TIME FOR CARDINALS TO FLY | A tough schedule, but with senior leaders, Sabine could have a playoff return

Sabine head football coach Cody Gilbert couldn’t be called “old” in any sense of the word.

But he might be wise beyond his years.

Gilbert didn’t mince words recently, saying, “Our district is the SEC of 3A Division I football around here, in my opinion. Just go down the list of schools and the quality men as coaches. I have a lot of respect for each of them. The teams are good, fundamentally sound, and play hard every week.”

It’s just the way the straight-shooting Gilbert, beginning his third season as the boss Cardinal after a 2-8 first season in 2022 and a 4-6 record in 2023, sees it.

UIL realignment affected what used to be District 6-3A Division I, only with the addition of Liberty-Eylau, which dropped from 4A Division II.

Now, they’re all one big happy family in District 8-3A, DI: Jefferson, Tatum, Atlanta, Gladewater, Sabine and White Oak.

Gilbert and the Cardinals coaching staff welcome back 17 returning lettermen and 11 returning starters, five on offense and six on defense.

Before they get to the district opener set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 at Tatum against the Eagles, the Cardinals open the season at Spring Hill, a 4A DII school in the same district as defending 4A DII state champion Gilmer and perennially-tough Pleasant Grove.

After Spring Hill, the Cardinals host Harmony (Sept. 6), travel to New Diana (Sept. 13), and host Arp for homecoming on Sept. 20.

Then it’s at Tatum, home against Gladewater, on the road at Atlanta, home against White Oak, at Jefferson on Oct. 25, an open date on Halloween and a home game against Liberty-Eylau to close the regular season on Nov. 8. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.

Eight of this year’s 10 opponents made the playoffs a year ago.

This marks the third season for not only Gilbert and most of his coaching staff, but some of the Cardinals’ premier players, such as quarterback Colt Sparks and inside linebacker Cason Patterson, just two of eight seniors that have been playing together on the varsity roster each of the last two seasons.

Others includeoutside linebacker Zane Shearer, defensive end Myles Bradley, offensive tackles Mason Gatlin and Hudson Coker, and wide receiver Hudson McNatt and placekicker Jovanny Jaimes.

“Those eight that have been together on our varsity since they were sophomores and are a special group. We’ve grown together as players and coaches,” Gilbert continued.

In two seasons, Sparks – a 6-foot-5, 215-pound early commit to Texas Tech of the Big XII – has 3,201 passing yards and 28 touchdowns and has rushed for 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns besides catching three scoring passes of his own.

Patterson (5-10, 210) is a running back that rushed for 300 yards and 10 touchdowns a year ago as a junior seeing limited action but should get the bulk of carries in replacing Cade Silvertooth, a 1,000-yard rusher a season ago who graduated.

SABINE CARDINALS
District: 8-3A, Division I
Coach: Cody Gilbert (Third season at the school, 6-14 overall)
Cardinals’ all-time record: 322-529-22
Stadium: James Bamberg Stadium; 5424 FM 1252 West, Gladewater, Texas, 75647
2023 result: 4-6
Returning lettermen / starters: 22/14
Lettermen lost:  7
Offense: Up-tempo spread
Defense: 3-4

Gatlin (6-0, 220) and Coker (6-0, 235) will be joined on the offensive line by junior guard Kelton Lee (6-1, 280). “With those three, we feel we’ll have the best offensive line we’ve had in the three years we’ve been here,” said Gilbert.

Joining McNatt, a 6-2, 160-pound senior who had 100 yards receiving and three touchdowns as a junior last season as receivers will be Bryce Pobuda (6-2, 175, junior), Chris Williams (5-10, 170), a move-in from Kilgore, and Lincoln Royce (6-0, 180), a junior who – like Pobuda – enjoyed a good off-season and played really well as the Cardinals reached the Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament in College Station in late June.

“We feel fortunate to have qualified and gotten the chance to participate in the state tournament. I think it was a great experience for our group of players.”  

McNatt was the district’s most valuable player in basketball, a regional qualifier as a high jumper in track and also played baseball.

As a sophomore last season, Pobuda had 400 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Another interesting fact about the up-tempo spread this is the third year of playing in which the Cardinals try to snap the football every 12 seconds.

Notables in the 3-4 Sabine defense will be Patterson an inside linebacker, Shearer an outside backer, Bradley an end, Sparks (safety) and Voss (outside linebacker).

Patterson is coming off a season in which he had 70 tackles, while Shearer had 60 stops, 19 tackles for loss and six sacks, and Bradley recorded 70 tackles as a junior to go with six TFL and one sack. Meanwhile, Voss finished 2023 with 20 tackles and three TFL.

“A lot of our young players are ready to step up and play key roles for us, especially defensively,” added the third-year Cardinals head coach.

Another key returnee will be place-kicker and punter Jovany Jaimes. Last season as a junior, Jaimes converted 42-of-43 extra points and 6-of-8 field goals with a long 47-yard game-winner against Mount Vernon to give Sabine a 40-37 victory.

While the strengths going into the season are the offense’s experience, specifically across the offensive line and at quarterback.

“We have some holes to fill on defense and that’s our biggest weakness the loss of production on the defensive line and in the secondary,” Gilbert added.

Sabine advanced to five UIL postseasons between 2014 and 2021, and would like to get back to the playoffs this year. But again, Gilbert knows the road is a tough one.

“I think our strength and conditioning program has helped tremendously. We’ve made big strides in strength, speed and our leadership development.

“This is a really tough district with quality teams. It should come down to matchups. In my opinion,” the coach added, “it will be difficult for our district champion to go unbeaten.”

It’s about digging out and Cardinal football fans would like nothing better than to see Gilbert and his staff’s work come to fruition.