WHO’S WHERE AND WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING? | An in-depth look at the ETBlitz area to get you ready for high school football tonight
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the first installment of Who’s Where and What the Heck is Happening for this 2024 football season.
You can ONLY find this on ETBlitz.
Remember: Tatum knocked off Daingerfield last night, 34-14, in Daingerfield (TATUM DROPS DAINGERFIELD | Eagles stun Tigers, 34-14, to top another state-ranked opponent (etblitz.com)), and Overton sunk Carlisle, 40-10, in Carlisle (MUSTANGS MAKE A STATEMENT | Overton sends message with 40-10 win at rival Carlisle (etblitz.com)). So here are the other 10 high school programs in our area, and what they have happening (hence the name, what the heck is happening).
Kilgore College is off again this week. The Rangers (1-0) are back in action next Saturday at home against New Mexico Military Institute.
Here’s what’s happening tonight on the East Texas football schedule. We’re going to start with the No. 5 team in the Class 4A, Division I Dave Campbell’s Texas Football poll (who should probably be No. 1, but that’s another story)…
Whitehouse at No. 5 Kilgore, 7:30 p.m., R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium. Before we talk about Kilgore, let’s talk about Whitehouse.
The Wildcats haven’t been on Kilgore’s radar screen in a while.
A LONG while.
The last game between Kilgore and Whitehouse was Nov. 4, 2012, at Whitehouse, a 64-26 Kilgore win. And Whitehouse’s quarterback was NOT named Patrick Mahomes; his name was Hunter Taylor.
When people around here think “Whitehouse football,” they probably rightfully think Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That’s been a minute. Mahomes hasn’t played for the Wildcats since the 2013 season. And Kilgore never played Mahomes in football, believe it or not – Kilgore’s time as district rival to Whitehouse was prior to Mahomes’ time on varsity.
But Mahomes is a Chief, anyway. Let’s worry about what Kilgore is actually facing.
Whitehouse beat Dallas Wilson, 48-7, last week in their opener. Hardly Carthage, but a solid win. The two Whitehouse quarterbacks, Tyler Lacombe and Jackson Gary – both juniors – combined for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions (Lacombe was 14-of-22 for 171 yards, the two scores and the two picks; Gary came on late).
The Wildcats really did damage on the ground. They rushed for 219 yards and four scores. Lacombe had two on nine carries for 55 yards, so he’s a threat to run, and junior Za’Majeigh Mosley had the bulk of the work: 17 carries for 71 yards, although he didn’t score. Senior Carter Mclaughlin and sophomore JoJo Adams both did score – Mclaughlin had 31 yards and Adams, 43, each on four carries, and junior Jackson Gary had 3 yards, too, so the Wildcats really spread the ball around.
Speaking of that, seven different receivers caught balls from Lacombe: Kade Richardson, a senior, had six for 94 yards and a score, and Adams only had one, but made the most of it, a 34-yard TD. No other player had more than two catches, and Hudson Barron had one, a 17-yarder.
Even their offensive line got in on the act. Jonathan Bush was listed as having five pancake blocks against Wilson, and Debraylen McDonald, four.
Defensively, Whitehouse had nine hurries, three sacks (Daylon Hester, Kadavion Pickens and Markyle Johnson), and Haven Hudson, Pickens, and Shawn Rios each had eight tackles; the Wildcats had four tackles for loss; they caused four fumbles and senior Jacoven Jones had an interception.
In other words, Whitehouse had a good opening night.
But they didn’t beat the No. 1 team in 4A, Division II on their home turf.
And that’s what the Kilgore Bulldogs did.
Kilgore defensive back Ja’Kalen Sheffield set the tone early, with an interception of Carthage quarterback Jett Surratt early in the game, and Surratt, the son of coach Scott Surratt – and we are by no means picking on Jett, he is a fantastic player, but he threw four interceptions. Surratt was playing against top-notch competition last week.
There’s nothing “second” about Kilgore’s secondary. The Bulldogs likely have the best secondary in the entire state. They might even have the best defense in the entire state.
In all, Kilgore had five forced turnovers against a Carthage team that prides itself on few mistakes: four picks of Surratt and a fumble, caused by K’Winn Reese and recovered by Kilgore’s La’Perrion Graves. The interceptions: Sheffield, Dre Sanders, Javon Towns, and then Jayden Sanders, who were all four nothing short of spectacular.
Towns led the defense with 10 tackles, had two pass break-ups, a quarterback hurry, had a 69-yard kick return, and on offense, had a touchdown catch from quarterback Kayson Brooks.
Sheffield had nine tackles, seven solo; Dre had three and the pick, and a pass break-up; and Jayden had five tackles, two for loss, the interception, and four pass break-ups, then on offense, had six catches for 58 yards. And give Carthage credit – or blame. They went at Jayden, the Michigan verbal commit. And he made them pay for it.
Also for Kilgore’s defense: LaKeyleon Graves had an interception, in the first half, to go with seven tackles, three of them solo. Key also had a catch for 5 yards. La’Perrion had seven tackles, two for loss, and the fumble recovery. Jackson Tucker Phillips and David McGowan each had six tackles; JTP had a tackle for loss, and a QB hurry.
Cam Christian and Jamarian Duncan Morgan each had four tackles. Bi’Syn Williams had two, as did Isaiah Watters, who was among MULTIPLE Bulldogs who had double duty – Watters ran for 81 yards and two scores on 18 carries. Jacory Walton had a tackle on defense, and had two catches for 13 yards. Rayshaun Williams had a catch for 10 yards and ran for 22 yards on 10 carries.
Reese, Travis Dixon, and Wylie Mitchell all each had a tackle.
And last but certainly not least, let’s not forget Brooks, who had playing time at QB last year and handled it brilliantly, just brilliantly (remember this?: WHAT’S CAUSING ALL THIS? / By MITCH LUCAS | Introducing Kayson Brooks (etblitz.com)). And he continues to do so. Does ANYTHING bother this dude?
Brooks goes into the house of the Carthage Bulldogs, who haven’t lost in 71 STRAIGHT HOME GAMES. Do you hear what I’m saying? He leads Kilgore into Carthage ISD Stadium, where their winning streak dates back to September 2016 – lot a tombstones of a lot of teams date back that far.
His numbers: 15-of-27 for 99 yards, the touchdown to Towns and a pick. The pick was in the end zone, just off Kilgore getting the ball back, and Kilgore had just re-claimed the lead at the time.
Tonight is his first home game as the true starter for the Ragin’ Red.
For the livestream, here you go: Kilgore vs Whitehouse (youtube.com).
Hear the game live with the Ragin’ Red Broadcasting team of Doug Smith, Don Hedrick and Jason Smith on 1240-AM KDOK, online at www.kdokradio.com. Buy tickets at https://www.kisd.org/our-district/district-departments/athletics, and after it’s over, catch the Hi-Steppers, a song from the band or two, and video of the KHS cheerleaders here on ETBlitz.com.
Liberty-Eylau at Henderson, 7:30 p.m., Henderson ISD Lion Stadium. Now, it’s homecoming at Lion Stadium, and the Lions had a tussle with visiting Athens last week, a high-scoring game where 80 total points were scored. And it’s doubtful that Liberty-Eylau will be a pushover.
L-E, like Whitehouse, beat Pittsburg, 48-7, last week. L-E quarterback Trip Baysinger is a senior, and had a good night: 17-of-23 for three touchdowns (to three different receives: one to Dequane Prevo, one to Keilen Neal and one to Gabe Jarvis), and Baysinger also ran for 53 yards and a score on nine carries.
The Leopards rushed for 111 yards and two TDs, and got an 11-tackle night from senior Serleio Creer, 16 tackles from Malik Stephens, who had two sacks, and an interception from Jaquan Johnson.
But if coach Clay Baker and the Lions can get this one – if they can get this home win – they’ve got Jacksonville next week, and the Indians lost 38-7 in their opener. Henderson has an excellent chance to start 3-0 after winning only two games last year.
That would be monumental for the Lions in their push to get this program back to where it’s supposed to be: one of the best programs in East Texas.
A week ago, it wasn’t really a nail-biter, but Athens put up a fight. And as a coach, you want that in a season opener.
The unquestioned star for the Lions was running back Jesstin Starling, a junior, who bolted up and down the field on the Hornets: 22 carries for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Macen Jones scored a touchdown, and uarterback Vince Howard scored twice, as well, and had 37 yards on nine carries, and in all, Henderson finished up with 262 yards on 38 carries, and averaged 6.9 yards a carry, scoring six touchdowns on the ground in the process. That’ll make coach Baker, a former Lion himself, grin ear to ear. He may not do it in practice, but it’ll make him smile somewhere, for sure.
By the way, Starling averaged almost 8 ½ yards a CARRY.
Howard didn’t throw a touchdown, but was efficient: 13-of-18 for 158 yards to five different receivers: Lemarion Coleman (seven catches, 88 yards); Jordan Ervin (two catches, 37 yards); Amauri Murphy (two catches, 26 yards); Corey Harper (one catch, 9 yards) and Jones (one catch, zero yards).
Defensively, folks had to be talking about senior linebacker Logan White, who was just a monster: 19 total tackles, 17 solo and one for loss, and Varian Williams, who had three sacks. Henderson had six sacks and eight tackles for loss in the game. Williams also had five total tackles, three of them for loss. Isaiah Vasquez, Trae McAlister and White all each had a sack, as well.
White and Williams each caused a fumble, Murphy and Harper each recovered one.
If you can’t make the game, check it out here: https://www.HendersonISD.org/Live.
Gilmer at Chapel Hill, 7:30 p.m., Chapel Hill ISD Bulldog Stadium. If you were like the ETBlitz.com staff last week, when all our stories and scores began coming in, there was no bigger shock than this one: Pine Tree 22, Gilmer 15.
Mind you, this is not the Pine Tree of old, your older brother’s Pine Tree, that would lose to Kilgore or Gilmer by 56 points. Pine Tree is a LOT better program, and there’s NO shame in losing to Pine Tree. That’s not what we’re saying.
But the bar at Gilmer is so high – we just didn’t expect the defending UIL Class 4A Division II state champions really to even lose this early this year. We were caught off guard.
Now, they’ve got to go to the Tyler area tonight to take on what has been one of East Texas’ most talented programs the last three seasons, coach Jeff Riordan’s Chapel Hill Bulldogs, currently ranked No. 2 in the Dave Campbell Texas Football 4A-DI poll. In fact, Gilmer only dropped to No. 5, so this is a matchup of top-five programs: a defending state champion (the Gilmer Buckeyes) and a team that got to the state championship, but lost to Anna.
Gilmer fans: be alert that there is construction going on around the stadium. We would encourage you to go to the Chapel Hill Facebook page, Chapel Hill ISD, before making the trip and parking. It shows what areas to turn and to park.
The Buckeyes were led last week by Brady McCown (yes, he is a member of the McCown family, the former NFL quarterback family), rather than last year’s quarterback, Cadon Tennison. McCown went 19-of-31 for 221 yards and a score (to Brendan Webb). Geramiah Noble had five catches for 69 yards for the Buckeyes; Webb had four for 78.
Gilmer rushed for 125 yards, and Trillyon Butler had 73 yards and a score.
Chapel Hill wore out Jasper, 56-20, in week one.
Demetrius Brisbon, longtime quarterback for the Bulldogs and now in his senior season, went 5-of-7 for 101 yards, a touchdown and a pick, and ran for 51 yards and a score. The Bulldogs rushed for 494 yards – by far the high mark of any program near the ETBlitz.com area – and scored six touchdowns.
Rickey Stewart led all of them with 225 yards and three scores.
Trevor Brooks had three tackles for loss (Chapel Hill had nine of ‘em), and the Bulldogs had five sacks, and caused three turnovers.
Harmony at Sabine, 7 p.m., James Bamberg Stadium. The question here is what can the Sabine Cardinals’ offense do this week to top themselves from the 50 points they put up in the 50-48 first-week win at Spring Hill?
Sabine coach Cody Gilbert knows his team can’t count on big quarterback Colt Sparks to score five touchdowns every week on the ground. The offense will have to have balance – they had only 62 passing yards at Spring Hill a week ago, and the Panthers’ offense really gave them problems defensively.
Sabine (1-0) will have to shore up its defense to have a chance against a scrappy Harmony team that, while it lost a lot to graduation, will still very much show up with a plan to leave James Bamberg Stadium with a win.
Harmony lost to Hooks last week, 40-20, in spite of running 22 more plays on offense than Hooks (82-60), in spite of having fewer penalty yards than Hooks (15 to 25), and in spite of having only one first down less than Hooks (18 to 17).
Hooks running back Dontravious Coulter and quarterback Ripken Birdwell gashed Harmony’s defense for 174 yards and five touchdowns – sound familiar, Sabine fans?
“All” Sparks did last week – which earned him not only the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week Award, but also the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football / Panini Quarterback of The Week Award, was run for 317 yards and five touchdowns in the crazed win at Spring Hill, including the 71-yard fourth-quarter game-winner.
But Sabine got 60 yards on 13 carries and a score from Cason Patterson; 42 yards from Jeremiah Flanagan; and seven combined catches from Hudson McNatt, Bryce Pobuda, Lincoln Royce and Chris Williams.
The offense has to keep the pressure on Harmony this week.
Defensively, a week ago, Myles Bradley had 13 tackles, Daniel Fierros had seven, and Kaden Voss and Zane Shearer each had six. But Sabine had no tackles for loss, and no sacks.
For tickets, they’re on sale at the ticket booth there at the stadium, or to purchase in advance, here you go: https://www.sabineisd.org/departments/athletics/tickets.
Gladewater at New Diana, 7:30 p.m. A week and a day after knocking off No. 2-ranked Daingerfield in the season opener, coach Jonny Louvier and the Bears take their act on the road tonight to New Diana tonight, hoping to keep their momentum rolling.
And they’ll have a short week after. They’ve got back-to-back road games: this Friday, tonight, at New Diana, and then just six days later, they go to Bruce Bradshaw Stadium in New London to take on coach Rafe Mata and his West Rusk Raiders in a Thursday night game next week.
Hey, man – there’s no gimmies in Texas 3A football. This is where the big boys play.
And Gladewater WAS the big boys last week.
The Bears spent four quarters throwing the second-ranked Daingerfield Tigers around Jack V. Murphy Stadium, and we DO mean throwing them around. Gladewater rolled up 169 yards rushing against the Tigers. Grafton Morgan only had 1 of them – but it was a 1-yard touchdown. Mason Budro had 59 yards on 10 carries and a score. Travyvion Watts had 47 yards on nine carries. Carsin Cooper had nine carries for 35 yards. Brayson Woods had 27 yards on five carries.
Maybe just as impressive or more so was the Bears holding the Tigers’ offense in check. They held Daingerfield’s offense to 68 rushing yards. Quarterback Chase Johnson, who accounted for 51 touchdowns in 2023, had only two against the Bears, and ran for just 14 yards. He threw ZERO touchdowns, and an interception (to Anthony Sanchez), and Gladewater sacked Johnson six times – three of them by sophomore Amarion Minter (the other three by Landon Porter, Budro and Dion Patton).
Budro was a grown man out there, finishing with 14 tackles, two for loss. And Minter had three for loss.
Caleb Balcorta had a fumble recovery of the fumble caused by (you guessed it) Budro.
Now, while Gladewater had a lightning delay, then dealt with Daingerfield, New Diana was pounding on poor Mount Vernon, who not that long ago had Art Briles as its head coach and was a great football program. Mount Vernon still might be a great program – but they lost to ND, 68-17, in the opener.
Quarterback DeJuan Johnson was a monster: 215 yards rushing, three touchdowns, and then threw for 92 yards and a score (and an interception). Johnson’s 215 yards were part of a New Diana running game that yielded 369 yards and SEVEN TOUCHDOWNS.
Oh, man.
Jaidyn Johnson caught the touchdown pass, and had four catches for 30 yards.Ayden Hamilton had 10 tackles to lead ND’s defensive effort. Peyton Jones and Landon Holly each had an interception.
Of note, Gladewater fans: New Diana ticket sales are CASHLESS. To buy tickets for tonight’s game, here’s the link: https://newdiana.hometownticketing.com/embed/all
Diboll at West Rusk, 7:30 p.m., Bruce Bradshaw Stadium. When it comes to West Rusk’s season opener last week at No. 1 Malakoff – let’s just say the less said, the better.
But that’s what most people say after facing Malakoff.
It was a night to forget, as the Raiders lost the road game, 49-0. But they will regroup tonight for their home opener on campus, as Diboll visits.
You’ve got to look at what you did right, as best you can, and the Raiders did have over 100 yards rushing, between Judson Dotson, playing at quarterback; Daylon Williams, and Hunter McCandless. Williams, a sophomore, led with 62 yards.
Dotson completed 6-of-19 passes for 82 yards, two each to Jace Reasoner, McCandless and Kam Brown, a freshman.
Chris Sanchez had 11 tackles; McCandless had nine; Reasoner had seven. Malakoff didn’t turn the ball over at all, something West Rusk hopes to correct tonight against Diboll.
Speaking of Diboll, it lost its opener last week, as well, a 28-27 loss at Madisonville.
But looking at the numbers, you’d have thought the Lumberjacks WON.
Quarterback Brayden Wilson, a senior, went 7-of-10 for 125 yards, two touchdowns (a 59-yard pass to senior Jaydan Miller and another, to Latavian Forney) and an interception, and 218 rushing yards.
Diboll got good pressure on the opposing quarterback (two sacks, one each by Forney and by Luis Arambula), and Forney even returns kicks (three, averaging 17 yards each).
At West Rusk, tickets are cash only and there’s no online purchasing – just walk up and buy. Same thing at the concession stand.
Troup at Edgewood, 7:30 p.m. Now we come to a pack of Tigers looking to turn things around and get their mojo back.
Coach Sam Wells’ Troup Tigers will have to try and get a win on the road tonight at Edgewood, after dropping a home game, 53-40, a high-scoring season opener last week at Troup.
Edgewood is equally 0-1, after slipping to Commerce, 49-27, a week ago.
You look at Troup’s effort last week, and it’s hard to find anything the Tigers didn’t do right.
Bryce Wallum, a senior, played quarterback, ran the ball well, caught it, punted it, and maybe even sold hot dogs at the concession stand – heck, we don’t have proof of it, but we wouldn’t be surprised. Wallum punted twice, for a 45-yard average, once inside the 20. He had seven kickoff returns and averaged 17.6 yards a return. He kicked two extra points. He completed 10-of-15 passes for 210 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He ran for 75 yards and a score on eight carries. And he caught two passes for 6 yards from Josh Childress.
Now, we’re tired after writing all of that.
The Tigers ran for 201 yards as a unit. Brett Wells led with 118 yards and a score on 12 carries.
Hayden Huml had three catches for 69 yards and a score. Caden Claburn had a 32-yard touchdown catch. James Pierce had two catches for 40 yards and a touchdown and Logan Chambers had a 23-yard touchdown catch.
Wells and Jackson Waller each had 14 tackles. A.J. Dewberry and Sean Flood each had three for loss, Caden Starkey, two. Flood and Dewberry each had two sacks; Kaden Mayo had one, and a fumble recovery; Dewberry caused it.
Listen to Troup football on www.TigerSportsNet.com.
White Oak at Paul Pewitt, 7 p.m. The White Oak Roughnecks did something last week that they didn’t do all of the 2023 season: win a football game.
We still don’t know how that’s possible, given the level of talent that was on that team – there were some injuries.
It’s the 2024 season now, though, and the Roughnecks have moved on. Let’s move on with them. The most recent score: White Oak 50, Eustace 13, and now, they’ve got Paul Pewitt in game two of the season, tonight at 7:30.
So what did White Oak do right last week?
A lot. Jaxsen Ludlow completed all but two passes. He was 11-of-13 for 200 yards and three touchdowns – to different receivers. He threw one to Logan Ladwig, who had six catches for 79 yards; he threw one to Brayden Bratcher, who had four catches for 98 yards; and he threw one to Tysen McClain, who had the one catch for 23 yards; and Ludlow ran for 97 yards and three scores.
Ludlow, the son of coach Mike Ludlow, had a hand in six touchdowns for the Roughnecks.
We hate to say we told you so (not really), but we did tell you after Ludlow made the regional track meet that he’d have a big season this year. So far: check.
The Roughnecks ran for 257 yards and four scores. Junior Allen had 128 yards and a touchdown, as well, on 16 carries, and Kyler Priest and Ladwig also both had carries (Priest for 29 yards).
Cameron Venable led the defense with 13 tackles. Levi Sipes had nine. Michael Morgan had three for loss. Venable and Scotty Breitenberg each had an interception, and Sipes and Jacob Sorgee each had a fumble recovery; Kenny Poul and Brayden Young each caused a fumble.
Of note: the Brahmas’ Facebook page (Paul Pewitt Football) has this as a 7 p.m. kickoff time at Brahma Stadium.
Arp at Garrison, 7:30 p.m. The Tigers take their act on the road tonight, hoping that offensive line and the running game that rolled up 250 yards and three touchdowns on Harleton a week ago will travel well to face a state-ranked Garrison team.
Quarterback Thomas McKelvey (seven carries, 59 yards), Josh Smith (five carries, 63 yards) and receiver Zane Borque (five carries, 67 yards) each scored last week in the 20-7 win over Harleton, there in Arp. Casen Burgins added 62 yards on the ground for good measure, as Harleton couldn’t slow the Tigers’ ground game.
McKelvey went 3-of-9, but just put the ball in the air enough to keep HHS off balance.
Smith was a man possessed on defense: 22 total tackles. Casch Cameron had four tackles for loss to go with his 14 total stops. Isaac Poe and Burgins each had an interception.
Garrison, meanwhile, escaped Waskom with a 21-20 win.
They didn’t complete a single pass in five attempts.
They did, however, run for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Antonio Yarbrough had 97 yards and two scores, and freshman C’najai Henderson had 68 on three carries and a score.
Garrison did have a heck of a defensive effort, though: 10 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries in a defensive battle.
Heritage at Leverett’s Chapel, 7 p.m. First-year Leverett’s Chapel head coach Keith Hughes said there might be some things longtime LC football fans would notice that would be different about the Lions this season.
One thing not different, apparently, after one game is the winning.
A week ago, the Lions got a 162-yard, five touchdown performance from Trent Wheat in a 60-14 win over visiting Trinity School of Texas.
And Wheat only completed one of two passes!
This week, LC hosts Longview’s Christian Heritage, a 7 p.m. start tonight at Laird Hill.
The Lions will hope for another multi-player offensive attack in the wide-open world of Texas six-man football.
In addition to Wheat’s numbers against Trinity, Carson Ford had a 35-yard touchdown catch. David Salazar had a 25-yard touchdown run, and Ethan Kirk had a 28-yard touchdown.
Defensively, Ethan Williams had six tackles and two interceptions. Christus Smith had three tackles for loss and forced two fumbles.
Heritage is something of which LC fans should be wary: the Sentinels scored 76 points in their win over Northland Christian a week ago.
In that win, Thomas Peeler had 116 yards and scored three times, and also had a 68-yard kickoff return for a score. Quarterback Owen Holcomb threw four touchdown passes and receiver Eli Roraback caught two touchdowns.
Let’s go Kilgore!! We have 5 grandchildren, 3 of which graduated from Kilgore… so go Kilgore Bulldogs !!💯