Pleasanton Touchdown Booster President Keith Walters along with Head Coach Tab Dumont present KSAT-12 Sports anchor Greg Simmons with his very own Pleasanton Eagle Jersey. Complete with his last name on the back of the jersey, Simmons was a hit at the Touchdown Booster BBQ kickoff last Friday night at Cowboy Fellowship. Over 500 people attended the event which was enjoyed by all. Be sure to see the AD on page five for more photos and to see who helped sponsor the exciting event. The Eagles open the season at Southside on Saturday morning in scrimmage action. DAVID WICKERSHAM | PLEASANTON EXPRESS Coming off a very disappointing 2-8 season, the Pleasanton Eagle Football program will have their first chance to show they are back with a new attitude, a new work ethic and new results for the 2012 season. District 29-4A’s Southside Cardinals will await the Eagles arrival on Saturday morning, for the first scrimmage of the 2012 season.

Workout Report- The Pleasanton Eagles entered their second straight week of “two-a-day” workouts this week. According to Coach Tab Dumont, this is one of the best first week of practices that has occurred within the program since the historic 2007 season.

The Pleasanton Eagles will battle the Southside Cardinals on Saturday morning at Southside High. Pleasanton has been hard at work to turn around their program from last seasons 2-8 finish. MARISSA VALDEZ | PLEASANTON EXPRESS “I think this has to be one of the best first weeks we have had since the 2007 season. The attendance and the attitude thus far has been great. The boys have done everything we have asked of them,” stated Coach Dumont.

After a great week, things started off a bit rocky during their workout on Monday, August 13th.

“I really feel we took a step backward today. We were not crisp and were going through the motions. We have a lot to fix and we will get it done. We started with about 115 kids at workouts. We have lost a few and picked up a few, so the numbers in the end really have not changed much,” Dumont added.

Scrimmage Outlook- The Southside Cardinals will host the Eagles on Saturday morning for the first of two scrimmages. Last season, Coach Paul Harberer led the pride of 281 to a 7-4 Division II Bi-District appearance in which they finished 6-1 in district play. This was the Cardinal second straight playoff appearance, after missing them for over a decade.

This season, they return nine offensive starters and six defensive to their squad which most pick to be in the playoff mix. Southside is picked to battle McCollum, Medina Valley and Floresville for a playoff spot as Harlandale, Kennedy, Uvalde and Memorial will try to play the spoiler roles in this competitive hard-nosed district.

“We used to play them all the time, but most of these players now were too young to remember. We have not played them for a long time and it will be a great match-up for us. They have been to the playoffs the last two seasons and Coach Harberer has done a great job with them. They are going to run the ball a lot along with use their play action pass to try and catch us sleeping,” stated Coach Dumont.

The Cardinals will welcome back the core of their offense led by QB Cisco Flores who passed for 96-214-1,442-13, 10-TDs last season. They will also use RB Omar Guadarrama who rushed for 36-169-5TDs last season behind graduated senior David Herrera.

“Defensively, they will give us problems because they are so multiple. The kids have a lot to pick up during this scrimmage. I am curious to see how we look against a quality opponent like Southside,” Dumont stated in closing.

Eagle fans will get their first true view of this squad Saturday morning at Southside Stadium located right up 281. The freshmen and jv will take the field at 9:00 a.m. on half field scrimmages. The varsity will begin around 10:15 a.m. and the plan is to run 29 offensive and 29 defensive plays.

Next week, it will be back to work for the Eagles as they will prepare for their final scrimmage against the Kennedy Rockets.

Click here to see video highlights from this week's workouts.