Finishing games turned out to be a struggle for the New Madrid County Central football team last season. The Eagles look to right that ship in 2019 and is an area that head coach Tyler Fullhart has dramatically emphasized. “We got to finish,” Fullhart said. “We got to finish everything that we do. We started talking about that, preaching that last year, and we just carried that through. Everything we did in the offseason was all about finishing. The last six games of our schedule were against pretty tough teams too. I tip my cap to those guys. They were competitors, but we were in the ballgames, besides the Hayti game. When we look at them, it’s all about making the right play at the right time to finish the game. If we’re able to do that, then we may swing one of those outcomes.” NMCC started last season winning its first four games, before going 0-6 to end the year. Returning a pair of impact starters, in running back Quazavion Jackson and quarterback Christen Phillips is a bonus. For Jackson, Fullhart said that the improvement would show, after an offseason filled with film along with getting bigger and stronger. “He’s a little bit bigger than he was last year, but he’s a lot smarter than he was last year too,” Fullhart said. “Last year was his first full season toting the rock all season, so he was able to learn from that. We watched a lot of film with him in the offseason and a lot of film over the summer, and he’s seen a lot of things that he can be better at. So, he’s gotten a lot better in the backfield. We’ve got a couple of guys around him too that can give him a blow. So, that will be big too, keeping him fresh.” Returning an experienced player behind center is an ingredient that Fullhart is also looking forward to watching. Phillips has been the starting quarterback for the Eagles for nearly 2 1/2 seasons, which means that the playbook is almost like reading a book. “He started about halfway through his sophomore year — he’ll be a senior this year,” Fullhart said. “He’s grown tremendously. He looks great; his reads are great. He looks comfortable in the pocket, getting out of the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield. He does a good job leading the offense. One of the big things is that he’s got to be my brains on the field. He does a great job of knowing what we’re looking for.” The Eagles also have three returners on offense and two on defense heading into this season, which will give Phillips some familiar weapons. “We’ve got Wilson Davis back on offense, at receiver, and Brent Gerecke on the offensive line and Jacob Wiker on the offensive line,” Fullhart said. “Those guys put in a lot of work in the offseason to get better, and I think that they have. “Defensively, we got Jerrius Burgess coming back. He was an all-conference linebacker last year. He’s just a fun guy to watch; he’s a really good tackler, he’s got a nose for the ball. He knows the defense in-and-out. Austin Davis is back, on defense, at corner.” Originally scheduled to play in the jamboree at East Prairie last Friday, plans were changed as the event got canceled due to weather. Heading into Friday’s matchup against Malden, though, Fullhart said that he’s excited to play against a team, not named NMCC. “We’ve been going at it, since the beginning of July and it’s getting old hitting against one another," Fullhart said. "We’re ready to hit another opponent, but I’m excited about the guys. We’ve got some guys back that are looking better this year, and some new faces, so I’m excited to see them compete.”