By Michael Adams
michael@otssports.com

McNeil High School is not really known for its football team, but the winds have shifted and the culture has changed. 

Football fever has taken over the halls at the North Austin high school nested on McNeil Drive. 

And with good reason. 

The Mavericks (5-4, 3-3 District 25-5A) have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done in any of the current players’ lifetime – make the playoffs. 

Should McNeil beat last-place Cedar Ridge on Friday just up the road at Kelly Reeves Stadium, or Vandegrift beats Westwood, the Mavericks will punch their postseason ticket for the first time since 2004. 

“It would mean the world, for the seniors, for the younger guys and me,” said senior linebacker Jaret Black. “Our mindset has changed… we’ve focused on winning. Instead of expecting to lose or playing a close game, we now expect to win.” 

Black, other players and coaches have noticed the change in the culture. Head coach Scott Hermes said you can hear the chatter in the hallways and the excitement around this year’s team. 

“I think the trajectory has been going upwards for a while,” he said. “We’ve got a really good group of kids. Our seniors are playing really well and showing good leadership. There’s excitement and the kids play off of that.” 

It’s been 19 years since McNeil has played a football game after the first weekend of November. The last time the Mavericks reached the playoffs they made a run to the Class 5A quarterfinals where they lost to the eventual state champion Tyler Lee, now known as Tyler Legacy. 

Since then, McNeil has had just two winning seasons, a 6-4 record in 2005 and a 5-4 record in 2008. In the last 10 years prior to this season, the Mavericks have a combined record of 26-73. 

This season got off to a good start. McNeil won their first two games against Del Valle and Pflugerville, which also has a chance at the playoffs on Friday. 

However, back-to-back losses put the Mavericks back to .500 with then-undefeated Vista Ridge on the horizon. What’s notable about McNeil’s 2-2 start to the season is that the Mavericks held a halftime lead in each one of those games. 

The story continued that pilot against the Rangers on Sept. 29. McNeil took a 7-6 lead into the locker room at halftime. Only this time, the Mavericks defense stepped up in a big way and McNeil upset Vista Ridge. 

Sophomore quarterback Jadon Sultz said that’s when everyone on the team really changed their mindset. 

“After the Vista Ridge win, we started believing in ourselves more and believing we could beat anyone,” he said. “That really shot our confidence through the roof.” 

Bigger challenges awaited the Mavericks, who were humbled in a 42-3 loss to Vandegrift and then a narrow 3-point loss to Westwood the following week.

The young Mavericks found themselves back under .500 and any talk of the playoffs began fading away. 

Yet, this team never stopped believing and upset Round Rock on Oct. 20, shutting out the Dragons 17-0. Then the following week, Sultz and company blew out Stony Point and the Mavericks now have the postseason well within reach. 

There’s even a chance McNeil could host an opening round playoff game. 

Should McNeil and Vista Ridge both win, and Westwood loses on Friday, it will create a three-way tie for 2nd place. In this scenario, Vandegrift and Round Rock would be the Division I representatives from District 25-5A and McNeil would win the tiebreaker over Vista Ridge and be the top seed in Division II. 

That would mean the Mavericks would host Bowie in the schools’ first playoff game in 19 years .

Regardless of what happens on Friday, McNeil is assured of one thing – its first winning season since 2008.