announced that sophomore Ryder Flugence will be the starting quarterback against the Panthers.
Two-year starter Julian Navarette is still on the team and will be the backup. He will play some on defense, and Ellis said there will be games where both will see action under center, but that’s down the road.
“We don’t know how much we’ll show that early; we’ll try to hold it close for the next couple of games,” he said. “When we get into district play, we’ll expand on it. It makes us more dynamic; we’ll see where it takes us.”
Comment
Comments