After securing a win in the final game of the first half of district against Royse City (3-7-1, 1-5), the Leopards (7-5-3, 6-0-1) look to start off the second half strong with a home matchup against rival Highland Park (7-4, 4-3) tonight at 7:15 p.m.

“Our biggest strength [against Highland Park] will definitely be the fact that we already beat the team once and this time we are at home,” junior Enrique Vega said. “Luckily, we have a great coach who scouted them and showed us their strengths and weaknesses. We know how they play and we can’t get sucked into their play style as long as we play the way we have been I think we will be fine.”

The team beat Highland Park in January by a score of 1-0. The two teams are very even when it comes to their record, however the Scotts sit at fourth in district currently and the Leopards are first. The Scots will be fighting to stay in playoff contention during the second half of district and will want to start it off right tonight against the Leopards.

Assistant coach Ian Keeble noted two qualities contributed to success for the team in the first half of district play.

“We played with a killer instinct,” Keeble said. “In several games, we scored and didn’t just sit back and try to defend our lead, we kept attacking. Also we are working collectively as a team. I believe this is because the team shares a bond and a great sense of brotherhood.”

The Leopards almost finished the first half perfect, but dropped their second to last game to Mesquite Poteet (7-3-1, 4-2-1) after the two teams went at it for 80 minutes with neither scoring. They went into penalty kicks and Poteet barely pulled away. However, the Leopards are still two games ahead of second place, where Poteet sits at 4-2-1.

“In the second half of district, I think we can be more ruthless in front of goal early on in games,” Keeble said. “If we get an early goal, we can keep playing with that killer instinct we had in the first half of district and really put teams away. Finally, I think it’s going to be very important we defend our opponent’s counter-attack with urgency.”