BANQUET HONORS BULLDOGS | Senior class, district championship, especially grades and character all hailed at KHS banquet

Zaylon Stoker (in white, center), Kilgore High School’s defensive player of the year (and defensive player of the year in District 9-4A, Division I), talks with teammates, defensive coordinator Chad Loper (foreground, right) and ETBlitz.com writer and columnist Joe Hale after the annual football banquet concluded on Thursday night. The banquet, decorated and hosted by the KHS Football Booster Club, was held at the Richardson Room at Forest Home Baptist Church. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – ETBLITZ.COM)

Kilgore football and academic excellence were honored Thursday night at the annual Kilgore High School football banquet at Forest Home Baptist Church.

As has become custom at KHS, the senior class was the main event – a class that has led the program with 33 wins and just eight losses.

And they led in the classroom, as well: many of those seniors were on the academic all-district list in District 9-4A, and a few of them – Parker Allums, Aubrey Saylor, Emmanuel Young, and Jakob Davis – were announced as academic all-state award-winners.

“I just want to thank you for everything that you’ve done,” Fuller said, having completed his third year as head coach for the Bulldogs. “You have left your mark on Kilgore. ‘Respect the K’ was brought up, and we’ve talked about the tradition, the people that came before us to build Kilgore’s football program into what it is today. It’s a lot bigger than me, it’s a lot bigger than all of us. But you guys truly left your mark on this program.

“We’ve talked a lot about everything that you guys accomplished on and off the field tonight, and I just want to say ‘thank you.’ Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’re going to keep it going. So, underclassmen: you’ve got big shoes to fill and a high standard to meet, that these seniors have set.”

On the field, of course, the Bulldogs were the district champions again this year, the second year in the three-year tenure under Fuller that the Ragin’ Red won the district title outright. This time, they did so with a perfect 6-0 record.

Also honored, of course, were the freshmen and junior varsity teams, all of this taking place in the Richardson Building at Forest Home.

After Fuller opened the banquet with a few brief remarks, thanking the Kilgore ISD board of trustees, the high school administration, the booster club (who organizes, hosts and decorates for the banquet each year), player parents and his coaches and their families. Saylor led the invocation.

Coaches Eugene Lafitte and Nick Sanders paid tribute to the freshmen and JV teams, respectively: team members were asked to stand. Lafitte, who’s about to be really busy – he’s the head baseball coach and tryouts were to be Friday – noted that the freshmen went 7-3.

“It’s a privilege to be able to coach the freshmen group,” Lafitte said, “to bring them in from eighth grade, where you’ve got to make a commitment to high school football, which is a lot more of a commitment than junior high.

“Also, our kids, we coach them hard, and we like to see how they grow from the first day to the last day. …We appreciate the varsity coaches, for helping us throughout the year. We really look forward to seeing how these young men develop in the next three years. We’re very excited about where their opportunities are going to go.”

Sanders, the former cornerback at KHS who will forever be remembered for blocking the field goal in the 2004 4A state championship game, then returning it for the winning touchdown, is the JV coach. Sanders paid tribute to the JV, who went 6-3-1.

“Want to thank them for all the hard work they put in,” said Sanders, also a key member of a TCU team who went to the Rose Bowl.

“Our JV – You won’t find a scrappier bunch in the whole state of Texas,” Fuller said. “They did an outstanding job.”

Fuller then commended trainers Jeff Davis and LaTamera Fry for the work they do every year, and for the student trainers and managers that help.

“Truly if there was a group that you would say are leaders it would be this group, our athletic training staff,” Fuller said. “Coach Davis, LaTamera Fry – they sacrifice a ton of time. They provide treatment every morning for all of the athletes in the program, and that’s from August to June, every day and throughout summer workouts. They’re great leaders for our athletic program.”

“Nobody really sees all the work they do. We start on Thursday night for Friday games, getting everything together,” Davis said. “They do a wonderful job.”

Davis then introduced, acknowledged student trainers Brylan Winter, Candace Lee, Shelby Shelton, Chelsi Rocha, Pilar Baldazo, Jaelie Sosa, Brooklyn Polve, Natalie Lightfoot, Sam Miles, James Jarman, and Aurelio Reyes.

“They do a great job,” he said. “…They do a great job keeping these guys together and keeping them on the field, and I really appreciate them, and also appreciate coach Fry for keeping me in line.”

Letter jackets and letter plaques were presented, and then individual awards, decided upon by the coaching staff, were presented.

Tight end Josh Parrish, a senior, was presented the most improved on offense award, by Colby Rosen. “In our meeting room, we talked about two things every day, and that is incremental growth, and getting better at one thing, whatever that is, to master your craft and your game,” Rosen said. “This player really put points of emphasis into effect day in and day out, whether it be in the weight room, on the practice field, or wherever. The 180 that he made from where I met him as a sophomore to where he would end up as a senior is night and day.”

Defensive coordinator Chad Loper presented the most improved on defense award to Mikel Dennis.

“I had approached this young man back in the spring about changing positions,” Loper said. “And instead of getting upset about it, he put his head down and went to work. To move from one position where you’re removed from the box to a position where you’re right in the action can be difficult. And he handled it like a champ.”

The defensive lineman award was presented by Josh Lyons to Cameron Christian.

“We had a really, really small group going into it,” Lyons began. “I could give it to all three of the starters and even the guys that rotated in. This one goes to a guy who was a back-up last year, just because he was a young guy, still developing, and then had a bigger role in the playoffs. This year, he got a chance to start, and kind of lit it up.”

Loper returned to the podium to present the best linebacker award to Malachi Pierce and P.J. Wiley.

“These two young men made a tremendous impact on the defensive side of the ball,” Loper said. “Most of the time we played them on opposite sides of each other, so teams had to pick their poison on which side they wanted to go.”

Austin Hawley presented the defensive back of the year award to Javon Towns.

Hawley said he was thankful to be a part of the Kilgore program. “It was a blessing coming in and not have to coach the intangibles; you know, like the will to win, discipline, grit, to believe in yourself, and things like that,” he said. “I was able to come in and support their craft, and not have to worry about heart, basically.”

Co-offensive coordinator Jay Dean introduced the running back of the year, senior Matthew Hardy, after having each of his backs recognition by having them stand: Sage Orange, Hardy, K’Winn Reese, LaPerrion Graves, Isaiah Watters, and Rayshaun Williams.

“These guys, I’m truly proud of them, and I just want to say publicly to you guys: thank you, for what you did, and for what you brought to our football team,” Dean said.

And of Hardy:

“I’ve came up with three words about this young man, and the first one was toughness,” Dean said. “Physical toughness, emotional toughness. He did some heavy lifting for our football team. He averaged 5 1/2 yards per carry. We had a lot of goal line situations, a lot of short-yardage situations. Yards after contact were essential to his game. He played through numerous injuries. …What most people don’t know is that Matthew Hardy had a knee injury in the middle of the season, and coach Davis got him back, ready to play.

“Coach Fuller and I were looking at him, that he may be out four to six weeks. But he missed a couple of weeks, and he’s back playing. The second word I came up with was unselfish. I think that’s really important, for a team player to truly embrace his role on this team – to never complain, never blame. ‘Whatever, I’m good, coach.’ And then the third word was dependability. That’s the one that sums up Matthew Hardy the most, dependable.

“As a running back, zero – ZERO – turnovers in his high school career. You win the turnover margin when you do not turn the football over. Zero. Protecting our quarterback… guys have a clock. Guys have to do a lot of dirty work, and this is one of the guys that did a lot of dirty work when the blitz picked up. Mitch can get up here and give you a bunch of stats – that’s the stats. That’s the man that this football program is all about. Outstanding offensive back, three-year varsity player, academic all-district, and team captain, Matthew Hardy.”

Receivers coach Joey Pippen stepped to the podium to give the top receiver award. “Man, that’s going to be hard to follow,” he said, getting laughs from the crowd, and then presented the award to junior Jayden Sanders.

Pippen asked the varsity and JV receivers to stand for applause.

“It was truly a blessing to be able to coach him on a daily basis,” Pippen said, of Sanders. “He walked through the door, he put his head down, and he was ready to go to work. Determination, the hard work, staying after practice catching balls off the machines, catching deep balls from the quarterback – that was one thing we stressed this year, was trying to find a deep-ball threat. And we had a couple of them, and he’s one of them.”

Pippen pointed out that Sanders had six kick/punt returns on the season and averaged 49 yards per return, and returned two of them for touchdowns. “Nobody kicked to him a lot. He had six returns, returned two of them for touchdowns. One of them was against Athens to start out the second half, and that was a key return, right there. That was a big play. If I was on the other side, I wouldn’t kick to him, either. I’d look for number three and I’d stay away from him.”

He also noted that Sanders was a unanimous selection for all-district, at cornerback and returner, and that he also is one of the players with academic success, of which Kilgore has several.

“He was also academic all-district. I’m not sure if he gets that from mom, or dad – or maybe the position coach, I’m not sure,” Pippen said, to big laughter from the crowd. “…I’m excited to have him, and I expect him to be a leader vocally, on the field, in the weight room, and offseason in the classroom. This year’s receiver award goes to Jayden Sanders.”

Co-offensive coordinator T.J. Gillen-Hall was up to announce the offensive lineman of the year award, which went to senior Braydon Nelson.

He recognized the O-line by having them stand.

“Five of those guys were academic all-district,” Gillen-Hall said. “Three of those guys were academic all-state. Seven of them were named to the all-district team. It’s a really, really, really good group. When (the seniors) were freshmen I was looking forward to coaching them, and I definitely enjoyed coaching them throughout their high school years.”

He pointed out that Nelson was a two-time choice as first-team all-district.

“Probably would’ve been three if he hadn’t gotten hurt his sophomore year a couple of times,” Gillen-Hall noted. “He was all-state by the Texas SportsWriters Association last year – that award hasn’t came out yet this year. I would imagine he would be again this year. He was the CHRISTUS Orthopedic Athlete of the Week in one of the weeks in November. He’s on a Sports Illustrated all-East Texas team. He was one of the ones that is academic all-district.”

Gillen-Hall said Nelson is committed to sign with a college program, but said he couldn’t say where. “I don’t want to get in trouble,” he laughed. “We expect nothing but awesome, great things for this outstanding young man.”

On Friday, Nelson committed to the University of North Texas, announcing it on social media.

Lyons was back, and presented special teams most valuable player(s) to both Leo Yzaguirre and Aiden Reyes, both of them seniors. “We have two dudes that really, really, really always took a lot of pride in their jobs.”

He commended Yzaguirre and Reyes for their hard work. “As you know, last year, Leo was the soul kicker, and he handled all of it. Obviously, Leo is committed to Liberty, to play soccer, so I wanted to take some of that off him. I really pushed Aiden to get better, at what he does.”

The two shared placekicking and punting duties throughout the year. “Once Leo got a little banged up, Aiden had to step in and do his thing. Both of those guys did a great job.”

Assistant coach Cayle Bickham got the duty of presenting the offensive most valuable player, which would be senior quarterback Derrick Williams.

“One of the core standards for our program is ‘Respect the K,’” Bickham said, “essentially honoring those who have paved the way and set the standard for what it means to be a Kilgore Bulldog. Keith Gilliam, Isaiah Ross, Davin Rider – some of the great players that have been honored with the offensive MVP award. One thing they all have in common is their hard work and dedication. Everyone sees their time on the field, but few understand what they have sacrificed in the offseason in order to get there.”

“From Feb. 1 until the beginning of May, we met every morning at 6:30, which everyone with teenage boys knows how hard that is. …The first thing we talked about was the standard of excellence that had been set by former quarterbacks: Buddy Jackson, Dalton McElyea, D VanZandt, just to name a few, and the accomplishments these young men had during their tenure at Kilgore.

“The last thing the page read was ‘How do you want to be remembered.’ This young man embodied that standard, accounting for 65 percent of our offense and scoring 35 touchdowns. He didn’t just meet the standard – he became the standard. It’s easy to say, ‘I want to be the starting quarterback on Friday night.’ However, few are willing to do what it takes to accomplish that goal. Your 9-4A district MVP, and our offensive MVP, Derrick Williams.”

Senior Zaylon Stoker was presented as the defensive most valuable player, with Loper presenting the award.

“This guy at his position is one of the best I’ve ever coached,” Loper said, “with 234 career tackles, 16 career interceptions – no doubt, one of the best.”

Rosen defined the Bulldog Award before presenting it to senior fullback Aubrey Saylor: “It goes to the player who embodies all the qualities of a player you want in your football program: hard working, loyal, respectful, selfless and tough,” he said. “Those are all things who describe this player to a T …. He’s really a selfless leader, and puts others before himself. He’s a two-time all-district fullback for me, but along with being a great football player, he’s an even better person. This year’s Bulldog Award goes to Aubrey Saylor.”

Gillen-Hall returned to present the Coaches Award. “There’s a lot of very deserving young men. In the end, we settled on two young men that are both just phenomenal, awesome, awesome great young men to be around.”

Gillen-Hall presented the award to senior offensive linemen Jakob Davis and Emmanuel Young.

He described how Davis’s Kilgore career was cut short by injury.

“He didn’t get to play a whole lot throughout his career at Kilgore High School,” Gillen-Hall explained. “His freshman year, about six games in, I think, he got injured. I was looking forward to coaching him, and doing good things. He was able to get back, and made it on to varsity his sophomore year. He played here and there, at the end of games, things like that.

“In his junior year, probably going to be a starter – I just moved him around, trying to decide where he’d be a starter. His junior year, first day of full pads, boom, another injury. As soon as I saw, I was watching him, when it happened.”

Gillen-Hall, getting emotional, noted Davis’s hard work, and rehab to overcome knee surgeries. “He went through that three times. The tenacity, the want-to, and the heart that he showed doing this was just amazing to me. So the first coaches award goes to Jakob Davis.”

Also winning the Coaches Award was Emmanuel Young.

“Also a senior, another outstanding young man – he didn’t have to go through all those injuries and things. A team leader, did go through an injury during the spring, was still a leader, even though he couldn’t do everything the whole team could do, he was still a leader for us, vocally. He participates in so many things – I don’t think I could begin to name them all.”

He commended both Davis and Young for their academic success. “Both these young men were academic all-district, both of them were academic all-state. This one was first-team all-district this year, and second-team all-district last year for us.”

Dean stepped back to the podium. “This last award we have is really why we’re here,” he said. “That word ‘student’ comes first.”

He presented the award for academic excellence to Parker Allums, who had a grade point average of 98.71, the highest on the team.

“This year’s recipient played multiple positions on our offensive line – played guard, played center, played on special teams. He was a second-team all-district performer, academic all-district, second-team academic all-state.”

All of the all-district and academic all-district achievers were introduced.

“We know what type of kids we have, what kind of young men we have, what type of players we have,” Fuller said. “But it’s awesome to go into a room of opposing coaches, and for them to recognize that.”

Academic all-state honors were earned by Allums, Saylor, Young and Davis, as mentioned.

Concluding the banquet was a raffle drawing for a zero-turn mower, and the senior slide show, where the seniors were then presented – as is a long-standing tradition at KHS – with a commemorative football.

Fuller wrapped up the banquet by again thanked the seniors.

“As a group, you guys – freshmen when I came in, in your freshman year. As a group, you guys have been through some battles, some ups and downs for sure,” Fuller said. “…This is a special group. You’ve accomplished a lot. As I watch that, it makes me appreciate how much you guys invest and care about Kilgore. And the one thing that just rang through over and over was the love that you have for each other, the love that you have for Kilgore, the love that you have for our program.

“You know, I think that is what football is all about. As much as you want to win, win a district championship, state championship, get an opportunity to play at the next level, what separates high school football is the love that you have from the community, the love you give back to the community that you grew up in, the love that you have for a program that you watched in the stands growing up through middle school, and the love that you have for each other.”