Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 1: 1:03

Martha from the Bubble Lounge sent you. Welcome to the Bubble Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson, and this Saturday, highland Park takes on Smithson Valley in the state football championship. The last time the Scots won the state championship was in 2018, and the excitement in the neighborhood is incredible. To get you ready for the big game, we've compiled some key highlights from our previous interviews with Coach Randy Allen and the football captains. I hope you enjoy this compilation episode and up. First we have the interview with the team captains. As you know, we are big fans of Highland Park football and we have invited in all the captains this year, including offensive lineman Gage Clark, linebacker Anders Korn, running back James Lancaster, linebacker Jack Morse and defensive lineman Daniel Turner. Guys, welcome to the show. Let's go around the table and just introduce yourselves, tell your number and what position you play.

Speaker 2: 2:03

I'm Anders Korn, number six. I'm a linebacker. I'm Gage Clark. I'm number and what position you play. I'm Anders Korn, number six. I'm a linebacker.

Speaker 3: 2:07

I'm Gage Clark. I'm number 76. I play offensive line.

Speaker 2: 2:10

I'm Jack Morse. I'm number nine. I play inside linebacker.

Speaker 4: 2:13

I'm Daniel Turner, I'm number 93 and I play defensive end.

Speaker 5: 2:16

I'm James Lancaster, I play running back and I'm number five.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Well, how did you each get into football? I know you've been playing for quite some time.

Speaker 2: 2:24

Jack and I actually started in third grade with the Cowboys, the HP Cowboys, and ever since it's just been like I mean time has flown since the Cowboys, I don't know.

Speaker 3: 2:35

I've known him my whole life, just my dad. He played at the NFL on college level Probably everything I know and then me and James played also an 11-man team called HP United, where a lot of guys are still on the varsity team today, and that's where it all started out.

Speaker 2: 2:51

I started pre-K playing flag football with my dad. He was my coach for basically pre-K to sixth grade and then, as Andrew said, we had an 11-man Cowboys team, which a lot of us, you know we're all still on the same team, we all still play together. So that's how I started.

Speaker 4: 3:08

Yeah, I think I started playing YMCA ball. My dad he played football here and at Washington, and Lee he was a captain here and he coached my YMCA team, so that's really where it started for me. It's just a lot of fun getting to play with him as my coach.

Speaker 5: 3:26

Yeah, so, like jack, I started playing flag football in pre-k and I remember playing him all the time I was on the raiders and you know that's just kind of where I found a love for football. And then it developed into six-man football and ymca on the same team as gage and went from that to 11 man and then here we are today and you know, the love for football just grown since okay, I cannot believe how long most of you have been playing.

Speaker 1: 3:44

I mean, this is crazy and you guys have been together some of you on the teams from early on and that's really amazing. So being the team captain, that's a pretty amazing accomplishment. I want to know how you felt when you got the news, Like, did somebody call you? Did you get an email? How did this all happen?

Speaker 2: 4:01

We actually get presented a captainship by the previous captain. So, like they'll, they'll introduce it name by name. Each, each the captain from the previous year will introduce it and, um, after that, coach allen brings us into the office and has us call our moms and tell us, tell them that we, we got captain. I mean, yeah, it's a. It's like a long process. It all starts with everyone on the team votes for the player committee and there's 12 of us. I, yeah, it's a. It's like a long process. It all starts with everyone on the team votes for the player committee and there's 12 of us. I think it's seven defense, five offense, and then after that all the PC members will give a speech on a given topic, like, for example, mine was Scott's. Find a way, so I talked about old games, like Jesuit last year McKinney game, and then after that they'll vote for captains and then, as Anders said, the old captains told us who it was, who the now captains are going to be.

Speaker 5: 4:53

Yeah, exactly what Anders said Extremely nerve-wracking, by the way.

Speaker 1: 4:57

I could imagine. Yeah, for sure. So you all are starters on the Varsity Highland Park team. Did you always have this talent amongst you, or was there ever a rough time, like a rough start that you had to your football career?

Speaker 2: 5:12

So freshman year, james and I, we were on the freshman team. Daniel Anderson and Gage all got moved up to JV, but we got named as ball boys by Coach Corey at practice. And I remember this day vividly, one of my favorite memories from football probably. And it was a Thursday night in Sherman on a grass field. Our game got canceled and we win. We beat Sherman pretty bad. And after the game we're all eating our Whataburger on the bus and Coach Corey walks up the stairs of the third team bus, the third row bus, and calls all he's like ball boys, come here. And we all the ball boys were holding a group around coach cory and coach cory was like y'all left five footballs on the field, three towels, a headset like this isn't very funny like I'm gonna run y'all into the ground tomorrow. And then he looks over to James and then James starts laughing now let him pick it up from there. I just couldn't.

Speaker 5: 6:11

I couldn't keep it in, man, it just all came out and I looked at all the other guys and they're all just straight-faced looking at the ground. I look up a coach core. He's just staring at me and I just let it out and we joked around with Coach Corey about that story. It's one of those stories that really it's what football is about. It's a warm memory. So going from ball boy to being a starter on varsity, it means the world to us.

Speaker 2: 6:37

Yeah, my sophomore year I tore a ligament in my knee and so I knew I wasn't going to play my sophomore year, and so I took on the role of like a coach and I would write down the plays where the, where the runs were fitting, what gap, and and it didn't. In the moment it didn't feel like I was doing much, but looking back, the impact I made on the team when I wasn't even playing, it made a difference towards the, the outcome of the game.

Speaker 1: 7:06

One of my favorite roles on the sidelines is the can man. Who is the can man this year?

Speaker 4: 7:11

Yeah, so the camman we chose this year is Knox Randall, and just nobody doesn't love Knox. He comes into a room that it just he brightens everyone's day. He's the definition of a Scott and he uh, he got injured in spring and so he won't be able to play very much, but he didn't man, he just like, he just brings it whenever and wherever and he just is definitely someone you want on your sideline banging a trash can and getting hype.

Speaker 1: 7:35

Well, I can't wait to see him out there. Well, I know that you all from talking to other captains in the past that almost every single night of the week you have something that's going on. You kind of have a set schedule as far as team dinners and practices, watching film, all that type of thing. Walk me through a typical week.

Speaker 5: 7:52

Yeah, so it begins on Monday. Obviously that's probably the hardest practice we have all week, and so we really have to get after it. Coach Allen always encourages us to start the week off right, and then it leads to Tuesday, wednesday, which Wednesday is kind of a more chill practice than Monday and Tuesday. And then, yeah, wednesday, offense line running backs, we'll have a little dinner together at Mia's, like Gage said earlier, and then Thursdays we have team dinner, and that's when we really get prepared for our opponent and just get really locked in for the game tomorrow.

Speaker 4: 8:18

On friday yeah, something that, uh, I've loved this, uh that we did like this last year. We have a new coach for the d-line, coach lucero, one of my favorite. He is my favorite coach, I love him and, uh, he started hosting d-line dinners on wednesday nights and so we'll go over to his house after practice and his wife will just cook up like trays of like lasagna or, like he did, like smash burgers one night. He just goes all out. You get steaks one night and it's just like like three hours of just the d-line, just with quality bonding, getting to hang out with coach and like talk about more than just football. It's a great time and quality food.

Speaker 1: 8:54

It sounds like. Oh yes, for sure sounds amazing. Well, so tell us about your pre-game locker room rituals. What are you guys doing in there to get ready for the game?

Speaker 2: 9:05

I mean for me I don't really say a word to anyone, unless I'm talking about the game plan with Anders or Daniel or my fellow inside linebackers. We have to put up our phones like two hours before the game starts. So it's really just like you in your own mind. When you're in there, you have no music, you have like no outside, like sources of Entertainment, I guess, or like excitement, such way, just like being mentally prepared. That's a big part of our pregame ritual, I would say yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:34

I feel like faith is also a huge part for this team and we have worship and we all have a guy talk before the game and he'll pray for us. Coach Allen makes it a big point of faith and having faith going into the game and I think that's a huge part.

Speaker 4: 9:55

Yeah, I think that Coach Allen, he's been doing this for years and he has it down really well. We have time. We're like we have off time before the game or we'll be sitting there, but it's not too much to where you lose focus. Or you're you like lose the stretches that you got in earlier, like like he definitely has it down to the wire of uh, like he has it all timed perfectly, I think right, right.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Highland park is so known for its strong community support and all the fans and everyone comes out. We rally for football. We love football. Tell us what that means to you guys.

Speaker 5: 10:28

I think it really just means the world to us Knowing the community has our backs, no matter what. Through it all, through the trials and tribulations, we know that community behind us is so strong, it's so loving for us. We go out there on Friday nights just knowing that they're behind us and when you look into the stands right before kickoff you just see everyone just screaming and cheering for you and it really just encourages you to give it your all and it just means so much to us to have a great community behind us at all times and kind of add off to what James says.

Speaker 2: 10:55

I mean it's kind of cool, like when you make play. I remember my sophomore year going to that Jesuit game.

Speaker 2: 11:00

Everyone in the stands was saying he's a sophomore and I was like it's just a surreal feeling, knowing everyone's cheering for everyone on the field, how our hard work pays off, with all the fans, our student body, little kids who are looking up to us, and then parents who were in our shoes at one point playing on Friday nights. Correct me if I'm wrong, but our record is like 126-2 at home and it would not be anywhere near that if it weren't for our fans and how loud they cheered, and the environment we have when we play at home.

Speaker 4: 11:35

Yeah, I think one of the most impactful parts of the season for me. Coach Lucero, my D-line coach, actually pointed this out to me because he was like this doesn't happen anywhere else that I've coached After the Lake Highlands game. That was a low for sure for everyone at the season. The parents will come before games and they'll come and stand at the buses and clap while you leave to go on the bus, like leave to go on the bus. And so they came. They were because that game was split into two days because we got delayed because of rain, so we had to play the second part on a friday, saturday, and so the parents were there late that night when the buses came back to support us and then early the next morning they were still at the buses, uh, cheering us on and wishing us good luck, and so that just like really meant the world to us. We do it for the community, and so it was a great feeling.

Speaker 1: 12:21

So you all are all seniors now, right, tell me how you want to leave your mark on this football program.

Speaker 2: 12:28

I mean, I feel like there's only one answer to this and it's with a ring 2024 on the press box. I feel like that's all of our goals.

Speaker 4: 12:38

Yeah, I think that we're blessed to have that as our standard at Helen Park and that's the tradition here. And so some other schools might say like, hey, we want to win some playoff games or we want to win district, but for us it's go big or go home.

Speaker 1: 12:51

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Speaker 1: 13:30

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Speaker 1: 13:59

It made all the difference for us, one of my most favorite things to do on the Bubble Lounge is to interview coaches. I love hearing their different approaches and how they motivate the team, and when it comes to Coach Allen, there's a special place in my heart because he's done so much for our boys and for our community and his leadership is second to none. Active high school football coach in Texas with 446 victories as of the end of the 2023 season, he has won four state championships during his 25-year tenure with Highland Park and is about to begin his 44th season overall as a head coach this fall. Last year I was very fortunate and I was on the field doing some sideline reporting at all the football games.

Speaker 1: 14:43

It is truly something to see Coach Allen come out on the field with the boys, and you can see his leadership style really reflected in the boys. When we've interviewed the captains, they talk very highly of him and they all talk about what an impact he's made on their life, as well as the principles that he's taught him. It's not just about football when you're on this team. It's about lifelong lessons. The leadership, the determination, the fortitude, the physical strength All of these will help our son, even if he never plays a game. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of Highland Park football and I am so excited to be able to sit down with Coach Allen again this year. Welcome back to the Bubble Lounge, coach Allen.

Speaker 6: 15:21

Thank you, Martha.

Speaker 1: 15:22

So let's talk about mental grit. It's such a big part of the game. How do you instill that in the boys?

Speaker 6: 15:31

Well, our second core value is mental and physical toughness. And we do a Scott Maker right after Christmas, so it really starts our 2024 season. So, right after Christmas, we'll start with three to four weeks of very intense training, and we try to make it very difficult. We have a tumble station, we have a body weight station, we have weight lifting, and what we do is we want to really push these guys as hard as we can for 15 minutes and then we switch stations. We have four stations and we tell them that they have to give us 100% effort and do things exactly right. And after three weeks of practicing, then we quit coaching them and they have to lead, they have to show leadership, and so they've got to memorize the order of exercises, they've got to encourage each other and they've got to do things exactly right with 100% effort. That's where our football team, we start building our football team when they get a perfect day, and that is every those coaches that are at those four stations, I'll have to give them a thumbs up. They are so excited to finally get out of out of the the Scott maker. And what happens? We give them a gray t-shirt with a question mark on it and then, once they make it through Scott maker, we give them a T-shirt that says I survived, scott Maker. You know, just let them know that they paid the price and that they're a Scott now. And that's where we start.

Speaker 6: 17:16

And then the rest of how to teach grit and all that.

Speaker 6: 17:23

We talk about it, but we also put them through a lot of tough, uh power lifting in the morning and in an hour of real physical training in the afternoon, and many of them run, track or play a second sport and, uh, they, that's like two days for them, uh, the second semester.

Speaker 6: 17:45

And then in the summer we have a, a performance course which goes from two to four, which is the hottest time of the day, and so they'll run and do agilities for an hour and then they lift weights for an hour, and that's four days a week and that's for two months of the summer. We just finished that last week and if you go and watch them and it's 100 degrees, I mean it's really tough on them and you only develop mental and physical toughness when you're put in situations to where you really have to push yourself, and we think that fatigue makes cowards of us all. So we have to get in great physical shape. We feel like that a conditioned team can beat tired talent, so we want to be in the best shape we can be in.

Speaker 1: 18:35

Well, you're doing an amazing job. There's been so many times that when a game is starting and the other team looks like NFL players over there compared to our guys and we still we've got the speed and the strength, like what you're saying, and we pull it through.

Speaker 6: 18:49

Yeah, yeah, they believe they're going to do it, and the Scots find a way is one of our sayings. And then when it goes and gets tough, the Scots get going.

Speaker 1: 18:57

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Speaker 6: 19:59

We love being in Highland Park and we just enjoy the people and enjoy the players and the coaching families and that brings us joy. I mean every day at 2.35, when I see those boys run across the field when they get out of class. That's the best part of my day.

Speaker 1: 20:20

Well, I love that. I know that it means the world to you. Well, it is so fun to be able to talk to you again this year. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, martha, and thank you for all that you do for our boys in this community.

Speaker 6: 20:33

Thank you very much.

Speaker 1: 20:34

Thank you for listening and I hope to see you all on Saturday at AT&T Stadium at 11 o'clock am. And remember, Go Scots. And that's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge. I'm.