LET’S DO IT AGAIN! | Kilgore 27, Henderson 12, a final at Lions Stadium, our recap by MITCH LUCAS

EDITOR’S NOTE: These were live notes as the game happened from Henderson Lions Stadium on Friday, October 3, as the Kilgore Bulldogs (5-1) defeated the Henderson Lions (4-2), 27-12, on Friday night. Both teams had won four straight games coming into this one, a District 9-4A, Division I contest. See Joe Hale’s game story later here on ETBlitz.com.

The players have made their entrance, the invocation has been said, and the National Anthem has been played.

Coach Ricky Meeks isn’t getting his first taste of the Kilgore-Henderson rivalry tonight; it’ll just be his first as head coach. And his Lions just won the toss, and they elected to receive. Henderson is averaging 54.8 points a game!

Ethan Reyes kicks off for Kilgore, and Jesstin “Meaty” Starling touches the ball right off. Starling, the starting running back for the Lions, returns the ball about 20 yards to the 22, where Henderson will get the first possession. Vince Howard, the quarterback, calls for the snap and fakes to Sarling and passes to Macen Jones, for about 6.

Starling gets the first down on the next play, and then Henderson is called for a false start. They’re back at their own 30.

More on Starling: he came into this game needing 496 yards to become Henderson’s all-time leading rusher. Joe Wylie, the Henderson legend, currently holds that record, playing here in 1967-68, and setting it at 3,730 yards.

Howard, under pass rush by Kilgore’s Bi’Syn Williams, throws it away, and it’s fourth down from the Lions’ own 41. Henderson punts and there’s no return. Kilgore will get it first and 10 at its own 12-yard-line, a good punt.

Back yet again to Starling. He rushed for 1,032 yards in 2023 as a sophomore, and for 1,377 as a junior in 2024. This year so far, he’s already got 825 yards, and a somewhat-ridiculous 19 touchdowns already. All total, in his Henderson varsity career, Starling has 3,234 yards to date and 47 touchdowns prior to this game. Just an unbelievable career.

And our thanks to Henderson radio broadcaster Mark McLain for all of that information.

As fate would have it, as I’m talking about Starling, Kilgore’s Rayshaun Williams burst through the line and goes 69 yards for the touchdown, with 8:44 left on the first-quarter clock. But before Kilgore fans could even really celebrate, the extra point is blocked, and of all people, Henderson’s Lemarion Coleman — one of the fastest players the Lions have — picked it up off the turf and raced the length of the field for two points.

We now have the odd score of Kilgore 6, Henderson 2, again with 8:44 left in the first quarter.

Henderson begins its next drive at its own 25, and two plays later, Starling has the Lions with a first down at the 41, the same spot that they punted from a little while ago. Howard is forced to throw it away on that first down play, and on second down, a handoff to Starling. He runs into a wall of Bulldogs this time, though, and gains only a yard, officials say.

A third down pass is way too high along Kilgore’s sideline for Brailon Walker, and the Lions punt again. Once again, there’s no return, and Kilgore has possession again at its own 21.

Quarterback Kayson Brooks and receiver Dre’ Sanders can’t connect on a first down pass.

By the way, was nice to finally meet Henderson ISD Superintendent Brian Boman. Brian and I have had some laughs on Facebook Messenger, and HISD has picked a good guy, just an intelligent, good dude with a great background to lead its school district.

Brooks and Sanders don’t misfire this time, and Sanders makes a catch for the first down, to the 36-yard-line for 15 yards (Kilgore’s 36).

Sanders makes another catch and then hits his sideline, out around Henderson’s 40-yard-line. But a flag is down. It’s a called penalty on Kilgore, holding, and it’s coming back to the KHS 34. So it’ll be first-and-12 there, with 6:02 left in the first quarter.

Graves, the Texas State commit, catches a pass for about 6 yards to set up second and 7, and then Brooks scrambles, but only back to the line of scrimmage before he’s stopped. It’s third and 6 at the Kilgore 40, needing the 46 for a first.

Brooks rolls to his left, tries to hit Tyler Johnigan, but he’s a little off, and the ball one-hops off the turf. It’s fourth down, and Eddie Jiminez boots a HECK of a punt. It gets by Coleman and rolls dead, stopped dead, by KHS special teams and down at the Lions’ 6.

Henderson starts there, with 4:38 left in the opening quarter. Howard gets behind that offensive line — Da’Kyron Pellum, Dakalin Stein, Da’Kalyn Pellum, Ryne Malone, and Zayden Castleberry — and begins another drive.

The offensive line is called for a false start, and the Lions’ backs are against their own end zone. Kilgore’s pass rush is all over Howard, and a there’s a skirmish in the end zone, the end zone that says “Henderson” in it, near the entrance.

Officials flag a pair of Henderson players and a Kilgore defender for unsportsmanlike conduct, and we move on. It’s fourth and 15 at Hendersons’s 1. The Lions’ third punt of the game dies without a return at midfield, and Kilgore takes over, with 2:42 left in the first quarter, at the Henderson 48.

Kilgore’s offensive line — Jaden Pastor, Hunter Whipkey, Edwin Contreras, Fabian Abeldano, and Daniel Garcia — trots back out onto the field, and this time, though, Henderson’s defense gets a stop. On the third-down play, though, there looked to be a fumble, but if so, Kilgore recovered, and back at the original line of scirmmage.

On fourth down, Brooks and the Bulldogs went for it. Brooks hurled the ball downfield to Graves, running down Kilgore’s sideline. Graves couldn’t come up with it, although it was close. There was, though, a flag: Henderson was flagged for holding, and that gave Kilgore a new set of downs, at Henderson’s 35.

Brooks’ first-down pass was to Sanders, but for a loss of 2 yards.

The second-down play got 3 of those yards back, and on third and 9 from Henderson’s 34, an incomplete pass to Graves.

It brought up fourth and 9, and you have to think the Bulldogs will go for the first down here.

They do go for it, and it’s a pass inside to Graves. Graves makes the catch and it’s a 34-yard touchdown, but a flag flies.

Holding on Kilgore, which negates the touchdown. Kilgore is moved back to the 41 (seems like we’ve been on the 41 A LOT) and the Ragin’ Red punts. Kilgore downs the punt (no return) at Henderson’s 5, that was the first play of the second quarter.

The score, by the way, is still Kilgore 6, Henderson 2.

Kilgore’s defense forced Henderson to punt, and the Ragin’ Red has the ball back, this time at the 50, like right at the freakin’ 50.

An 8-yard gain on first down leads to second and short, and then — as a woman stands up in front of me and completely totally blocks my view — Kilgore picks up about 22 yards on a great run, that may or may not have been made by Rayshaun Williams. Or William Shatner. Or my friend William Smith growing up. Who knows? Maybe the woman who was standing in front of me, because I COULDN’T SEE IT.

Check our story later, we’ll have it.

Kilgore now has second and 8 at Henderson’s 22.

Brooks’ pass into the end zone is incomplete, and there’s a Bulldog down. It’s Graves. He’s limping off between a pair of Kilgore student trainers, as KHS coach Clint Fuller walks with them.

Wait: my gosh, Graves caught the ball! HE CAUGHT THE DANG BALL! It’s a 22-yard TOUCHDOWN, and Kilgore expands its lead to 13-2, with the extra point by Jiminez. I don’t know Graves’ condition, and that affects Kilgore’s offense AND its defense.

There’s 9:23 left in the half, and Kilgore leads, 13-2.

Jiminez’s kick goes through the end zone, and Henderson will start at its own 25.

The Lions get about 3 yards on a first-down pass, but then lose it right back on a 5-yard penalty. Howard is sacked by a HOST of Bulldogs, and it’s third and 18 at the 18. And it’s an incomplete pass.

It’s fourth and 18, with 8:08 left in the half. Once again, Kilgore doesn’t return it, and Henderson downs it at the Henderson 43.

Williams tries to get free, but Henderson’s Mike Russell gets him after a gain of just a yard. On second and 9, Brooks finds Sanders free, out in the flat to his right, and Sanders gets loose down the sideline, all the way to the 36 for 6 yards.

On third and 3 from that spot, though, Kilgore is flagged for delay of game, and now it’ll be third and 8, back at the 41 (again at the 41).

Brooks throws to Sanders again, but this time, Henderson’s defense was ready, and they gang-tackle Sanders back at the 43, a 2-yard loss. It’s fourth down, and the clock is ticking: 6:12, 6:11…

Coleman then fields the punt, but he, too, is gang-tackled back at the Lions’ own 15, and they’ll start there with 5:49 left in the half.

And the public address system is playing “Baby Shark.” At least, I think that’s the name of it.

Starling gets loose momentarily, but the Bulldogs get a hold on him, and he’s stopped with about 2 yards remaining before the first down.

Henderson is called for a false start for what seems like the fifth time on second down, and is back at its 18. But Howard overcomes it, and hits a pass for a first down to the 27.

Welp, that didn’t last long.

Graves is back. And he announced his return by picking off a long ball by Howard, thrown down the Henderson sideline. It’s an interception, and Kilgore has it with 5:07 left, leading 13-2, at its own 43.

Rayshaun Williams gets free from Henderson defenders for a 9-yard run to the 47, then a first-down run to Henderson’s 47.

Kilgore fans knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time until Tyler Johnigan showed up. He always does and he just did, making a grab all the way down at the Henderson 12-yard-line.

Two plays later, Kilgore’s Isaiah Watters is stopped by the Henderson defensive front at the 1, thrown for a loss of 1.

At the two-minute time out, they’re playing this:

After the two-minute time-out, it’s a TOUCHDOWN, KILGORE, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tell if it was Brooks on a 2-yard quarterback run, or Watters. Jiminez adds the extra point, and Kilgore leads, 20-2, with 1:56 left in the half.

And now they’re playing this:

Y’all, I aim to have a good time.

Starling brings the ball out of the end zone on the return, and a flag is thrown, but the referee quickly says, “There is no foul on the play,” which of course is why they threw a flag to begin with. I mean, that’s what I do when there’s no foul.

Henderson begins at its own 18, and Coleman is fighting for yards. He gets a few of them, to the 25, for about 7.

Second down, though, and there’s virtually no gain. More flags on the field, though, as tempers get the best of folks again.

This time, it’s on Kilgore, a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, and the Lions have a first down at the 42 (at least it wasn’t the 41). Two running plays have them at their own 47, and there’s a third down and 3 upcoming from that spot, with 37 seconds left in the half.

Something tells me we’re about to find out how strong of an arm Mr. Howard has.

And now they’re playing this:

Coleman has the first down at Kilgore’s 43, but there’s only 28 seconds left in the half. Kilgore leads, 20-2.

Blake Meeks, who is in at quarterback now (and swaps in and out with Howard this season) connects with Jesstin Starling down to Kilgore’s 30 for 13 yards and a first down, and there’s 16 seconds left.

Time out, Henderson and they have one left.

Meeks hooks up with Macen Jones on a pass to the 21, and Henderson takes its last time out. And we hear this:

Meeks’ pass falls incomplete, and now, with 3.8 seconds left, Ivan Navarro comes on for a 37-yard field goal. He hits it, as time expires, and Kilgore goes into the locker room with a 20-5 lead.

I’m up in the press box, as y’all have probably been able to tell, but we have some of our great photographers — Dennis Jacobs and Alex Nabor — down on the Lions Stadium turf. We’ll have all KINDS of coverage of this huge game later, as well as coverage from all over the ETBlitz.com area later tonight when games are over, and throughout the day tomorrow.

A couple of reminders:

Overton plays at Tenaha on Saturday night at 7 p.m., a District 10-2A, Division II game.

Kilgore College hosts its annual KC Athletics Hall of Fame Game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium, and this year’s hall inductees will be recognized at the game.

Keep up with how our panel picked this weekend’s games earlier today on Wake Up!, presented by Cozy Coffee Station, right here: WAKE UP! | ETBlitz Power Picks week six, featuring KHS-Hendo.

And we will have all kinds of coverage of tonight’s games here later. It’s a labor of love, but we do try our best to get our facts straight, and sometimes that’s not instantaneous.

The players for both Henderson and Kilgore are coming back out onto the field, as the third quarter is set to begin. Kilgore leads, 20-5, and remember: Henderson led this game 21-0 last year, as Kilgore came roaring back. Henderson ultimately won on a last-second field goal by Navarro. Let’s see how this one finishes.

Henderson has started the second half and driven all the way down inside Kilgore’s 20-yard-line, and has a third down and 8 at the Kilgore 16. Henderson’s Lemarion Coleman takes a handoff on an end-around, maybe it was a jet sweep, and is thrown for a 9-yard loss by half of Kilgore’s defnse.

It’s fourth and 17 at the 25 now, and the Lions just took their second time out of the half already, with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

Kilgore takes over on downs at its own 15, and Rayshaun Williams picks up a quick 8 yards. The third quarter is halfway over, and Kilgore still leads, 20-5

OK, officials are saying Williams got the first down, and Kilgore is at its own 22-yard-line.

The fans have overtaken me here, and I’m unable to see. I THINK it was Williams with a huge run to Henderson’s 27. On second down from there, Brooks’ pass to Sanders out in the flat is incomplete. On third down and 7, Kilgore’s offensive line parts Henderson’s defense for Williams, all the way to the 8, and Kilgore scores on the next play. Guys, I’m doing the best I can, but I have a wall of fans in front of me — Joe Hale will have a complete wrap-up in his game story.

Jiminez’s extra point is good, and it’s 27-5 Kilgore, with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

Henderson takes over, once again at its own 25.

Now, here we go! We’re hearing THIS on the PA:

Well, dang, we’re back at the 41, this time with Henderson having a second down. Starling was on the carry. We’ll update you guys in Joe’s story later on how many yards he had.

Henderson has a second down now in Kilgore territory, at the 48, with under 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

It’s fourth and a short 2 at the 45.

Starling has the first down, and a yard or two more.

After picking up another first down inside Kilgore’s 30, Howard couldn’t find his receiver in the end zone. Starling got a quick 4 yards on a hand-off, to the 27, and Howard slipped on third down, no gain.

On fourth and about 7, at the 25, Howard delayed his decision, and was caught by Kilgore’s Isaiah Watters, but he threw the ball away. Watters was flagged for throwing Howard down. Howard was flagged for intentional grounding, a loss of down. So Kilgore did get possession of the ball at its own 22, but was penalized for the penalty on Watters.

Kilgore ran one play, for 5 yards to its 27, and that ended the third quarter.

It’s headed to the fourth, at 9:53, with Kilgore in front, 27-5.

Kilgore’s lead just shrank. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Henderson’s Cory Harper (it appeared) intercepted Brooks and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Navarro hit the point after and the Lions have cut the deficit to 27-12, with the entire fourth quarter (except 22 seconds of it) left in the game.

Kilgore’s Brooks tries to get through the middle on third and 3 on a quarterback run at midfield, but he’s stopped after about a yard gain. It’s fourth and 2, and Kilgore punts. It takes a bad bounce for the Bulldogs, a bounce forward, and Kilgore gives Henderson the ball on the Lions’ 31, with 9:28 left in the game. Henderson trails 27-12.

First down is a quick pass by Meeks, who is back in, for 6 yards, and then Starling runs for 2 more. Henderson is in third and 2 at its own 38.

Wow, Meeks hits Coleman, who gets free down the Lions’ sideline. Officials rule that he stepped out of bounds, though, at Kilgore’s 34.

Starling gets the handoff on first down, and runs for 7 to Kilgore’s 27, then 7 more to the 20 for a first down. There’s plenty of time, eight minutes left, in spite of the fans around me saying “we’re running out of time.”

The Lions are now inside Kilgore’s 15, Kilgore up 27-12, and Starling gets to the 10, another first down. It’ll be a first-and-goal, though.

A pass to Coleman yields no yards this time, and it’s second-and-10 at the 10.

Starling gets MAYBE 2 on second down, and it’s third down at the 8.

Meeks is back in at quarterback, and is thrown down trying to scramble. It’s fourth down and goal at Kilgore’s 6.

Meeks fakes to Starling, then tries to hit a receiver in the back of the end zone, but it’s way too high — it’s incomplete. There was a flag on the play, but it was illegal shift on Henderson, and Kilgore declined it, of course. The Bulldogs take over on downs at their own 6, with 5:38 left in the game.

Rayshaun Williams gets the call, and picks up 5 yards on first down. The clock is under 5 minutes now.

A second-down run picks up nothing, but keeps the clock running. Kilgore will take it down to the near-four-minute mark before Brooks calls for the snap. He does that, then uses his legs — Brooks is a VERY underrated runner. He scrambles loose, all the way to the 22, and a first down.

Williams spins free for about 5 to the 27, and now there’s 3 1/2 minutes left. Kilgore leads, remember, 27-12.

Kilgore calling run after run after run after run, taking this clock down to nothing. A lady is obscuring the scoreboard, and the Bulldogs have taken the game to the two-minute time out.

A handful of plays later, and there’s 1:13 left on the clock, with a time out. Kilgore is at midfield, at Henderson’s 48, with a third down and 2.

Williams gets to the Henderson 45, 3 yards, for a first down.

Brooks takes a knee, and that’s it, folks.

We’ll have all kinds of coverage of Tatum-Liberty-Eylau, Troup-Elkhart, West Rusk-Winona, Arp-Buffalo, and more this weekend.

Kilgore wins, 27-12, over Henderson, and I hope y’all have all had a great time. Come back later and throughout the day tomorrow for our coverage.

It’s been fun! Goodnight!