Hometown Heroes: Rockdale Tigers

ROCKDALE, Texas (KBTX) - The Rockdale Tigers won the state championship in 2017, but for the following 3 seasons, Rockdale has been one and done in the playoffs.

The Tigers will be a much different team in 2021 with only 2 starters on offense returning and 4 on defense. But despite the youth of this squad, the Tigers believe they have what it takes to make it past that first-round barrier in the postseason.

”We’re a really young team,” explained Rockdale wide receiver/defensive back Robert Owens III. “I feel like I need to help out the people coming up. We have to work on picking each other up and building up that confidence,” Owens III added.

“We had to rebuild our whole team because most of our seniors left and that was a big part of our team,” Rockdale linebacker Cade Pantaleon said. “I think we need to bond and just make a team,” Pantaleon added.

“Last year’s team was really senior-heavy,” said Rockdale offensive/defensive lineman Gavin Aguilar. “We had a lot of seniors. But this year we have a lot of young talent, a lot of sophomores, and a lot of juniors, and there’s very few of us seniors right now. I feel like that could change something. I feel like our young kids could really give us what we need to make it to that next level,” Aguilar added.

Rockdale kicks off its season at home on August 27th against La Grange.

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