2024 YEAR IN REVIEW, PART 1! | A look back at the first six months of a great year in sports

Within the ETBlitz.com staff, 2024 will always be remembered as our first full calendar year: we launched this site on Oct. 20, 2023, and nothing in East Texas has been the same since.

The year in sports in 2024 was fantastic, from Kilgore High School’s boys soccer team reaching the UIL 4A state semifinals to Tatum baseball and its deep playoff run; from Kilgore College basketball surprising some folks in the Region XIV tournament – men’s and women’s divisions – to Overton football’s resurgence under second-year coach Scotty Laymance; and from the Lady Eagles’ great run through volleyball season to the Kilgore Bulldogs’ appearance in the 4A state football title game, this year had so much to remember.

Let’s take a month-by-month look back at some of the highlights from this past year.

• Kilgore’s Youlonda Taylor started the year like she finished 2023: watching her son, linebacker Jaylan Ford, suit up for the University of Texas football team. Taylor made the trip to New Orleans, as Ford and the Longhorns took on Washington in the Sugar Bowl as a part of the final four in the College Football Playoff. The winners would go on to face either Michigan or Alabama for the national championship. Texas would lose to Washington, and then Washington would lose to Michigan in the national title game. But Youlonda was a bit of a prophet, talking about Texas coach Steve Sarkesian and the culture of the UT football program: the ‘Horns are back in the CFP this year and about to play Arizona State on Wednesday in a quarterfinal game in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. “The transformation they’ve brought to the program has been great,” she said. “I do like what they’ve done. I’ve seen them as a team, they’re closer. (Sarkisian) has built a great winning culture. Everybody, the team, seems to have bought in to what those coaches wanted. They’ve believed, and they’ve listened and built something great. “I’m excited to see what’s in the future for (coach Sarkisian). He’s been very transparent about his past, and I think that’s what he’s brought to the team, is for people to embrace where you’ve been and what you’ve done, in order to move forward. You have to buy in to the plan, and they have.”

JANUARY

• High school cheerleaders from all over the state – including many from the ETBlitz coverage area – journeyed to the Fort Worth Convention Center for the UIL State Spirit Competition. Among those in the field: Kilgore, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, and White Oak. That competition has rolled around again. In fact, it’s set for Jan. 16-18, back at the convention center, and will include the three main categories: band chant, fight song and crowd-leading.
• Kilgore High assistant baseball and assistant football coach Joey Pippen penned a column in Texas Coach magazine, a magazine of the Texas High School Football Coaches Association, about what it’s like to coach one of your sons. Pippen could speak on that with authority: he coached not just one, but both of his sons, Collin and Cade, and Cade coached with Kilgore this year. Among the comments Joey made in his column: “…As a coach, it is crucial to separate the parent from the coach. I do feel it is extremely important to set some parameters as to how things are to be handled; remember that your primary goal is to develop the players, including your son, into better athletes and men. They need to be treated like any other player during practices and games. At games and practices, I am the coach; however, when I am home, I am a dad. Don’t get me wrong, there were times we talked about practices or games on what they could have done differently, we even have watched film again or worked on mechanics at home. It can be extremely difficult at times to separate the two. My wife and I always taught our two sons to work hard, be respectful, and communicate because they are being watched by the public for being a coach’s kid and a teacher’s kid.”
• The first-ever Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week were announced on Jan. 9, and they were Kilgore soccer standouts Diego Rojas and Phenix Rivers.
• Former Kilgore High standout Matthew Tyeskie, now at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, set a new personal and school record in the indoor 60 meter hurdles at the University of Arkansas Invitational on Jan. 12.
• Rounding out the month, Kilgore College did something in basketball – both programs – that it hadn’t done in a while on Jan. 28: they swept Trinity Valley, with coach Robert Byrd’s KC men knocking off the Cardinals, 99-83, at Masters Gymnasium, and coach Stephanie Williams’ Lady Rangers edging TVCC in Athens, 74-70.

FEBRUARY

• The University Interscholastic League announced its biennial realignment for sports at Texas High Schools for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. As it turned out, there weren’t drastic changes for any of the schools in the ETBlitz.com coverage area. Both Kilgore and Henderson remained in 4A-Division I for football, and the district lost Athens and Jacksonville, and gained Mabank and Pine Tree, whose sports moved back a classification from smaller 5A (5A-DII) to 4A-DI. Realignment is based on enrollment. Four of the programs in the coverage area were placed in the same football district: 8-3A, Division I included Gladewater, Sabine, Tatum, and White Oak, and will once again in 2025, of course. West Rusk, Troup and Arp were all placed in 11-3A, Division II. And in basketball, where we are currently, how about this: Sabine, West Rusk, Gladewater, Tatum, Troup, Arp and White Oak are all in the same district, an “all-ETBlitz district,” if you will.

• National Signing Day in February sent plenty of athletes from the area on to continue their education and athletic careers at the collegiate level. Arp’s Jackson Cavazos signed with the baseball program at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis. Kilgore’s Braydon Nelson, an offensive lineman, signed with North Texas. Emmanuel Young of KHS signed with Howard Payne University football, and Rashaud Brown, also an O-lineman, signed with Northeastern State (Okla.) in Tahlequah, Okla. Troup wide receiver Trae Davis made Kansas State University his destination. Classmate Bailey Blanton signed with McMurry University in Abilene, the volleyball program there. And Troup football standouts Grayson Hearon and Ty Lovelady signed with McMurry’s football program. Sabine had a big signing day ceremony, as well: Cale Brown, Jaydan McPherson, Ella Roberts and Hunter Stuckey all signed letters of intent: Stuckey and McPherson signed with the East Texas Baptist University fishing team; Roberts with the University of Texas at Tyler cheer program; and Brown signed with the volleyball program at Southern Arkansas.
• Sabine boys basketball clinched the District 16-3A basketball championship on Feb. 9, with a 68-51 win over Daingerfield, getting 23 points from Hudson McNatt and 18 from Colt Sparks in the victory.
• Several East Texas football players were honored as a part of the annual Texas Sportswriters Association’s all-state football team, in the various classifications. Overton’s Jayden Edwards, Kash Fletcher, Isaiah Hawkins, Matthew McPherson, and Vance Fletcher were all named to the TSWA’s 2A team; West Rusk’s Kason Reed, Luis Sanchez and Cole Jackson were named to the 3A team, as were Arp’s Zane Borque, Troup’s Trae Davis, Colby Turner, Joseph Salgado and Peyton Elliott, and Tatum’s Cole Watson. Among the 4A team honorees: Henderson center Brock Johnson, and Kilgore’s Zaylon Stoker, Braydon Nelson, Cameron Christian and Malachi Pierce.

MARCH

• Central Heights, a Nacogdoches-area school, won first place in the annual Whataburger Oil Belt Baseball Classic, played in its entirety at Driller Park in Kilgore. Kilgore’s Diamond ‘Dogs, the host of the tournament each year, won second, and Harmony and New Diana rounded out the top four.
• Among the highlights of all-district basketball teams in the area, Kilgore’s Jayden Sanders was named the defensive most valuable player of the year in 17-4A; Sabine’s Hudson McNatt was named the overall most valuable player of boys District 15-3A; Clayne Simmons was named defensive most valuable player; and then-coach Colby Carr was named coach of the year.

• We had some powerlifting success here in the area, as Sabine High’s powerlifting team won the regional meet at Arp High School, and later in the month, at the state meet in Abilene, Henderson’s Nolyn Norris took gold in the girls’ 148-pound class, and Overton’s Kadden Wiliams won the state championship in the super-heavyweight class at the Texas High School Powerlifting Association’s meet.
• Both KC teams reached the semifinals of the Region XIV Conference Tournaments at the Floyd Wagstaff Gymnasium on the Tyler Junior College campus. KC’s men lost, though, to Lee, and the Lady Rangers to Trinity Valley.
• Lee Livesay, a professional bass fisherman on the Bassmasters Tour, performed in fantastic fashion in the Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake O the Cherokees in Tulsa, Okla. Livesay would go on to finish fifth in the classic, the Super Bowl of his sport, with 58 pounds and 3 ounces worth of bass brought in.

APRIL

• Coach Hector Peralez’s Kilgore boys soccer team got the month started off right, outlasting No. 1-ranked Jacksonville in the UIL 4A playoffs in Henderson on April 2.
• The Kilgore baseball team knocked off Gilmer, 9-1 in Gilmer, on the same night, earning the 400^th career win for then-Kilgore baseball coach Eugene Lafitte. Jordan Pierce had three hits in the game and Brodey Benson only gave up two hits in a 5 2/3 inning performance.
• Kilgore Bulldogs soccer beat Panther Creek, 2-0, at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler to win the UIL Region II Championship – and earned a trip to the UIL 4A state tournament in the process. Both goals were scored in the first half by seniors Leo Yzaguirre and Adan Reyes.
• Kilgore would go on to lose to Boerne, 1-0, in the state semifinals at Georgetown’s Birkelbach Stadium on April 10.
• Overton High School’s boys and girls golf teams reached the regional tournament, just missing out on a trip to state. Overton’s boys golfers were Brody Brown, Kason Hawkins, Rylan Holleman, Landon Hill and Bryce Still. The girls: Bostyn Brown, Ashby Croswell, Siann Levoy and Anna Perkins. They were all coached by Lance Holleman.

• Sabine’s girls golfers also reached regionals. They were, coached by Phillip Anderson, Allyssa Crutcher, Emily McBride, Lillian Odle, Avery Rutland and Dakota Wick.
• As a part of the District 15-4A all-district girls soccer team, district champion Henderson had a lot of award-winners, including most valuable player Kirsten Gasaway, sophomore of the year Jazelin Garza, utility player of the year Ashlee Rodriguez, and coach of the year Oscar Guevara. Kilgore’s Aliyah Veloz was named co-defensive MVP alongside Spring Hill’s Abby Fisher, and Sabine keeper Carol Anguiano was named goalkeeper of the year. In the boys all-district team in that district, Kilgore’s Diego Rojas was named the overall MVP, and Leo Yzaguirre was named co-utility player of the year with Carthage’s Brandon Salazar. Kilgore’s Hector Peralez was named coach of the year in his very first season. Sabine’s Luke Kirkindoll was named defensive MVP, and Francisco Perez was named co-midfielder of the year with Carthage’s Adrian Lopez. Jesus Duran of Sabine was named sophomore of the year, and Kilgore won the team sportsmanship award.
• Kilgore and Sabine players were recognized by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches. Rojas was named first-team all-state, as was Yzaguirre, the future Liberty University signee, and Chris Martinez, as well, to the first team. Peralez was named coach of the year in 4A, and Adan Reyes was named as an honorable mention. Sabine’s Jesus Duran was named first-team all-region, and Luke Kirkindoll and Francisco “Panchio” Perez were named second-team all-region.

MAY

• Troup High School’s Tiger golf team competed in the UIL Class 3A Boys State Golf Tournament at Grey Rock Golf Club in Austin, their 12th trip to the state tournament in the last 14 years. The Tigers finished eighth, as Lubbock’s Cooper Liberty shot a two-day 617 to win the 3A boys state championship; Brock was second (642) and Bowie (650) was third. Troup shot a 688. Players for the Tigers are Jaxson Green, Grayson Hampton, Grayson Hearon, Parker Osborn and Wyatt Roth. They’re coached by Greg Hamilton and Brian Hamilton.

• A LARGE contingent of athletes from schools in the ETBlitz.com area journeyed to Austin for the UIL State Track & Field Championships at the University of Texas. And they did very well! Braydon Nelson of Kilgore won a silver medal in the Class 4A boys shot put, and then had the clutch throw of his life, on his last opportunity of the event, to win gold in the 4A boys discus, both on Thursday, May 2. White Oak’s Kyler Priest took bronze, third place, in the boys Class 3A pole vault, in nine competitors. Sabine’s Sam Black, who had great success once again this year all season at the 3A level at both shot and discus, finished sixth in the 3A discus. In the 3A boys shot, West Rusk’s Kason Reed finished eighth, his best a throw of 52 feet, 7 3/4 inches, and Black was ninth, a best throw of 51 feet, 6 1/4 inches. Gladewater’s girls 3A 400 meter relay team got silver: Jerrica Gilmore, Paytin Thompson, Kyla Lincoln and Peyton Hunter, in the time of 47.48 seconds. Troup’s boys 3A 400 meter relay team got the bronze: the team of Noble Kendrick, Caden Claburn, Bryce Wallum and Trae Davis, in 41.95.

• Gladewater’s Peyton Hunter won silver in the 3A girls 100 meter dash. Hunter runs second only to Universal City Randolph’s Taylor Nunez, who won it in 11.46 seconds. Hunter’s time was 11.91 seconds. Gladewater’s team of Balcorta, Gilmore, Hunter, Thompson and Lincoln was fourth in the girls 800 meter relay, and the West Rusk girls team of Chloe Petty, Isabella Mata, Kamyah Lacy, Keke Murphy, Natalia Mata, Irelind Hunt, and Kimora Pryor finished seventh – that West Rusk team set a new school record in the event (1 minute, 43.72 seconds). The Troup team of Kendrick, Claburn, Wallum and Davis finished eighth, 1:28.09, in the 3A boys 800 meter relay. Sabine’s Sarah Roberts finished eighth in the 400 meter run. Gladewater’s Paytin Thompson was fifth in the 3A girls 200 meter dash. Also of note: West Rusk’s Lee Clark was honored as the 2023 coach of the year. Clark guided West Rusk to the 3A team championship.

• The Tatum High girls golf team reached the UIL Class 3A state tournament on Monday, May 6 and Tuesday, May 7, at ShadowGlen Golf Club in Manor. Tatum, coached by Jeremy Kubiak, finished eighth, the team of Elyana Hill, Ava Quick, Taydem Barker, Hannah Marcott, and Kaysen Foster.
• Longtime Arp High School band director Chris Cook announced his retirement, featured prominently on ETBlitz.com. Cook served excellently in his role for 30 years.
• Kilgore senior softball standout Eva Ray, the Lady Bulldogs’ catcher, was honored as the Greater Texas Ford Female Athlete of the Month.

• Tatum and West Rusk faced off in the UIL Class 3A Region II quarterfinals, the baseball playoffs. The two district rivals played a best-of-three-game series, and Tatum managed to win both. The Eagles, coached by Dustin Russell, would get all the way to the UIL 3A Region II semifinals, but lose there to Gunter in a one-game playoff at Dallas Baptist University on May 22. Seniors on the team were Ashby Anthony, Aidan Courtney, Carson Gonzalez, Kohen Kiefer, Jaxen Prince, and Cole Watson. The Eagles finished with a 22-10 overall record.
• The ETBlitz.com community met Drenon Fite, an educator at Tatum ISD, and his two sons: C.J., a defensive lineman at Arizona State University, and Trey, a linebacker for the University of Louisiana, as both young men were preparing for the 2024 season. Ironically, C..J. is still playing: the Sun Devils face Texas on New Year’s Day in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
• Sabine’s Cade Silvertooth and Jaydan McPherson won $10,000 in scholarships from Ultimate High School Fishing and a Skeeter Boat from Plano Marine in their final year with the program, and fished their final time together in high school at a tournament in Lake Tyler.

JUNE

• On June 6, Sabine High School senior Kooper Bogenschutz was joined by family, friends and coaches at the school’s library for a signing ceremony, where she signed a letter of intent with LeTourneau University and its track and field program.
• Kilgore baseball went out in the first round of the 4A playoffs to a talented Bullard team, but the Bulldogs proved to have pretty good talent themselves, as KHS senior Tate Truman was named to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association’s 1A-4A All-Star Game on June 16, at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, and Colt Bullard was named to the THSBCA’s 4A all-state team, at third base. Tatum’s Carson Gonzalez, a huge reason the Eagles were able to put together that long playoff run, was also named to the Dell Diamond all-star classic.
• As a part of the District 17-4A all-district softball team, Henderson’s Chloe Ellis was named pitcher of the year – the Lady Lions went 23-11 and finished second in the district, knocking off Jacksonville in round one, before being eliminated by Liberty. Other superlative honors from the team saw Gilmer’s Alexis Kemp named the overall most valuable player; teammate Jayna Rucker was named the offensive MVP; Kennedy Jordan of Gilmer was named catcher of the year; and the Gilmer coaching staff earned top honors.

• In the second week of June, the UIL’s legislative council announced that districts would split into divisions like football for all sports, not just football. Like in football, then, there will no longer be one state champion for each classification in basketball. There will be two: a Class 6A-Division I champion and a Class 6A-Division II champion; a Class 5A-Division I champ and a Class 5A-Division II champ, and so on.
• The Texas High School Coaches Association announced its state-wide track Super Elite team, and that Gladewater’s Peyton Hunter and Paytin Thompson, and Kilgore’s Braydon Nelson all made the cut.
• Teams from both Kilgore and Sabine make the state’s 7-on-7 Football Tournament in College Station on June 27-28. Sabine played four games, three of them seeding, against some tough competition, losing their final game to two-time defending champion Hitchcock. The Cardinals’ games were plagued by heavy rain and storms, and a couple of them had to be delayed. As for Kilgore, the Bulldogs beat Dallas Kimball and Graham in pool games on the first day, then beat Hamshire-Fannett – the eventual 7-on-7 champion – and beat them in overtime. Kilgore then beat Lumberton, Alvarado and Lubbock Christian, but lost a rematch with H-F, who went on to beat Dumas in the title game.