Matt Wixon

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ROCKWALL – When Mickey Moss was named Rockwall-Heath's football coach in February, Austin Moss knew he would be leaving South Garland. It was an easy decision.

The star linebacker wanted to keep playing for his dad. And, oh yeah, Rockwall-Heath has a lot of really good players.

Wait a second. Is that the same Rockwall-Heath that two years ago lost its seven district games by an average score of 42-3?

"There's all sorts of talent here. It really surprised me," Austin Moss said last week. "I was really impressed with what they had going on here."

That talent was on display Friday night as Rockwall-Heath wiped out Hillcrest, 35-17, at Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium.

It showed when running back Kendial Lawrence ran for three touchdowns and Drew Hollingshead threw a 58-yard touchdown before halftime. It showed as the Rockwall-Heath defense – led by linebackers Moss, Ryan Mosby and George Bamfo – stuffed Hillcrest's offense most of the night.

Those five players mentioned above are all Bowl Subdivision recruits. But they're playing for a team that has never made the playoffs, and a program that just two years ago was taking its lumps in its first varsity season.

"That first season, we had all sophomores and juniors," Hollingshead said. "We really didn't know how to win."

No such problem these days. Rockwall-Heath is 3-0 and has won six of its last seven games dating to last season. The Hawks, who led 35-3 before putting in the backups midway through the third quarter, are No. 5 in SportsDay's Class 4A area rankings.

And confidence is no longer a problem.

"We know that we have a great team," Lawrence said. "We just can't let it go to our heads."

Their coach won't let it happen. Mickey Moss, who was 45-24 in six seasons at South Garland, knows that this year's team has great potential. More than half the starters are back from last year's 7-3 team, which was coached by Tam Hollingshead, who left to join June Jones' staff at SMU. That nucleus was strengthened by the arrival of Austin Moss and Mosby, who moved in from Greenville.

Now Rockwall-Heath is ready for a big season, and it might be the first of many big seasons. The school has an experienced coaching staff, a supportive community around it and top-notch facilities that include four grass practice fields, an artificial turf practice field and a new indoor practice facility.

So the future is bright. But Mickey Moss is making sure that his players know what is possible for this season, even if the program is still growing up.

"I want them to have the mentality that, no matter what happens, we are going to go hard on every snap," he said. "You never know if you're going to have another opportunity."