High School Football: Gordon rolls past Garden City in first game as No. 1 team in 1A D-I
Mike Reed is appreciative Texas Football magazine and SixManFootball.com have his Gordon Longhorns ranked No. 1 in Class 1A Division I six-man.
Yet he knows it means little until the Longhorns actually win it all in December at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
“Just the fact that somebody made that their opinion doesn’t change how we’re working from day to day,” Reed said. “We work hard to get respect, and we’re appreciative of that. But we also know it’s where you finish, not where you start.”
To that end, Reed wants his team to be tested early, and he was pleased with what Garden City threw at his Longhorns on Saturday at Abilene Christian High’s Panther Stadium.
Not that it stopped Gordon.
Stryker Reed threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Longhorns sped past the Bearkats 58-12 in the non-district contest.
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A different perspective
The game ended on the 45-point mercy rule when Whit Fuller scored from 3 yards out with 8:40 remaining in the third quarter on the opening possession of the second half.
Fuller also had a 7-yard TD run 1:50 before halftime.
“This is the first time Gordon’s played Garden City, and the program and tradition they have, they were every bit what we wanted,” Coach Reed said. “They’re West Texas kids that play hard and have a very good coaching staff that’s going to exploit our weaknesses.”
Coach Reed thought the Bearkats (0-2) did just that, especially on offense. Walton Marshall threw a 25-yard TD pass to Keith Latch as Garden City answered a 12-yard TD run by Gordon’s Riley Reed.
Latch also broke several tackles, spun away and scored on a 49-yard run to pull the Bearkats within 10 (22-12) with 2:13 to play in the first quarter.
It was all Gordon (2-0) the rest of the way, but Coach Reed liked the way Garden City made his young defense work.
“A lot of times, you don’t know what your weaknesses are until you play somebody who’s sat there, studied the film and looked at it through a different lens,” Coach Reed said. “I really felt like they came out and tried to exploit some of the things that we don’t do well and made our kids and coaches have to adjust in game situations.”
Explosive ’Horns
Gordon (2-0) needed two plays to lead 14-6, and the Longhorns scored on eight of 10 possessions — losing a fumble on one and starting another with one second left in the half.
Stryker Reed and Noah Kostiha combined to complete all seven passes for 222 yards. Stryker Reed completed five for 114 yards, and Kostiha completed two for 108 yards — both for TDs of 50 and 58 yards to Riley Reed and Brayden Walters.
Asher Salinas had two catches, both for TDs of 40 and 20 yards from Stryker Reed.
Riley Reed also ran for 86 yards on seven carries.
“This group can score from a lot of different angles and a lot of different positions,” Coach Reed said. “They’re real selfless. Different kids are going to get their number called week to week, depending on what the defense gives us.”
Eye on defense
Gordon hasn’t played in a state title game since winning it all in 1999. The Longhorns also won their only other state title game appearance in 1996.
Reed won back-to-back state titles at Throckmorton (2011-12) and has five championship game appearances overall (two at Rule, three at Throckmorton).
If Gordon can cash that No. 1 ranking into a state championship, the Longhorns will do it with a young defense.
Gordon went 12-1 last year, falling to eventual state finalist Abbott 32-24 in the region finals. The Longhorns started four freshmen, a sophomore and junior on defense last year.
Those same youngsters shut out Throckmorton 48-0 in another mercy-rule win last week.
“We’re still young on the defensive side,” Coach Reed said. “You could see some of that tonight. We’re still trying to learn and play good people who have a good playbook.”
Up next
Garden City, which opened the season with a 68-20 loss at No. 3 D-II Jayton, plays Midland Trinity (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Garden City. Gordon hosts Strawn (1-1) in the 100th meeting between the two programs at 7 p.m. Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: No. 1 Gordon cruises past Garden City in high school football game
