ETBLITZ GAME OF THE WEEK | Aw, come on: you know it’s Henderson at Kilgore!

It’s Friday, October 4, and if you’re a fan of Kilgore football or Henderson football and you don’t know what week it is, then we can’t help you.

But around here – and I’ve been calling it this since I was at the other place – I call it the Highway 259 Shootout. And I don’t care if it’s politically correct or not.

On one side: Clay Baker, the Henderson Lions (4-1 overall, 1-0 in district play), a young, upstart program with talent suddenly everywhere; a coaching staff that includes a former Kilgore great (Wayne Daniels); Baker, himself a former Henderson Lion, charged with rebuilding a program that had fallen on hard times, and not only has he taken the bull by the horns, he’s riding that bull and CONTROLLING it, bringing it to a stop, and that bull’s saying, “Yeah, Dad, now what’s next?”

On the other side: Clint Fuller and his Kilgore Bulldogs (4-1, 1-0), a popular pick to claim the UIL Class 4A, Division I state championship, a team with so much speed and quickness that they’ve already ran 100 yards in the time it takes to say “speed and quickness;” a call-back to coach Mike Vallery’s teams of the mid-2000s; an offense with a quarterback who’s on-target with the deep ball, a dangerous running game, and a hard-hitting defense that you don’t really want to see coming.

It’s a District 9-4A, Division I game, a pretty big one. It’s tonight at 7:30 p.m. at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium in Kilgore. It’s the ETBlitz.com Game of the Week.

The calendar has turned to October… does that mean somebody will be a monster? Skillet – Monster.

Show up and find out. Here’s your ticket link: https://www.kisd.org/our-district/district-departments/athletics

Hear the Kilgore call of the game on Ragin’ Red Broadcasting, KDOK 105.3-FM, or streaming online here: Chalk Hill Communications. Scroll down and click the Kilgore helmet.

And here’s a link to the Bulldog Media Network’s YouTube channel: The Bulldog Media Network – YouTube.

Hear Henderson’s radio call of the game on KWRD 98.5 FM, 1470-AM, Our Country, or click here: KWRD – Sports Home of the Henderson Lions (network1sports.com).

We’ve had three features on this game, and here they are:

• A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE | Close-knit Kilgore front making it hard on opponents (etblitz.com).
• HENDERSON ON THE UPSWING | Baker has his team at 4-1, back in the saddle and improving every day (etblitz.com).
• SUPER SECONDARY | Talent? Check. Bravado? Check. Will to win? Check. Welcome to Kilgore’s defensive secondary; enter at your own risk (etblitz.com).

There’s all sorts of reasons to believe this could be a good matchup. Kilgore’s defense, Henderson’s offense – Kilgore’s front seven against Henderson’s experienced offensive line and the explosive running game of Jesstin “Meaty” Starling and guys like Vince Howard and Lemarion Coleman; Henderson’s young’uns against Kilgore’s high-octane wide receivers Jayden Sanders, Javon Towns, Lakeyleon Graves and the bunch, guys that quarterback Kayson Brooks puts on a rope.

Then those same guys are roaming the secondary, waiting to pick off a pass. Logan White, Kiyun Pellum, Varian Williams – guys that Henderson has up front, hoping, planning to slow down Kilgore’s running game of Rayshaun Williams and Isaiah Watters.

On the other side, JTP – don’t miss that block on him – that’s Jackson Tucker Phillips, and he and Cam Christian will represent lighting and thunder, and have equally-devastating effects. There’s the Graves brothers, Dre’ Sanders, Ja’Kalen Sheffield – this matchup has star power everywhere.

When Kilgore has the ball, they’re going to want to know where Logan White is. White, the senior linebacker, is moved around by the Henderson coaching staff and leads the Lions with 13 ½ tackles a game, 10 tackles for loss on the season to date through five games.

The Bulldogs will also want to find Williams, who leads the team with three sacks. This is a Henderson defense that gets after the opposing quarterback – 12 sacks on the season so far, and 22 quarterback hurries. Henderson hasn’t produced many turnovers – just seven so far this season (five fumble recoveries and two interceptions).

Coleman doubles as a huge threat on offense – more on that in a moment – and a defensive threat, to pick the ball off.

Anthony Newman is the Lions’ special teams threat, or has been so far, with 11 kickoff returns so far this season, and averages 30 yards a return. Brailon Walker normally handles their punt returns, and averages half that.

Ivan Navarro is Henderson’s kicker, and has been good on 29-of-32 extra points this year; he’s only kicked two field goals, and hit one of them.

Offensively, the Lions love to run – they’ve got 1,528 rushing yards and 27 scores as a unit so far in the 2024 season, and they’re averaging 50 – yes, 50 – points a game. They’ve scored 62 points the last two weeks in wins over Gainesville (62-6) and Palestine (62-38).

Starling, the 5-foot-5, 160-pound running back, is a stop-on-a-dime type that is hard to bring down. He’s scored 17 touchdowns this season, a somewhat staggering number, and has 800 yards on 92 carries, and averages 160 yards rushing a game. Starling comes off a Howard, the quarterback, has ran for 225 yards and three scores on 42 carries, and averages 45 yards a game, and has scored three times.

Coleman can and will line up just about everywhere, except the offensive and defensive lines. He’s a burner, and has ran for 150 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries, but his natural position is a wide receiver, where he has 22 catches for 378 yards and four scores, which leads the team.

Other threats in that department include Amauri Murphy, with 13 catches for 190 yards, and Macen Jones with 10 grabns for 139 yards and a score.

Baker, of course, is the son of longtime Carlisle coach Rocky Baker, and you can read more about Clay at the link above, our story from Thursday. But he graduated from and played for Henderson in 2004, and is in his second year as the Lions’ head coach.

Kilgore, meanwhile, is coached by Clint Fuller, who is in his fourth season, an intense former defensive coordinator and state-title-winner in that role with Pleasant Grove, who grew up in Kilgore and plans to bring another state championship to the home of the Ragin’ Red. Coach Fuller is 37-9 as head coach of the Bulldogs. His father: Phil Fuller, the former Kilgore College defensive coordinator.

KHS is ranked fourth in the state in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class 4A-Division I state poll, and two other members of 9-4A, DI are also ranked: Chapel Hill, at No. 6, and Pine Tree, at No. 10. While Henderson opened district play at home a week ago with the win over Palestine, the Bulldogs went to Longview and opened their district schedule with a 17-6 not-as-close-as-it-sounds win over Pine Tree.

The defense has gotten a lot of headlines – and with all of the interceptions (11 in five games), Jayden Sanders headed to Michigan, only 61 yards total allowed to Pine Tree, a top-10 team in the state – it’s understandable.

But Brooks is quietly having a phenomenal year. He’s completed 87-of-142 passes for 1,071 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. Hey, baby, it’s Air Kilgore.

On the receiving end: Sanders has 22 catches for 340 yards and two scores. Graves has 14 catches for 228 yards, and three of Brooks’ TDs. Javon Towns, who had a huge day at Pine Tree last week, has 15 grabs for 217 yards and four scores, two of them against the Pirates. Running back Rayshaun Williams has 15 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown, and Isaiah Watters has five catches for 68 yards and a score.

The Bulldogs’ offense has, as a unit, ran for 455 yards this season, a little under 100 yards a game, and five touchdowns.

Kilgore’s defense was discussed at length in the two stories above, but in five games so far, the Bulldogs have given up only 937 total yards, and only 427 on the ground. They’ve allowed 55 first downs and forced 31 three-and-outs on 63 opponents’ possessions.