Nimitz Makes Playoffs for the First Time in 6 Years

Irving—The Nimitz High School Vikings earned their first playoff berth since 2015 last week. They finish the regular season 5-5 and will take on Arlington Martin at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Thursday, Nov. 11.

“We have about 28 seniors on our team,” Nimitz offensive coordinator Anthony Small said. “They set a goal freshman year that they wanted to be the class to get Nimitz back into the playoffs, and they achieved it.”

Head coach Brian Rogers is in his eighth season at Nimitz, defensive coordinator Chris Hall has been there seven years, and Small is in his fifth year with this being his first as offensive play caller.

“These seniors have reset the bar here at Nimitz,” Small said. “We are a player-led team. It starts with our center Michael James, our running backs J’Den Hall and Eric Williams. They’ve done a great job leading this team and putting in the work it takes to compete at a higher level than we have been in the past.

“It’s not just on the football field; it’s in the classrooms, in the school building. The community service stuff that they do. It’s how we do things. So that culture is going to stick around, that senior class has a great legacy that they leave behind.

“[Against Martin], we’re fully aware of rankings and scholarship offers and all that good stuff, but our kids are unmoved at the moment. They’re going to go in and they’re going to fight as hard as they can, play the best football they can, and we’re going to see what happens when the fourth quarter hits 0:00.

“They haven’t got to experience this. For this class of kids, it’s going to be a great experience to travel out there, just being in the playoffs, to get to play at Globe Life Field, against that caliber of an opponent. What I’m excited for is the experience for these kids,” Small said. “I think they’re going to go out there with a lot of intensity and have a lot of fun playing the game that they love.”