Smoking For Jesus loses to Cherokee to begin the season

The Smoking For Jesus Ministry School football team lost to Cherokee 59-14 Aug. 26.

“We got an eye-opener,” head coach Charles Frazier, Sr. said. “They came in very physical, and they were ready for us. It was almost like a parking lot brawl – we just didn’t respond to the first punch. It snowballed from there. We couldn’t get that momentum going.”

The Indians (1-0, District 15-1A Division II of the University Interscholastic League) took a14-0 lead, but the Eagles trimmed it in half. Frazier noted his team got inside the Cherokee red zone but turned the ball over twice.

Eagles senior quarterback Isaac Legier scrambled for a 60-yard touchdown and found senior Jonathan Frazier for a 50-yard touchdown pass.

The coach said he purposely built the schedule with opponents that required the Eagles to play with more determination, to be mentally and physically stronger than before, and who would push them to their limits. Cherokee did all that and more, he added.

After the game, Frazier asked his players to think about how they want this team to recorded in the program’s history.

“You need these, everybody needs these, especially when you’re on top,” he said. “I told our players, ‘Coming off back-to-back championship seasons, you know what it took to get two state championships. But you can’t get to the top and relax. With a loss like this, you have two options: let it dictate you or let it motivate you to get back to where it was. We can’t live off what our five graduates did (in 2021). You have to own your legacy now.'”

The Eagles travel to face Austin Veritas at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2. Veritas beat Williamson County Home School 58-8 Aug. 25.

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