After spending the last three weeks on the road, the Pampa Harvesters (0-4) will finally return to Zach Thomas Stadium this week as they host Canadian (2-2) for Homecoming. It is the last game before the midseason bye week, after which district play will commence.
Head coach Floyd White said getting back in front of the Harvester faithful should provide an added boost for his team.
“To finally be able to be back home and in front of our fans is such a huge deal because our kids draw a lot of energy from the crowd and everything else that comes along with it,” White said. “We’re glad to finally be back home after basically being on the road for a month.”
Looking Back at Borger
Pampa fell behind early against Borger last week before battling back to trail 21-20 in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs eventually regained control and pulled away late.
White said his team learned a valuable lesson about taking every opponent seriously.
“When you go into a game, you should always have confidence that you have the ability to beat the team in front of you,” White said. “The big issue with us was that we thought they were going to come in and just let us beat them. They’ve got pride over there, too, just like we have pride over here.”
Despite the loss, White was pleased with the fight his team showed after falling behind.
“We got ourselves behind early, but because it was so early, we were able to battle back and got the game to 21-20 in the fourth quarter,” White said. “Our kids played really, really hard. Jeryn Owens played hard. Colton Rose played hard. We actually played pretty tough defensively for the most part.
“One thing I can tell you about our kids is that they’re never going to give up. They’re going to keep fighting and playing. Now we have to turn the page on last week and get ready for Canadian.”
Growth Despite the Record
Although Pampa’s record may not reflect it, White believes the Harvesters have made considerable progress since the beginning of the season.
“It’s really our overall team growth,” White said. “We are constantly having to change lineups because people are getting hurt. We’re now going to have three quarterbacks who have played quarterback for us this year. We’ve had multiple running backs and multiple receivers.”
That constant adjustment has made the team’s continued competitiveness particularly encouraging to White.
“Besides the Dalhart game, every game has been inside of 10 points,” White said. “That’s a huge accomplishment with a group that is as small as ours and has dealt with as many injuries as our kids have. It’s just a matter of continuing to fight, continuing to work and showing up to work every day. That’s where I’m most proud of our guys.”
Young Harvesters Stepping Forward
White highlighted several players who have made significant strides in recent weeks, particularly along the offensive line.
“A lot of our young offensive linemen have taken some huge steps forward,” White said. “Miguel Moreno and Joe Russell are two young sophomores, and they’re out there battling every day against juniors and seniors. They have made tremendous strides on the offensive line.”
Defensively, White pointed to Aiden Hammond and Mason Mitchell as two players who have helped set the tone.
“Aiden Hammond has done a tremendous job helping lead the defense, and so has Mason Mitchell,” White said. “Mason has been running around there like a wild man for the last couple of weeks.”
White also praised the development of Pampa’s secondary.
“Cruise Godino did a great job the other day. He ended up with a pick and has made multiple big tackles, along with Cy LeBlanc,” White said. “Those guys are doing such a good job that it’s helping lead everybody else around them.”
Leadership Through Adversity
With the Harvesters facing adversity throughout the first month of the season, White said the team’s leaders have played an important role in keeping the group together.
“Our leadership has shown in a lot of ways,” White said. “They’re the ones who keep us in a steady place and keep us working in the right direction. I can’t say enough about our captains. They come out every day and show everybody what it’s like to lead and what it’s like to be a Harvester.”
White said he is also challenging more of Pampa’s seniors to embrace leadership roles as the season progresses.
“We need more of our seniors to step up and start becoming seniors,” White said. “One thing I always talk with our kids about is that we’re only going to go as far as our seniors allow us to go. They either have to lead, follow or get out of the way.
“More and more of them are starting to step into those leadership roles. We’re meeting with those guys all the time and talking to them about how we need more from them.”
Staying Focused During Homecoming
Friday brings more than Pampa’s return home. It is also Homecoming, with the festivities surrounding the game adding another level of excitement to the week.
White wants his players to enjoy those experiences while remembering their primary objective.
“Everybody loves Homecoming,” White said. “It’s one of those really festive times of the year. We preach to our kids to go and enjoy what Homecoming is. You want them to go out, be kids and enjoy all the festivities, but that doesn’t need to be your sole focus.”
The Harvesters will have to maintain that focus against a Canadian program White respects.
“Our focus needs to be the fact that we’ve got Canadian coming in, and Canadian is a good outfit, but they’re also very beatable,” White said. “We love the Homecoming atmosphere and everything that comes along with it. It’s just making sure we stay focused through everything that is Homecoming.”
Scouting Canadian’s Offense
White described Canadian’s offense as a multiple spread attack capable of presenting numerous looks without frequently changing personnel.
“They do a lot of things really well,” White said. “They’ll use tackle-over formations, a lot of two-by-two and three-by-one formations and a little bit of two-back stuff. They stay basically in the same personnel groups all the time.”
That versatility makes Canadian difficult to prepare for.
“They move all their puzzle pieces around while using all the same pieces,” White said. “That’s what makes them a little bit difficult to prepare for.”
White said much of the Wildcats’ offensive success begins at quarterback.
“Everything runs through their quarterbacks,” White said. “They have really good quarterbacks. They do a great job with their quarterback run game and their mid-zone stuff, and their passing game is pretty wide open.
“They don’t run a lot of concepts, but they have a lot of tags off those concepts that allow their kids to get open. You can tell their coaches do a good job. They’re in their system, they know exactly what they want to do, and their kids know what they want to do.”
Scouting Canadian’s Defense
Defensively, White expects the Wildcats to play fast and aggressively.
“The one thing about them is they fly around,” White said. “They’re pretty stout up front, they’re pretty good in the secondary, and their linebackers run well to the ball.”
Canadian utilizes a 4-2-5 defensive look and can bring its safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to create additional pressure against the run.
“They’re going to fly to the ball, so we’re going to have to counter that with some of the stuff that we do,” White said. “You’ve got to use their aggressiveness against them. If we’ll continue to work on the things we work on, we’ll be just fine.”
Keys to the Game
For White, one of Pampa’s biggest defensive priorities Friday is preventing short-yardage situations from becoming explosive plays.
“We’ve got to eliminate the short-yardage big plays,” White said. “That’s what killed us Friday. We had a fourth down that ended up being a fake punt, and then we had another fourth-and-three that turned into about a 40-yard touchdown run.
“Those are the plays that break your back. Whenever we get into a short-yardage situation defensively, we’ve got to capitalize and get bodies on the ground. We didn’t have a bunch of mental breaks last week. For us, it was about executing in those high-intensity moments.”
Offensively, White wants the Harvesters to avoid putting themselves in unfavorable down-and-distance situations.
“We’ve got to stay in front of the sticks,” White said. “We can’t get behind with penalties and the little things that have been plaguing us. We can’t go from first-and-10 to second-and-10. We need to gain yardage, whether it’s a short pass or a short run.
“When we do that, we’re pretty good. The other day, we averaged almost eight yards a play. We’ve just got to keep doing that, and when we get down into the red zone, we’ve got to capitalize. We’ve got to be able to punch that ball in.”
A Message to the Harvester Faithful
With the Harvesters finally returning home, White hopes the community will pack Zach Thomas Stadium and continue supporting his players.
“Last week is last week. It’s over and done with,” White said. “Please come out and support these kids and be positive about it, win, lose or draw, because these kids are coming out there and busting their tails.
“Go out there, support them, have fun and enjoy everything that Homecoming is.”
White Selected for THSCA Super Elite Committee
Coach White also received a special honor this week. He was contacted by the Texas High School Coaches’ Association and asked to serve on the Super Elite Academic Selection Committee. He described it as an honor to be asked to serve on this committee. Under the helm of White, Pampa’s own football athletes have improved academically. The cumulative GPA for the 2025-26 school year was 3.74. These athletes are putting in work both on the field and in the classroom.
The THSCA Super Elite Teams consists of high school players nominated by current professional members of the Texas High School Coaches Association. The player must meet the THSCA award criteria to be nominated. The award recognizes student athletes across the state of Texas for their exemplary athletic achievement in their respective sport.
Each nomination will go to the S.E.T. (Super Elite Teams) Committee to determine the finalists who have made the Super Elite team in each classification. Super Elite teams will be honored after the state championships have been announced. This award began in the Fall of the 2022-23 school year.
CRITERIA:
1. Be of good moral character
2. Varsity sports only.
3. Have been a member of the team in good standing at the time of nomination
4. Player has excelled as an elite member in their respective sport
You can find HSN on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@HarvesterSportsNetwork/. You can also follow them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarvesterSportsNetwork. Lastly, there is a Twitter/X page: www.x.com/PampaHSN. Mike Mitchell and Troy Schwiegerath will be calling the game. The game will also be broadcast locally on 103.3 FM KRXZ Radio. That station will be piped through the YouTube feed. The pre-game show will begin on YouTube and 103.3 FM at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
