It was a tale of two completely different seasons for Frisco Reedy.
The 2018 Lions finished the regular season a perfect 10-0. The 2019 Lions? 5-5. The 2018 Lions finished 13-1, only losing to eventual champions Aledo. The 2019 Lions? One and done in the playoffs losing 34-0 to Ennis.
The 2018 Lions averaged over 420 yards a game, the 2019 Lions, over 100 less. The 2018 Lions won their district, the 2019 Lions snuck in as the last team to make it in their district.
The 2019 Lions were strange, to say the least. They lost to Braswell by 30, yet almost beat the district champs Frisco. It was a wild back and forth season of a win followed by a loss followed by a win and so on and so forth.
Reedy in 2020 moves districts and changes quarterbacks. AJ Padgett is set to take over under center for the next two years. He looks to get Frisco Reedy back on track.
Last year Padgett sat behind transfer Jalen Kitna. With Kitna set to transfer to Burleson, Padgett looks to take over.
“It was a learning experience, I learned to appreciate the game more and appreciate my time on the field,” Padgett said. “The competition made me work harder and made me a much better player and leader.”
Padgett will be a junior this upcoming year and if all goes according to plan he should be the man for two years at Reedy. Padgett can’t wait for his opportunity to be the man.
“It feels great knowing I’ve got a solid two years instead of one holding the reigns. I’ve got a good relationship with everybody on the team, and we’ve all been working hard the past few months. Being QB1 this year has me excited and I feel like I’m ready for it,” Padgett explained.
Padgett stands 6’3 and 205-pounds and comes from a family of athletes who dominated the basketball court. Now, he looks to make his mark on the gridiron.
“I’m always trying to get better. When I set goals I work my way to achieving them. For example, I wanted to be over 200 pounds before we got back to football and ever since quarantine started I’ve gained 20 pounds of muscle, come in at 6’3 205 pounds, and I’ve gotten much stronger,” Padgett explained. “I’m very self-motivated, and I think that gives me the ability to make other guys around me better.”
Frisco Reedy had a down year last year there’s no secret about it. With the UIL realignment though, Reedy’s road back to dominance got a lot more challenging. Reedy previously was in 5A D2 but has since moved up to D1.
They are now stuck in a district with two of the best teams from last year, Denton Ryan and Frisco Lone Star. They also get an Independence team who went 10-3 last year along with The Colony and Frisco Wakeland who both made the playoffs last year.
AJ Padgett looks to take the Reedy faithful by storm though and give them some hope in 2020. One of Padgett’s goals is to get revenge on in-town rival Frisco.
“We’ve got a lot of potential. Of course, we are focused on the entire season, but as a team, we know a team we want to beat is Frisco,” Padgett said. “Last year against them was a heartbreaker and were definitely going to be pumped for that one. But we’ll take it one game at a time, I’m confident we’ll do well.”
Padgett is one of the most underappreciated football players in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He’s been practicing and patiently been waiting for his turn to shine. This upcoming season, he will finally get his opportunity to show the state what they’ve been missing out on.
Reedy fans, get hyped for this one.
“What fans should know about me is that I’ve felt underrated throughout high school and that’s going to fuel my success on the field,” Padgett said.
