High school football 2012’s most memorable moments

Published 9:04 pm Friday, July 26, 2013

Much like its predecessors, the 2012 high school football season delivered.

From teams making surprising runs in the playoffs to players turning in unforgettable performances, 2012 went down as a fan favorite.

And with Fall 2013 just around the corner — preseason practice begins Aug. 5 — we decided to reflect one last time before putting last season in the past and moving forward.

So without further ado, here’s the best 2012 had to offer.

Gilmer reaching 3A state title game

The Buckeyes were young entering last season, needed to find replacements at several positions and were bound for another round in the state’s toughest district.

But a funny thing happened to Jeff Traylor’s team along the way to its final destination: Gilmer claimed the District 16-3A title in unbeaten fashion and reached the Class 3A Division II final.

It was the Buckeyes’ fourth trip to the championship round in eight years and perhaps the powerhouse’s most surprising yet, considering the previous three teams were veteran driven. A senior-heavy squad is what they ran into at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington — Navasota, which could’ve arguably competed well in any classification the UIL had to offer.

On the heels of being snake bitten 39-3 by the Rattlers in the championship game, Gilmer returns a loaded roster (13 starters) and is favored to make another run this fall.

Patrick Mahomes’ emergence at quarterback

A standout on the diamond, Mahomes pitches in the 90s with wicked breaking stuff and is one of America’s only high school players to use a wooden bat. That being said, the incoming Wildcats senior came close to skipping football last fall in order to concentrate on baseball.

For his and Whitehouse’s sake, good thing he didn’t.

From the first game on, Mahomes steadily perfected the art of quarterback en route to becoming one of the best signal callers in the state. Following only one season behind center, he verbally committed to Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech and is considered by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football to be the state’s second-best quarterback — behind Texas-bound Jerrod Heard of Denton Guyer.

Mahomes completed the regular season with more than 3,000 yards passing and 37 touchdowns for the Wildcats, who went 10-2.

Two more memorable storylines involving Whitehouse

Despite turning the Wildcats into annual winners, head coach Randy McFarlin’s contract wasn’t renewed and now he’s the defensive coordinator at Bishop Gorman. In addition, the Wildcats were involved in one of Tyler’s most anticipated regular-season clashes in recent memory.

In the regular-season finale against John Tyler, the Wildcats and Lions played for the outright District 16-4A title at a packed Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. And the game lived up to the hype, thanks to Whitehouse racing ahead 24-0 and putting star-studded John Tyler on the verge of upset. However, the Lions roared all the way back behind seniors Greg Ward, Fred Ross and Tyus Bowser to pull out a heart-stopping 45-38 victory.

John Tyler vs. Denton Guyer

Speaking of John Tyler and Denton Guyer, the powers met in the 4A Division I semifinals in Midlothian and provided a finish for the ages. Guyer used a touchdown with just more than a minute left and an interception during the ensuing moments, claiming a 57-53 win a week before the Wildcats won their first state title.

Lions pride

After a 13-2 season that included the District 16-4A title, John Tyler had 13 players sign scholarships to play football at the next level on National Signing Day, including seven going to Division I. Highlighting that list were Ward (Houston), Ross (Mississippi State) and Bowser (Houston).

Canton vs. Van

John Tyler and Whitehouse received most of the attention to the cap the regular season’s final week, but archrivals Van and Canton put on a show themselves. Perhaps the area’s most fierce rivalry right now, the Vandals and Eagles collided for the 15-3A title and with each squad undefeated in league play.

Even though Van cruised to a 35-21 victory at home, intra-county rivals meeting on such a stage and with such bragging rights on the line should always provide contention on such lists as this. What landed this matchup a place? Three words: Canton versus Van.

Bullard stands ground in 16-3A

A year after putting the together the best run in program history, Bullard received a dubious reward during the UIL’s biennial realignments and reclassifications — a home in the so-called “District of Doom,” District 16-3A. But instead of pouting, Shannon Wilson’s well-coached Panthers rose to the occasion and entered league action with a 4-0 record.

In the district opener against state-ranked Kilgore, the Panthers battled hard before bowing out to the bruising Bulldogs, 27-14. Even though Bullard failed to make the playoffs in place of the likes of Kilgore, Gilmer and Henderson, they continued to disprove skeptics and prove themselves.

Jacksonville’s Carter McCown

Cousins with Jacksonville’s first family of quarterbacks, McCown wasted little time before putting his pedigree on display in the season opener against 3A power Carthage. The sophomore completed 22 of 36 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns to help give the Indians a 34-30 win over the Bulldogs.

Despite missing much of the season with an injury, McCown’s presence was witnessed enough to garner a rivals.com profile that includes interested schools such as Florida State, Auburn, Texas and Texas A&M, among others.

Dennis Alexander’s splash at Troup

Who takes a head-coaching job in late July and switches defensive coordinators and base defenses less than a week before the season opener? Well that would none other than Mr. Dennis Alexander, the longtime East Texas coach who turned a mission-impossible scenario into a 7-0 start and a 9-1 regular season.

After giving up 20 points in the season opener against Quinlan Ford, Alexander steered directly through second-guessing as the Tigers pitched shutouts in their second and third games and gave up only 11.4 points per game in non-district.

A few more 2012 highlights

Jeffery Wilson placed Elkhart’s running game onto his shoulders en route to the 3A-1A, TAPPS regular-season rushing title with 278 carries for 2,329 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Following a 6-4 regular season caused by heavy graduation the spring before, defending 1A Division II champion Tenaha arrived when it mattered most to win four playoff games and earn a spot in the 1A Division II final (fell 42-14 to Munday).

After being forced to play homes games on the road due to their former stadium being condemned, West Rusk finally got to once again play in New London when the all-new Bruce Bradshaw Stadium — no doubt one of the state’s finest in 2A — opened for business.

Mount Pleasant’s Montravious James and K.D. Cannon became East Texas’ top quarterback-receiver combo. James threw for more than 3,000 yards and Cannon caught more than 100 passes as the Tigers averaged 48.8 points per game during the regular season.

The Winona Wildcats made the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

Defensive lineman Daylon Mack of Gladewater emerged as one of the nation’s top recruits for the 2015 signing class.

What were favorite your highlights of the 2012 high school football season? You can email us at sports@tylerpaper.com or find us on Twitter and Facebook.