Whitehouse football's Johnathan Bush at a fall sports media day at the CHRISTUS Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute on Aug. 1. (Michel Alfaro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Whitehouse has won a total of 15 games and made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

But what the Wildcats really want is to reach the second round of the postseason for the first time since 2019 — when it lost to Barbers Hill, where current head coach Kyle Westerberg was the offensive coordinator at the time — and the second time since 2013 and the days of Patrick Mahomes.

“We want to bounce back from what we did last year,” Westerberg said. “I feel like we had a talented team last year. Some of the things didn’t go our way that we were hoping for. Our biggest deal is trying to win that first playoff game. The last two years, we’ve been close, and it just didn’t come down our way at the very end. The biggest thing with this group is playing 11-plus ball games and seeing what happens from there.”

The Wildcats went 7-4 last season, falling to state-ranked Melissa in the opening round of the playoffs.

Westerberg was joined by senior wide receiver Layne Hooker, senior offensive lineman Johnathan Bush, senior tight end Hudson Barron and junior quarterback Tyler LaCombe at a fall sports media day at the CHRISTUS Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute on Aug. 1 to talk about the upcoming season.

“We have a young group coming up,” Hooker said. “They all seem really dedicated and really want to play. I think that we’re going to have a great year. We have a tough schedule, but I think we’re going to get through it and have a great year.”

“The key to us having a strong season is just being together and just making sure we’re all on the same page,” Bush said. “We have to make sure our communication is off the charts and just make sure we all have the same goal and are working toward it every day. I feel like we all just need to dig down. I know the past two years, we’ve been this close, and as a unit, we are tired of being this close, so it’s time to just rise up and take it.”

“Expectations are high,” Barron said. “We’ve had a solid last two years, but it’s been that last little hump, like Johnathan was saying. Everybody has bought in and been working hard all offseason. I think this year, we’re going to get over that hump and have a good run.”

“I think we just want to continue what we’ve been doing the past few years,” LaCombe said. “We’ve been averaging 40 points a game, scoring whenever we want on whoever we want. If we can keep doing that, keep working, I think we will have a good year.”

The Wildcats have scored 449 and 439 points, respectively, the past two seasons.

Whitehouse will compete in District 7-5A Division II with Hallsville, Jacksonville, Marshall, Mount Pleasant, Nacogdoches and Texas High.

The Wildcats will host Dallas Woodrow Wilson in the season opener on Aug. 30.