WAKE UP! | The weekend that was; Fite & Sanders in college; check out what White Oak’s Jaxsen Ludlow did

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! is up and running, and they’re up and running at Cozy Coffee Station, too, every single day. The fall menu is active RIGHT FREAKIN’ NOW at CCS, with flavors that are so good, they should charge you twice! But they don’t, because, you know, you’ve already paid for it. Anyway, my personal favorite is the cozy camper cold brew: white chocolate and marshmallow, and I am there! There are so many more, because the pumpkin flavors are already available, like pumpkin patch latte – that sounds like a Kilgore drink if there ever was one. You can see everything on the huge menu and find out more on all things Cozy Coffee Station right here: Home | Cozy Coffee Station, and be sure to visit them in their two East Texas locations, in Kilgore (at 110 Midtown Plaza) and in Gilmer (at 755 Highway 271 North).

What a weekend

It was quite the weekend, this first high school and college football trip that we all took.

• Kilgore and Carthage had a heavyweight battle that was so much closer than the final score. Carthage scored three second-half touchdowns for a 21-10 come-from-behind win in a game with a TON of talent all over the field, like a ton of not just fantastic high school players, but future college players, as well. Someone (obviously) had to lose the game, that’s why we play ‘em, and Kilgore did lose it. But last year, Kilgore won the game and Carthage didn’t lose again. Both teams wound up in their classification’s state championship games, and if I was a gambler, I’d say it’s more likely than not that they do so again. We put together a gallery of the games ETBlitz photographers shot this past weekend (Kilgore-Carthage, Gilmer-Pine Tree, Kilgore College), and it’s actually spectacular. Here it is: IN FOCUS | The weekend in pictures, by Alex Nabor, Dennis Jacobs, & Ronnie Sartors / Presented by KILGORE-GILMER EYE CARE CENTERS.
• Ricky Meeks made quite a debut in Athens as Henderson put up 49 points in a game with the Hornets that came all the way down to the final moments. Meeks and the Lions lost, 56-49, but announced one thing loud and clear: they have the personnel and potential, and the coaching, to compete with every team on their schedule in 2025. And it’s a tough schedule. Here’s Joe Hale’s really-good look at Meeks’ return to Henderson, our Henderson preview: 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW / HENDERSON | Meeks returns, and Lions fans, get ready for a ride | Presented by WHATABURGER.
• Gilmer and Pine Tree, another game between two of the best teams in the ETBlitz coverage area. Coach Alan Metzel and the Buckeyes left Pirate Stadium with a 41-25 win, and the Pirates gave Gilmer all it wanted for three and a half hours. Teams play these non-district games to get better, otherwise they’d only play the five to six district games on their schedule and then the playoffs. Coach Jason Bachman’s Pirates were hit hard by graduation, but I look for them to be in the thick of the playoff hunt in District 9 in larger 4A. PT’s only district loss a year ago was at home to Kilgore. As for Gilmer, Metzel and the Buckeyes look to gain what I call that “aura of invincibility” back. Former Dallas Cowboys player Jimmy Johnson calls it “swagger.” Gilmer’s football preview is here: 2025 ETB OFFICIAL GILMER FOOTBALL PREVIEW | Glory days: A return to the big time for the Buckeyes?, and Pine Tree’s is here: 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW / PINE TREE | Pirates want to make double-digit wins in a single season a regular thing, and to become a title contender | Presented by GOUDARZI & YOUNG.
• Did you hear about what White Oak quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow did at Eustace Friday night? Ludlow threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns, ran for exactly 100 yards on eight carries and scored two MORE touchdowns, CAUGHT a pass from his brother, Tucker, for a SIXTH touchdown, and had two tackles and one for loss on the defensive side. Dang, son!
• Congratulations to coach Jermaine Lewis and the Gladewater Bears, getting Lewis’ first win as head coach in the first opportunity: a Thursday night game at Daingerfield. The Bears won, 21-7. I had told people in the offseason this Gladewater team is NOT your typical first-year head-coach team. This team can be dangerous. We’ll all be watching with interest, for sure.
• Arp, Troup, and Overton all demonstrated why they’re all ranked in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football preseason polls. Arp routed Harleton in Harleton; Troup left no doubt by scoring over 50 points in Shelbyville; and the Overton Mustangs proved that even with massive graduation hits, they’re still going to be a team to deal with in 2A.
• We had a few programs that we cover that came up short in their first game of the season. Beckville and San Augustine played in a freakin’ mess, most of it after a two-hour lightning delay. Tatum fell behind early in Winnsboro and just kind of ran into a buzzsaw in that Winnsboro offense. Sabine and Leverett’s Chapel both had a difficult time stopping the run against their first-week opponents (Spring Hill for Sabine, Greenville Christian for LC). West Rusk had Malakoff, the sixth-ranked team in 3A-DI, at home and had a touchdown lead at the half, and then Malakoff jumped back into the game and came from behind to win. Guys, it happens. It was one game. The hard work continues.
• We’ll see if Kilgore College moves up in the NJCAA national poll after waxing Community Christian College, 80-0, here on Saturday. The Rangers went into the contest tied with Mississippi Gulf Coast for the No. 10 ranking. Coach Willie Gooden and the guys have a week off, an early-season open date, this week.
• Congratulations to two of our guys in the college ranks. C.J. Fite, a defensive lineman for defending Big 12 Conference champion Arizona State, had a tackle in what I call an “everybody in the pool” win over Northern Arizona, 38-19 (“everybody in the pool” because everybody plays). Fite is a former Tatum High School standout. And Jayden Sanders, who’s Kilgore royalty – the son of former KHS athletes Nick Sanders and Whitney Clark – played his first game as a University of Michigan Wolverine, getting two tackles in their 34-17 win over New Mexico.

What’s coming on ETB

A lot, actually, a list so long it’s overwhelming me a bit to look at it.

We’ll catch up with volleyball in our 15-program coverage area, and see where the teams are as district play is on us.

We’ll announced some awards, like the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week to some folks who are deserving. Speaking of that, the Whataburger / ETBlitz Players of the Week Awards are back this week, the original, OG of ETB awards. We’ll look forward to seeing what the voters say there, because they have a job on their hands.

There are several new features here on the site that we’ll do at least once a week, and one of those is the High Note of the Week, presented by Kilgore Mercantile & Music. This singles out what we believe was the biggest moment in sports in our coverage area the previous week. And Kilgore Mercantile & Music present this each week – if you’ve never been to Kilgore Mercantile & Music in downtown Kilgore, well, I don’t even know what to think about you. 😊 Seriously, it’s a great place, a place you can get a fantastic chili dog, or Blue Bell Ice Cream dipped up for you, purchase all sorts of unique items, and even buy and learn how to play musical instruments (and hear jam sessions, too!).

Of course, the new state high school football poll will hit, the first real one of the regular season – what we’ve had has been the preseason poll – and the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s volleyball poll will be released, as will the new junior college football poll.

After kind of a lengthy absence, The Bulletin Board will return, with information you might need from your community, and just throughout all the communities in the ETB coverage area, and later in the week, on Thursday, we’ll have our ETBlitz Power Picks, and not only see how the panel picks this week, but take a look back at how their picks from a wild week one turned out.