Wednesday, May 1, 2024
The most successful season in over a decade came to a close on Nov. 17 when Gatesville dropped a 35-10 decision to the Silsbee Tigers in the area round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs.
The Hornets finish their season 7-5 and captured the program’s first bi-district championship since 2015 thanks to a 34-31 win over Gonzales in the bi-district round. They finished third in the district standings for the second-straight season behind champion Connally and second-place finisher Madisonville.
When all-district teams were announced on Nov. 22, the list was littered with Hornets with senior Lawson Mooney being named the District’s Defensive Most Valuable Player.
It is the second straight selection for Mooney, who was named the Defensive Co-MVP in 2022. His 2023 selection is the third superlative of Mooney’s four-year varsity career as he was named District Newcomer of the Year in 2020 to go along with his two Defensive MVP selections. He was also a first-team all-district choice in 2021.
In 2023, Mooney had 161 tackles, including five for a loss, an interception, and forced a fumble. He added a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown, and in the Hornets bi-district playoff win he broke a 23-year old school record for career tackles with 519.
Mooney wraps his career in rare company amongst the all-time Hornet greats.
“He is someone that I will talk about my entire career. You’re never going to find another Lawson. He is a true competitor. When it’s that moment and you need something, he is there. Lawson was never late. He never said ‘what’ or ‘why’. He just did it all the time,” said head coach Aaron Hunter. “The kid is walking out of here with like 519 tackles. He’s never weighed over 170 pounds in his career and he’s just smoking kids.”
In addition to Mooney’s MVP selection, the Hornets had six players named First Team All-District: Rayshon Smith, Zach Bryant, Tookie Jones, Amos Phillips, Corey Burns, and Sean Aguilar.
Smith, an honorable mention choice as a sophomore, finished the year with 1680 yards rushing and 17 rushing touchdowns. He also had one receiving touchdown. Hunter credits Smith’s intangibles – and tangibles - with the leap he made between his sophomore and junior seasons.
“He has grown up so much because he has started to understand what it takes. He never had a moment where he waivered,” he said. “He is the most underrated player in Central Texas, and no one talks about him. He’s always run violent. You hit him and you get the blow.”
Bryant and Smith led a veteran offensive line that assumed the bulk of the responsibility for establishing Gatesville’s new offensive identity. They paved the way for a Hornets rushing attack that averaged over five yards per carry in 2023.
“Zach and Tookie…They grew up so much, both in their own regard. Both guys were banged up all year long. Zach hurt his ankle the week of Silsbee, and you would have never known it. They fought and they were physical. I would watch the two of them on film just smashing people and just think ‘ooh that’s painful,’” said Hunter.
“I can’t talk enough about that whole o-line. Busch was a JV starter last year and filled that fifth spot without hesitating. Gabe Charles managed the offense all year long. Then you add Gabe Pollard who is coming back for us next year. We wouldn’t be where we are without those five guys.”
Phillips, a sophomore, occupied a unique spot where he was the second-best defensive player on his team and, arguably, the second-best defensive player in the district. He had 152 tackles, including ten for a loss and six sacks. He also led the Hornets in receiving with 192 yards and caught four touchdown passes.
Burns emerged as a force on the defensive line, which was not a surprise to his head coach.
“Corey was probably the most improved player from last year. He’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s so explosive. This year he translated all of his gifts that God gave him to football. Lawson and Amos had gaudy numbers, but Corey was always right behind them. Any time quarterbacks dropped back this year it seemed like Corey and Dutch were in his face,” said Hunter.
Rounding out the first team selections was Aguilar. The undersized, hyper-competitive defensive back who broke a nearly three-decade drought when he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Gonzales.
“By his size and stature, he’s not supposed to do what he does. He broke the kickoff return curse. He just works. He battles. And he’s so competitive,” said Hunter.
Seniors Jacob Newkirk, JT Coffman, Gabe Charles, Logan Busch, Adrian Smith, and Tommy Aaron were second team selections and were joined by juniors Brayden Saunders, Dutch Nielson, and Logan Biggs.
Nine Hornets were named as honorable mention choices: seniors Nathan Elliott, LJ Hall, Sergio Bucio, Damian Guerrero, Charles Kemmitz, and Colton Taylor, along with juniors Zavier Clater and sophomore Kaden Coffman.
In the loss to No. 2 Silsbee, the Hornets fell victim to the Tigers speed. Silsbee scored touchdowns on three of their first five plays and led 21-7 after the first quarter. Gatesville tied the game at 7-7 when Smith scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. Smith finished the game with 146 yards rushing – his tenth 100-yard rushing game of the season.
Gatesville cut the Silsbee lead to 21-10 on a 24-yard field goal from Bucio but they would not get any closer. The Tigers scored once more to make it 28-10 at the half, then added a final score in the fourth quarter.
“Kudos to Silsbee. They had a good game plan and knew we would have trouble running with them,” said Hunter. “Our best defense was to keep our offense on the field. We ran the ball effectively, and the touchdown was just Rayshon being Rayshon.”
“When you get into that final couple of minutes, you kind of start to realize it’s over. So, you want to walk off the field the right way. We had every moment to fold on both sides of the ball and act like we didn’t want to be there. I am proud of our kids’ fight,” Hunter added.
Hunter lauded his senior class while also pointing to the bright future of the program. Smith, Phillips, Nielsen, Biggs, Pollard, and members of a 10-0 district champion junior varsity squad will try and help Gatesville make another leap forward in 2024.
“We’ve only won a first-round playoff game in eight or nine times in school history. This group and our JV found out that winning is fun. We have to build on that,” Hunter said. “I have a lot better taste in my mouth than I did at this time last year. We’ve done this two years in a row at about the same caliber. So, what do we do next? That’s what we are doing now. We have to go outwork, outcoach them, and then out do them when it comes to doing things right.”
