SUPER SECONDARY | Talent? Check. Bravado? Check. Will to win? Check. Welcome to Kilgore’s defensive secondary; enter at your own risk
DC Comics has the Justice League of America. Marvel, of course, has the Avengers.
Kilgore’s secondary – well, they’re super-powered, too. And you don’t want to mess with any of them, collectively or individually.
The Bulldogs are part of a special defense this year, and every member, from front to back, is getting it done – see Joe Hale’s story filed today on the defensive front, too (A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE | Close-knit Kilgore front making it hard on opponents (etblitz.com)).
But Kilgore’s secondary – Javon Towns, who absolutely owns Pine Tree, and should pay rent at Pirate Stadium; Jayden Sanders, Mr. Michigan, the Wolverines’ verbal commit, a lockdown corner and as dynamic of a playmaker as Kilgore has; Jacory Walton, who’s got a great sense of humor on and off the field, but can burn your butt with the ball in his hands; Ja’Kalen Sheffield, whom opposing defenses are learning should not be messed with; and Dre’ Sanders, the quiet assassin, lying in wait to make a play that ends any hope you have of beating Kilgore (4-1 on the season, 1-0 in District 9-4A).
The Bulldogs’ secondary started things off with a bang this year, making a statement by picking off the much-heralded Jett Surratt four times – FOUR, four picks against one of the most touted quarterbacks in the state, at least at the 4A level. And that’s seven picks of Surratt in two games (the 2023 and 2024 games combined).
Jayden Sanders put on display why Michigan, and the civilized collegiate world, recruited him so hard, with four pass break-ups and an interception. Sheffield and linebacker Lakeyleon Graves each had one, and Dre’ Sanders had one in that game as well, and Towns had a pair of break-ups.
Then, Kilgore had four more the following week against Whitehouse, and the train has continued to roll.
Towns got into the act with a pick, and Walton, too. Sheffield added another, and so did Jamarion Duncan.
Graves had another, and Jayden Sanders had two pass break-ups, in the game at Gilmer, and it was Sheffield showing out in the double-overtime home win over Pleasant Grove with five pass break-ups to go with his 11 tackles.
Dre’ Sanders leads the team with three picks, having added to the total with an interception of Pine Tree’s Matt Cates in the end zone for a touchback last week, and Sheffield has two. Graves has two, as well, as does Duncan.
Kilgore’s defense has been touted as maybe the best in the state at any level, and that talent was on display before the season ever started, in part, at the state’s 7-on-7 tournament in College Station, a preview, if you will, of what was to come this fall.
The Ragin’ Red have lived up to it. They’ve allowed 510 yards passing all season: just over 100 yards a game, on 63 opponents’ possessions through five games.
Kilgore’s defense, as a whole, has given up only 937 total yards; they’re allowing only 187 yards a game.
