The LaBelle Cowboys at their 2023 Brotherhood Camp. [Photo courtesy of LaBelle Football/Lake Okeechobee News]

LABELLE- The LaBelle Cowboys football program is saddling up for the 2023 season.

The Cowboys will be in LaBelle for the official start of the regular season when they host the Glades Day Gators on Aug. 25.

Last year the Cowboys finished with 4-4 record. It was new head coach Maurice McClain’s inaugural season and LaBelle showed major improvement over their one win season only a year prior.  McClain, a former Cowboys’ running back himself, accepted the the position as head coach of the LaBelle High School football team last year. He graduated from LaBelle High School in 1996, before going on to play college football at Bethune Cookman University.

McClain’s Cowboys dominated Marco Island Academy in last year’s home opener with a 56-6 win. In that game, LHS junior Isaac Santamaria punished Marco Island with a couple huge gains on the ground. Santamaria had 121 yards and three touchdowns on five carries. LHS seniors Maurice McClain Jr., Thomas Saxon, and freshman Sincere Bradford each had a rushing touchdown as well in the blowout win.

McClain Jr., senior Jayden Arriaga, and junior Champ Thompson each notched a sack for the Cowboy defense.

This season, the Cowboys will have to adapt after losing team leaders like McClain Jr, Kruz Jimenez, and Arriaga. But they’ve already out work in during the off season on building team chemistry. On June 29 the Cowboys took part in the 2023 Brotherhood Camp at Riverside Retreat.

Be sure to come out and support the Cowboys in their home opener on Aug. 25, where they’ll attempt to replicate the success of last years home opener against Marco Island. The Cowboys host the Glades Day Gators at 7 p.m.