NOT-SO-INSTANT REPLAY: Gatesville vs Taylor
Ramblings and scattered thoughts on Gatesville football's 34-27 season-opening win
Well, the first episode of Gatesville Football’s “Extreme Makeover: Offense Edition” was pretty enjoyable.
In the debut of their new “old” offense, the Hornets ran the ball 51 times for 251 yards and four touchdowns behind offensive lineman Zach Bryant, Gabe Charles, Gabriel Pollard, Tookie Jones, Logan Busch, and others en route to a 34-27 win over the Taylor Ducks at McKamie Stadium.
Junior tailback Rayshon Smith had 18 carries for 108 yards and three touchdowns, senior back LJ Hall had 17 carries for 85 yards, and junior fullback Brayden Saunders had 10 carries for 40 yards in the win.
After being down 20-7 in the first quarter, the Hornets wore down the Ducks over the final three periods. Tied at 27-27 to start the fourth quarter, the Hornets went on a 8:49 drive to punch in the winning score.
Below are some random and scattered thoughts on the Hornets win. A game story is coming Wednesday but you can expect these in your inbox every Tuesday morning…
…the heat was more than just a little bit of a factor on Friday. Multiple kids were cramping up and “battling the elements” is an understatement. I specifically noticed Lawson Mooney and Jacob Newkirk gutting it out in the fourth quarter and I know there were more I didn’t see.
…speaking of gutting it out, Taylor’s quarterback Josh Mikulencak deserves a ton of credit for how he played all night - specifically late in the game. He appeared to injure his ankle being tackled and backup Nick Treuter came in for a few snaps. But, when his team needed him on the final drive, Mikulencak was in there playing. He was a tough kid with a great arm and a lot of athleticism.
…I thought this game was going to be a battle in the trenches because Taylor had a big, strong, experienced D-line. Turns out I was wrong. Gatesville’s o-line had exactly zero issues.
…Aaron Hunter has talked about penalties being a killer with this offense and the Hornets had just one false start in the game.
…there were zero turnovers in the game. Pretty impressive when you consider how often Taylor threw it and how often the Hornets ran it. Mooney almost made a diving, game-winning INT on Taylor’s final drive.
…Rayshon was really really good on Friday and I highly doubt that it will be the best we see him play this season. But I came away from that game thinking that this offense is made for LJ Hall. He is a totally different runner than Rayshon and last year, four of his 5 touchdown runs on the season came from inside the ten yard line. On Friday night, he was chewing up yardage all over the field. He looked and ran strong.
…have a night Brayden Saunders! I will admit that prior to Friday I did not know who Brayden Saunders was! Then my brother told me he was a dude on JV last year and his performance Friday made more sense. But DANG what a varsity debut for the junior fullback. The hole he ran through on his 28 yard touchdown drive was probably 20 yards wide - helped in part by Gage Ford driving his defender to the track.
…did anyone else notice Sean Aguilar just manhandling his defender on the Hornets final drive. On at least two plays, the play was happening at the line of scrimmage and Aguilar was throwing his man to the ground 10-12 yards in front of the play. The stories I have heard about that kid’s competitiveness are legendary and he plays (and talks apparently) like he’s 6’6, 265. I love it.
…CJ Morrall saw more snaps than were probably expected but did a really good job on the night.
…Jacob Newkirk was 5 for 8 on the night and two of those completions went for touchdowns. His second score was a heck of a play. With the Ducks bringing the entire house on 4th and 8, Newkirk turned and pump faked to Gage Ford. Taylor’s two defenders bit hard and Newkirk hit Theron Stone in the back of the end zone. It was a great play to hang in there. The only bad thing about the play is that Stone didn’t put it in “the duffy” like he did last year at McGregor when he scored.
…I have talked to a couple of coaches - including DC Jose Aguirre - and they are happy to be 1-0 but they also know there is lots to clean up and improve on. Gatesville’s linebackers got thrown into the fire on Friday night with all three making their first varsity starts and Aguirre mentioned that they will need to grow up quick as the season progresses.
…the inflatable Hornet helmet is gigantic. Obscenely gigantic. Remember when cheerleaders used to make run through signs out of paper that were like seven stories tall? I always wondered how they did that.
…I don’t think people don’t know just how hard Lee Jaynes works to make Hornet Radio happen. He is tireless and just an incredibly nice guy.
…got to try the famed Gatesville press box food for the first time on Friday. My inner fat kid was a happy camper having a plate that featured BBQ, pizza, Taco Bell
…it’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of a big win and start spouting hyperbole about players, teams, seasons, etc. And I’ll do my best to avoid that. But I’m also going to state some things I believe to be objectively true - starting with the fact that this is a really good football team and program.
In no way is this program where Aaron Hunter wants it to be. I doubt anyone has higher expectations for the program than him. But, as a person who has seen every snap of Gatesville football for the last four seasons, I can tell you that the recovery from 2019 is complete.
In 2019, I knew they were going to lose every game. In 2020 and 2021, I knew there would be games they would lose, games they could win, and games they should win. In 2022, the only game I thought they wouldn’t win was against Glen Rose.
On Friday night against Taylor, I knew they were going to win. Even down 20-7, I knew they would win.
I knew they would win because they have better coaches. In fact, I think they are better coaches than all of the teams that they will play. I’m sure there are some others staffs that on the schedule that are great. I just think this staff is the better.
UP NEXT
Gatesville travels to Glen Rose to face a Tigers team that lost their season opener 35-7 to 3A power Grandview.
The Tigers were state semi-finalists one season ago losing to Carthage 42-35 at The Star in Frisco and are facing a “rebuild/reload” for the first time since the 2019 season.
This will be the Hornets and Tigers fifth meeting in the last six seasons and all five have been Glen Rose wins. Last season, the Tigers won 49-14 in Gatesville.