Kellci Ford
Sports Reporter
The Gordon Longhorns found themselves in familiar territory at AT&T Stadium; midfield hoisting a state championship trophy for the second year in a row.
In Gordon’s seventh season under head coach Mike Reed, they have earned their second state title in as many years, and fourth in school history. The Longhorns were dominant all season, especially on the defensive side of things, holding opponents to an average of 6 points per game allowed heading into the final game. This game was no different. Though Whiteface scored 24 points, they were no match for the Gordon defense, or offense. In a final score of 70-24, the Longhorns ended the game with 9:45 left in the third quarter due to the 45-point “mercy” rule in place in six-man football. The mercy rule is something else that Gordon is familiar with, in their last 30 games, only one has made it the full duration of four quarters, and it was the state semi-finals game against Abbott, just earlier this month.
Gordon wasted no time scoring and racking up their 70 points, with a total time of possession of 4:09 and running only 17 plays. In comparison, White face had the ball just over 16 minutes and ran 36 plays. Gordon was 3-3 on 3rd down conversions, where Whiteface struggled and was 0-6 on 3rd downs. Gordon had a total of 340 yards in the game, with 150 in the air from quarterbacks Stryker Reed and Noah Kostiha who completed passes to Brayden Walters and Kostiha. Another 190 yards came from Ry Reed and Stryker Reed as rushing yards.
Stryker Reed completed two of four passes, one to Kostiha for a 66-yard touchdown, and one to Brayden Walters, while Kostiha completed two passes out of three attempts, both to Walters. Walters ended the game with three touchdowns and 92 yards. On the ground, the Reed duo was untouchable. Stryker ran four times for 91 yards and two touchdowns, while Ry ran five times for 99 yards and three touchdowns. Adding to the scoring was a special team’s touchdown by Aiden Shank, who scored on a 46-yard kick return.
On defense, Gordon shined, not just holding their opponent to 24 points, but in the small details as well. Ry Reed led the team with 11 total tackles, including six solos, followed by Walters who had 8 total tackles. Juan Cabrera and Maddox Stewart each recorded 5 tackles, Stryker Reed with four, Aiden Crowe with three, and Asher Salinas and Aiden Shank each had two each. Stryker Reed and Aiden Crowe each came down with interceptions also. That dominant defense held the Whiteface offensive specialist, Ethan Kaufmann to only 67 yards and one touchdown. Kaufmann was a problem for every other team they faced this year, showing no sign of slowing down, until he met with the Gordon Longhorns defense.
All in all, it was a great matchup of two undefeated teams, but the experience and dominance of the Gordon Longhorns was just too much for Whiteface in their first state finals appearance. Gordon will return to the field next season with all but two players returning. They will graduate Cabrera and Stewart, but the rest of this Longhorns team will be back with the addition of some new faces that will look to carry on the legacy of champions which is being built in Gordon, Texas.
Congratulations Longhorns on your amazing season! You can find an amazing full gallery of photos by Lily Cormack on the Gordon ISD Facebook page.
