AIMING FOR A LADDER CLIMB | Henderson hoping home games help them make playoff return (w/video)
The Henderson Lions are in good hands.
They’re the hands of coach Clay Baker, the son of Carlisle legend Rocky Baker.
Clay will be in his second season at the helm of the and Lions when they kick off the 2024 season against the now non-district rival Athens Hornets on August 30.
Henderson fans should have quite a bit to cheer for in 2024, come to think of it, and they’ll get a good dose of being at home early-on.
The Lions are home right out of the gate for their first scrimmage, and that’s against 5A’s Hallsville on Friday night, August 16.
For scrimmage No. 2, they’ll visit always-scrappy Tatum the following Thursday, Aug. 22.
Then it’s the kickoff game, and Athens is no longer a district opponent, so they’ll become the season opener for Henderson, a tight game last year that the Lions lost, 30-27.
Henderson is also home the following week, hosting Liberty-Eylau on Sept. 6. That’s the Lions’ homecoming game.
A trip to the Tomato Bowl for a renewal of the rivalry between Henderson and Jacksonville is fittingly scheduled for Friday the 13th – Friday, Sept. 13, that is.
A very-rare regular season Thursday game is set for Thursday night, Sept. 19, and that’s against Gainesville. There’s also another rarity about that game: it’s a neutral-site contest. It’s on the Texas A&M-Commerce campus, and currently, it’s set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
That’ll be the non-district finale for Baker’s Lions, as they enter the District 9-4A, Division I schedule the following week. They’ll be home against Palestine on Friday, Sept. 27.
The second district game sends the Lions up Highway 259 about 17 miles to Kilgore for the annual 259 Shootout on Oct. 4, and then they’ll host new district foe Mabank on Friday, Oct. 11 – Mabank had been a district opponent a couple of UIL realignments ago, and is back in the district after the departures of Athens and Jacksonville.
Speaking of “back,” Pine Tree – down a classification to 4A, Division I after the realignment after decades of playing opponents like Hallsville, Marshall, and others at the larger level – is back on Henderson’s schedule as a district rival. And that’s a trip to Pirate Stadium on Friday, Oct. 18.
The Lions’ open date is set for Oct. 25, and then they finish the regular season with a home game against Chapel Hill on Nov. 1 (senior night) and a trip to Lindale on Nov. 8.
Henderson went 2-8 a season ago – the wins bookended the season, opening the year with a 28-14 win over Liberty-Eylau and closing it with a 58-14 win over Jacksonville.
The Lions are aiming to get back into the UIL playoffs. They haven’t been there since the 2019 season, a first-round loss to Midlothian Heritage in overtime.