THE ETBLITZ.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK… | The Henderson Lions!
One of the most important aspects of sports is the underdog.
Who would’ve thought that Vanderbilt – unranked and without a win over Alabama since the Reagan Administration – would have knocked off the Crimson Tide over the weekend?
Few. And with Kilgore ranked No. 4 in last week’s Dave Campbell’s Texas Football poll of Class 4A, Division I programs, few likely thought the Henderson Lions would come to R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium last Friday night and leave with a win.
But after capitalizing on a few early Kilgore mistakes, running clock and taking advantage of their own very good running game and senior leadership on their offensive line, Henderson managed to get in position for a late field goal by Ivan Navarro and score an upset not seen in the Kilgore-Henderson series in some time, a 27-24 win over the Bulldogs on their homecoming.
For that, Henderson is the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week.
Officials did make a mistake on the Bulldogs’ last offensive series of the game, costing Kilgore a third down – we’ll never know if Kilgore would have scored a touchdown on that series, because the Ragin’ Red was forced to kick a game-tying field goal (LIONS PULL THE UPSET | Henderson escapes Kilgore with 27-24 win (etblitz.com)).
But the Lions and Kilgore were tied at 24 at that point, and Henderson was charged – in front of a large, loud crowd – with driving the length of the field to break the tie, or be forced into overtime against a Kilgore team that had rallied from a 21-0 deficit to tie the game.
In what would be the game’s final moments, Lemarion Coleman, who scored earlier in the game and had five catches for 23 yards, returned Kilgore’s kickoff for 44 yards, to midfield.
Henderson handed off to Jesstin Starling four times, had two runs by quarterback Vince Howard, and benefitted from a 15-yard penalty against the Bulldogs to get the ball to Kilgore’s 2-yard-line.
It looked like time might expire, but the Lions would get the kick off, officially actually a 20-yarder, and Navarro won it as the clock turned to zero.
Henderson now is 5-1 overall, 2-0 in District 9-4A, Division I, and that’s not unlikely – it’s that Kilgore losing at all in district, that was unlikely. The Bulldogs were the preseason favorite to win the district, and likely still are.
But congratulations, Henderson, and to coach Clay Baker and the Henderson Lions, for winning the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week!
I know it hurts you to give Henderson the credit they deserve, but Kilgore may not win district and the officials may have gotten it right as they probably did. Kilgore probably wasn’t going to score a TD anyway.
Edwin:
LOL, it doesn’t hurt. I was simply pointing out that for sure, the officials did not allow Kilgore the third down. There was an officiating error in the contest. Kilgore might have scored, might not have scored. Henderson won the game. But Kilgore went from second down to fourth down. Kilgore kicked the game-tying field goal, Henderson drove down, won the game. They’re our team of the week. Congratulations!