CLAUDE, Texas (KFDA) – The Claude Mustangs are looking to build on an 8-3 season and a trip to the playoffs, continuing an upward trend after winning six games the year before.<\/p>\n
Head coach Brantlee Lemons said the program returns a strong core of players and has seen participation numbers rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got several returning starters. We\u2019re missing several from last year, but the core group of our kids are back, and our numbers are up,\u201d Lemons said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got 26 that are out here most every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building on last year\u2019s foundation<\/p>\n
Lemons said the focus through the preseason has been developing what the program installed a year ago rather than starting over.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust building off of what we ended with last year and just being able to not take that step back and having to relearn some of the basics that we installed last year,\u201d Lemons said. \u201cJust expand on what we left off with and excel from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Community support<\/p>\n
Lemons said the Claude community has been a driving force behind the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fans, they were great last year. We had several travel and just really support us throughout the year,\u201d Lemons said. \u201cThe community is a really big support of us and I think that\u2019s what makes this community great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior lineman<\/p>\n
Senior lineman Brady Shelton said this year\u2019s team feels more motivated than in years past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re more motivated. Willing to work more,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cPutting the work in on and off the field, in the weight room, in the classroom. Just continuing to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shelton said representing Claude carries special meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great to represent Claude,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cJust being able to show the support that we get from everyone around the town \u2014 from our teachers, our coaches, and just our teammates and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
2026 Claude football Schedule<\/p>\n
*denotes District game<\/p>\n
OpponentDateTime@ Motley CountyAug. 287 p.m.@ MiamiSept. 47:30 p.m.vs. Hermleigh (at Jayton)Sept. 107 p.m.vs. GroomSept. 187 p.m.vs. HappySept. 257 p.m.@ NazarethOct. 27:30 p.m.@ Booker *Oct. 97 p.m.vs. Wildorado *Oct. 167 p.m.@ Boys Ranch *Oct. 237 p.m.vs. White Deer *Nov. 67 p.m.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KFDA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLAUDE, Texas (KFDA) – The Claude Mustangs are looking to build on an 8-3 season and a trip…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[53,3154,1242,1240,182,2278,2276,2275,2277,2279,2274],"class_list":["post-146198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anthropic","tag-anthropic","tag-anthropic-claude","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-claude","tag-live-speeches","tag-live-updates","tag-live-video","tag-press-conference","tag-real-time-coverage","tag-video-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}