HENDERSON ON THE UPSWING | Baker has his team at 4-1, back in the saddle and improving every day
HENDERSON – If you’re from Kilgore, and you don’t want to like your rival, then you’d better not spend any time around Henderson High School football coach Clay Baker.
And you might want to stop reading right now.
Because anyone who spends five minutes with Baker, who watches him coach or interact with his players, can’t help but be impressed with his knowledge and respect for the game, his kindness to others, and his drive and desire to restore his alma mater to its place among East Texas football powers.
He really reminds you of… Kilgore’s Clint Fuller.
And maybe of Clay’s dad, Rocky Baker, who coached for decades successfully at Carlisle. The younger Baker has returned, though, to where he played, where he hopes to bring the Henderson Lions back not only to respectability – he’s already more than done that – but to winning, year-in and year-out.
“It’s nice,” Baker said, of getting to coach at his alma mater. “Not everybody gets the opportunity to do something like this, to coach where they played, and graduated from. From the time they offered me the job and I took it, I knew where we were at that point, and obviously I know the tradition here. I knew that if I had the opportunity, that if I was blessed enough to be able to get them back, to restore that tradition here, then I wanted to take it.”
Baker did take it, and last year, it was rough sledding. But it often is, in year one.
The Lions won the very first game that Clay coached at Henderson, a 28-14 win in Texarkana over Liberty-Eylau.
They proceeded to lose their games after that for months, and bookended the season with wins, starting with the win over L-E and ending with a 58-14 victory at Jacksonville. And there was a lot of learning going on in the middle.
Not just for the kids, but for everyone.
“As a program,” Baker said, “we need to experience winning again, and get to the point where we expect to win. We’re building something here, and this year, we’re fortunate enough to have that feeling.”
They’ve had that feeling four times in five games, in fact.
The Lions are 4-1, and very easily – VERY easily – could be 5-0, if not for just a few seconds of their homecoming game, a 44-41 loss to L-E, back on Sept. 6.
The season began with a 45-35 win at home over Athens, as it worked out, Baker’s first-ever home win.
The game against L-E was next, and it came down to the Leopards needing to convert a fourth-down at the end of the game to run out the clock to keep Henderson from getting the ball back to seal the win.
September 13 – Friday the 13th – sent the Lions to Jacksonville, to the Tomato Bowl, where opposing teams’ dreams of winning often go to die. But not for this team: Henderson just has too much talent this year, and Henderson crushed the Indians, 42-7.
Next up was a neutral-site game at Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, Sept. 19, against Gainesville, and Gainesville – also the Leopards – was ridiculously overmatched, to the tune of a 62-6 loss.
Last week, Henderson opened District 9-4A, Division I play at home against Palestine. Now, the Wildcats have changed coaches – former coach Lance Angel has retired, and the Wildcats were 0-4 headed into the game. They did manage to score almost 40 on Henderson, but the Lions held them off, another 62-point outburst, 62-38, and Henderson has four wins, double their win total from a year ago, with five games still left to play in the regular season.
Of course, in Texas high school football, the top four teams in each district make the playoffs.
Baker knows the ol’ “District of Doom” rules are still in play for his district. In fact, he encounters the first real trouble spot this Friday night: a trip for he and the Lions to Kilgore, a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.
So, let’s talk about who Baker will bring with him, and why the Lions have been as successful as they have in 2024.
Many have heard of what’s happening with running back Jesstin “Meaty” Starling, and quarterback Vince Howard, and we’ll get to them in a second.
What about the Lions’ unsung hero?
Without question, that’s Lemarion Coleman (6 feet, 176 pounds).
“We all call him ‘Mar-Mar,’” Baker explained. “He’s a very special talent. He’s a quiet kid, a hard worker. And he’s all over the place. He can get in the backfield, the slot, running the ball. On defense, he’ll line up at linebacker, he’ll drop down in coverage. You just never know where he’ll be.”
Coleman leads the team in catches (22) and receiving yards (378) and touchdowns (four). He’s also got 150 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries this season, is second on the team in yards per game (only to Starling), is second in points per game (9.6), and on defense, has 17 tackles, two for loss, two quarterback hurries and an interception.
Speaking of quarterbacks, let’s speak of Vince Howard.
“He’s a great kid,” Baker said, “a student of the game. His football IQ is off the charts. You get him on the white board, and he understands defenses. He puts a lot of time in off the field. He’s seriously like having a coach on the field.
“And being called just a passer, a game manager, offends him a little bit. In the offseason, he took that to heart, and he’s improved in his athleticism. In passing game, does a good job of letting things develop, but he’s also smart about when the pocket starts to break down, he knows when it’s time to get out, and he can do that and still make a play. And we trust him to do those things.”
Howard is 58-of-82 (70 percent) for 815 yards, about 163 yards a game, for five touchdowns and three interceptions this season, but has also ran for 225 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries this year, an average of about 45 yards a game and 5.4 yards a carry.
Now, Mr. Jesstin Starling.
The running back, who’s listed at 5-foot-5 and 160 pounds, has a certain nickname.
“Meaty.”
Where did it come from?
“I have no idea,” Baker said, with a laugh. “I know if you call him by his real first name, he’ll look at you weird. He doesn’t do a lot of talking, kind of like Lemarion. But both of them have a great work ethic.”
What Starling has done ON the field through five games has been near unbelievable: 17 touchdowns and 800 yards exactly on 92 carries, an average of 8.7 yards a carry, in four games. He’s averaging 160 yards rushing a game. He’s also caught five passes for 52 yards.
And with his height, ability to cut, his speed and movements, he reminds more than just one person of a certain former Detroit Lion.
“Barry (Sanders) was my favorite, of all time,” Baker said. “I know, you hate to compare a kid to someone like that, but (Starling) can stop on a dime, and he’s got such great vision. He’s tough to bring down. You see the height and assume he’s a little kid. But he’s a strong kid, he’s got a strong lower house.”
The Lions are way more than just offense, even though they’re averaging a just-stupid 50.4 points a game.
Defensively, they’re holding people in check.
One reason why is linebacker Logan White.
“He’s our leading tackler, and we move him around,” Baker said. “Outside, inside, in coverage – he’s a tackle machine. He’s definitely the guy that leads our defense. And I think our defensive line has done a great job. We’ve got quite a few guys – like seven guys – that we’re able to keep fresh, and that all have good motors. We’ve done a good job of putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.”
One other thing in the Lions’ favor that they couldn’t control, but is nice: age.
“We are very, very young,” Baker said. “Offensively, our skill position starters, we won’t lose a kid. They’re all juniors. The majority of our back-ups are sophomores. Now, in the trenches, we’re going to be hurting, because we’re senior-heavy; we’re going to probably lose four of our five starters up front on offense (to graduation), like last year. But we’ve got a lot of juniors and sophomores, not a lot of seniors.”
And what about his dad? Does Clay call on Rocky from time to time?
“We do have our weekly phone calls about game planning,” he said, “what I feel like we can do. I mean, he coached for a long time, had great success, and was of the best to do it. I’ve learned what I do from him, and I’ve definitely called on him for advice all the time, and probably always will, as long as he’s willing to do it, which he is.”
