By the end of next week, the Clovis Christian football team will definitely know the way to Roswell. The Eagles open the season with back-to-back road trips to the alien city, facing defending 8-man state champion Gateway Christian tonight and Valley Christian next week. Gateway beat CCS in the season opener a year ago, and again in the first round of the playoffs. The Warriors, who won a 6-man state title in 2005, graduated do-everything back Jevvon Hunter, but first-year Eagles coach Jason Swann is sure his team will face a stiff challenge. “They’re going to be as confident as ever,” he said of Gateway. “We have to come out with the mentality that we can compete with everybody.” Everyone in the area opens the season tonight. Other games include Texico at Dexter, Fort Sumner at Hagerman, Tatum at Melrose, Farwell at Plains, Bovina at Morton and Childress at Muleshoe. CCS will field a young squad against the Warriors, but running back-safety Tyler Shipman — one of only two seniors on the roster — said the Eagles are ready to go. “I think if we show up right away, we can do very good,” Shipman said. Swann and Shipman acknowledged that the Eagles are small but physical. “We’re not very big,” said the 140-pound Shipman said, “but we have a lot of speed and a lot of heart. I know we’ve got a lot of guys who’ll play hard no matter what.” Swann, a 2003 CCS grad, said the Eagles are definitely ready to go against someone besides themselves. He believes it’s the most physical Eagles team he’s been around. “I think they’re all very ready to hit somebody else,” he said. “We’re young and small, but they’ll knock your head off.” Shipman, who has played since he was in eighth grade, said this year’s team has a good chemistry. He added that despite the relative lack of seniors, the Eagles are not lacking for leadership. “Everybody’s helping each out, so it’s not like there’s just one leader,” he said. “It’s real fun this year.”