Mustangs' historic run continues

MANOR (KXAN) -- - For the first time in school history, Manor is preparing for a visit to the state semifinals.

"This is a dream come true," said senior cornerback Barion Henry. "I always talked about it, but it's happening now, so I love it, and I love this team cause without them, none of this is possible."

"Everything's a new frontier," head coach Sadd Jackson said. "We're just gonna try to keep pressing on and try to go as far as we can."

This isn't the first time Jackson has been this far in the playoffs, though. 11 years ago, he was an assistant at Reagan High School under his brother Andrew, who was the head coach.

"You never think it's gonna take you 11 years to get back," Jackson said. "So you just gotta try to take advantage of the opportuniies when they come and seize the moment. And that's what we've been teaching our kids: Believe in the unexpected and it can happen."

This year's run might be even more special for the Jackson brothers because they're not only getting to coach their kids, they're also coaching their alma mater.

But when the Jacksons were playing for the Mustangs, they never made the state semifinals.

"Our coaches, coach Jackson and the other coaches that went to Manor that graduated, they went to the fourth round, but we took it to the fifth round," senior receiver Corey Calhoun said. "We're trying to show them that, not only them, but us, as us, we can do more than they did."

It'll be an all-Central Texas showdown for for a berth in the state title game Saturday as Manor will take on Cedar Park.

"We've never played Cedar Park, but you see them all the time on the news, understand what type of program they have," Jackson said. "Had it not been for another great program over at Lake Travis, they may have two or three state championships under their belt, already."

"To us, it's basically saying that we're putting on a show for Austin," Calhoun said. "Austin's gonna go to the state championship regardless, but we ultimately wanna be the team to go."