THE SHOOTOUT RETURNS TONIGHT! | Kilgore visits Henderson for the renewal of the Highway 259 Shootout!
HENDERSON – Rivalry week.
Kilgore and Henderson renew one of the longest-running high school football rivalries in East Texas when they square off at Lion Stadium tonight at 7:30 p.m.
They’re both 4-1 overall, and 1-0 in District 9-4A Division I, sharing the district lead with unbeaten Lindale after wins last week. The Lions and Bulldogs each lost on opening night, but have won every game since. Lindale has its open date this week, so tonight’s winner will be in the driver’s seat.
“Last week, we played well and were able to start 1-0 in district,” said Kilgore coach Clint Fuller. “It’s a rivalry game and those are always important for our program. It’s also critical for the district playoff race.”
Henderson went 6-4 last season (under coach Clay Baker), its best finish since 2019 and was in serious playoff contention until back-to-back losses in Weeks 8-and-9 to Pine Tree and Chapel Hill.
Since then, the Lions brought in Ricky Meeks as their head coach, the son of coaching legend Dickey Meeks. Meeks, the son was, in fact, on his dad’s staff here in 2010, the year Henderson won its only state football championship.
The Lions have responded well, thus far, averaging 54.8 points in five games, winning four in a row after dropping its season opener to Athens, 56-49.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth and we’re excited about that and our kids,” said Meeks, “adapting to the changes. We’ve played well so far and we’re going to have to continue to play well and limit our mistakes and turnovers against Kilgore.”
Thus far, the Lions have passed for 912 yards and 10 touchdowns with only one interception. Vince Howard, the starting quarterback, is 48-of-88 for 629 yards with six touchdowns. His backup, freshman Blake Meeks, is 18-of-34 for 283 yards and four touchdowns.
That’s a good mix with 1,315 yards rushing through five games. Most of that has come from Jesstin “Meaty” Starling with 825 yards (an average of 10.6 yards a carry) and 15 touchdowns. Starling, a returnee from last season, is followed by Jayden Bishop with 185 yards on 21 carries (8.8 avg. ypc) with two scores.
The Lions leading receivers are Macen P. Jones (15-292, 2 TDs), Amauri Murphy (9-128, 1), Lemarion “MarMar” Coleman (7-165, 1) and Starling (5-99).
Much of the offenses success, Meeks points out, goes to the development across the line of left tackle Ryne Malone, center Dakalin Stein, right tackle D’Kalyn Pellum, right guard Zaden Castleberry and left guard Da’Kyron Pellum. “They’ve done a good job of improving each week,” Meeks added.
“Henderson is a very talented team,” Fuller continued. “They score a bunch of points and don’t allow many. I’m sure our kids remember last year and that adds some motivation, however, our focus is on us and our preparation to be at our best on Friday night.”
Kilgore’s defense, led by inside linebacker Isaiah Watters, outside linebacker Lakeyleon Graves, down lineman Cam Christian and safety Ja’Kalen Sheffield, will certainly be tested.
Watters and Graves each had nine tackles against Pine Tree last week and another linebacker, David “Bubba” McGowan, followed with seven stops.
Kilgore limited Pine Tree to 227 yards passing, but just 23 yards rushing.
Watters leads with 47 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 3 quarterback hurries. Graves has 44 stops to go with a sack and a fumble recovery followed by Christian, a down lineman, with 24 tackles, a tackle for loss and 6 quarterback hurries. Sheffield, a safety, has 34 tackles, an interception and 8 pass breakups.
Others of note, defensively for Kilgore, are defensive linmeman Bi’Syn Williams (32 tackles, 3 tackles for loss), and cornerback Brayden Williams (2 interceptions).
Quarterback Kayson Brooks is the offensive operator, completing 73-of-112 passes for 1,026 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions. His favorite targets have been Graves with 22 receptions for 311 yards, along with Dre’ Sanders (12-170) and T.K. White (10-153). Brooks has thrown to 11 different receivers.
The leading rusher has been Rayshaun Williams (66-494) followed by Watters (38-169) and McGowan (14-155).
The Lions’ leading tacklers through five games have been linebacker Mike Russell (33), safety AuMaz Jackson (29) and DE Jordan Ervin (27). Defensive end Varian Williams leads in sacks with three and is one of four players with an interception. The others are Jackson, OLB Erick Garza and FS Justin Howard, while DT Colt Leuschner leads in fumble recoveries with two.
Tonight’s game marks the 92nd meeting between the two schools, with Kilgore leading the series 51-34-6. The Bulldogs have won six of the last 11 games and had won four in a row (2020-2023) before last year’s loss. Not counting last season’s three-point victory for the Lions, four other games between the two have been decided by a touchdown or less since 2015.
Mabank, coming off its bye week, visits Pine Tree and Chapel Hill hosts Palestine. Lindale has its bye.
Next week, Kilgore returns home to R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium to host Chapel Hill on Oct. 10, while Henderson travels to Mabank to meet the Panthers, also on Friday, Oct. 10.
