After qualifying for the playoffs last year for the first time in nine years, the Badger football team looks to begin a strong run toward the Class 3A playoffs when the 2010 season begins tonight at Manor. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KUEHNE Earlier this month, the music video to Kenny Chesney’s song “The Boys of Fall” was released.

Since then, the single about the passion surrounding the game of football has climbed to No. 9 on Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Songs list. It has accumulated over a million viewers on YouTube and undoubtedly has been played in countless locker rooms across the country.

One lyric reads, “I got your back when your back’s against the wall. You mess with one man, you got us all. The boys of fall.”

Joey McQueen wants his team to have the same mentality when Lampasas opens its season tonight.

But he is not talking about the Badgers.

In fact, the coach takes exception to the line, “They didn’t let just anybody in that club. Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood.”

“I don’t like it when he talks about it being a club,” McQueen said. “I don’t want to be that. I want [the football team] to be part of something, not an entity of something.”

The coach wants the entire community to feel like part of the team and to bond around the Badgers, and the game.

Like the song suggests, he knows a simple sport played once a week for several hours by a group of teenagers can be a powerful and unifying force, especially in small towns like Lampasas.

“It talks about how the old-timers are down in the coffee shop talking about football, and little kids look up to the boys of fall,” McQueen said of the Chesney lyrics. “That is what this is all about.”

Running back Julian DelaCruz, above, is likely to move into the starting lineup as Justin Maldonado, at left, is doubtful with a high ankle sprain suffered in the Waco Connally scrimmage last week. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL KUEHNE And the coach wants nothing more than to give his team — his entire team — an opening-night victory when Lampasas travels to Manor for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“We want to go down there and dominate,” McQueen said.

Entering the season with high expectations for the first time in years, the Badgers face the team they beat on opening night last year to snap a 20-game losing streak.

But this is not the same corral of Mustangs. It is a more experienced stable.

After winning just two games in 2009, Manor returns 25 lettermen, including 16 starters.

Versatile running back/wide receiver LaDarrien Williams highlights the group after he accounted for 257 of the Mustangs’ 277 yards in last year’s contest while playing quarterback as a junior.

Under new head coach Sadd Jackson, junior Reginald Middleton has taken over at quarterback, allowing Williams to use his athletic abilities elsewhere on the field.

The offensive line is anchored by a pair of 250-plus-pound linemen. Reggie Harris and Sean Ross are expected to buy Middleton and Williams plenty of time to work their magic.

If the Badgers have their way, however, the Mustangs’ offense will see very little playing time.

Lampasas will utilize its familiar ground-and-pound attack again this season but could end up doing so without its starting backfield intact.

Running back Justin Maldonado and full back Secody Howard are both dealing with ankle injuries entering the game.

Maldonado suffered a high ankle sprain during the Badgers’ scrimmage against Waco Connally and is doubtful to play. Howard was injured during practice and is considered probable.

“We can’t cry about what we don’t have,” McQueen said. “We’re going to worry about what we’ve got.

“We really have more depth in the backfield this year. We had some really good running backs with Brode DuBose and Edward Hall, but this year we’ve got some good ones in the starting position and some good ones as backups.”

Junior Julian DelaCruz will fill in for Maldonado, and senior Blaine White will start if Howard is unable to play.

The starting backfield will be rounded out by quarterback Colton Perkins.

After battling Brandon Scott for the position throughout the summer, McQueen has settled on the senior until he is given reason to change.

“I think [Perkins] will have an outstanding game,” the coach said. “He’s worked hard to get to this point. We’re just very fortunate to have two outstanding quarterbacks.”

Regardless of who plays, Mc- Queen wants his offense to be consistent, control the game’s tempo and, most importantly, score when

opportuni­ties

are presented.

After all, McQueen’s Badgers are not about individuals.

They are about team, community and fellowship of football, as the song suggests.

If the coach can convince Manor’s public address announcer to help, fans in attendance will hear the song as his players take to the field tonight.

But McQueen understands that not everyone will identify with “The Boys of Fall” song like he has.

“If you show [the video] to football fans, they’ll love it,” the coach said. “If you show it to soccer and baseball fans, they’ll say ‘Well, what about us?’

“I’d tell them, ‘You’re the boys of spring.’ “

Despite the season, however, they’re all the boys of Lampasas.