Playoff positioning is on the line Friday at 7 p.m. when the football team hosts Denison at Toyota Stadium in its penultimate District 7-5A game.

“Every team each week is gunning for you,” Swinnea said. “This whole season has been about getting better each week and challenging ourselves. We just want to be better than we were the week before and for that to happen is really our main focus going into every game.”

Frisco and Lovejoy are in front of the Redhawks in the district standings, but quarterback Keldric Luster believes his team can hang with teams like the Raccoons. 

“I feel like with the way we have been playing, we still have a chance to compete with teams like Frisco,” Luster said. “That week we played Frisco, our lines were everywhere. We also had a lot of other things going on with the team so everybody’s heads were everywhere.”

The final two games of the season are more than just a possible end to a high school career for senior Daniel Ajayi.

“Playing out this season and coming together as a team is probably the most important thing for us,” Ajayi said. “This senior class, we came into the program 0-10 then 1-9 but now for us to actually be in a position where we can compete at a high level in the playoffs is just a great thing, a great feeling.”

The Redhawks have clinched a playoff spot, but the team is still alive for a share of the district championship if it can beat both Denison, and Lovejoy which is currently ranked #2 in the state in 5A Division II.

“I feel like for us, as we just finish the season strong, we’re 7-1 now, we can’t just take it for granted,” Ajayi said. “We have to finish the job, to make sure that whenever we do make it to the playoffs, we don’t just want to be a first round exit like we were last year. We want to make a run and go deep and I think that’s something that’s pretty important to everyone in the program and it certainly means a lot.”