Win or lose, one game never made a season for a football team at any level. But if the Houston High School squad’s 18-0 victory last Friday at Sarcoxie is any indication, there may well be some exciting days ahead for Tiger football fans.
One thing the Tigers certainly have going for them is their head coach, Eric Sloan. Now in his fourth year at the helm of the S.S. Houston, Sloan has brought an energy and passion to the program that has clearly spilled over into his players’ collective psyche. Not only that, he’s a fine football technician who seems to possess that intangible ability to get the best out of teenage athletes.
But besides having an inherent ability to motivate a 17-year-old, Sloan is also a rock-solid role model who provides young men a valuable example in their lives. You just don’t find a guy like this in every high school football locker room, and this community benefits from his presence.
Helping bolster Sloan’s efforts this year is the addition of defensive coordinator Jake Brookshire, who was an assistant for Sloan at Cabool before taking over as head coach when Sloan departed. Their familiarity –– and friendship –– has already given the Tiger D a jump-start, as is evidenced by the blanking of Sarcoxie in Week 1. It was the program’s first shutout in six years.
But the Tigers also have so many more assets and aspects to be encouraged by.
Like what appears to be a very legitimate double-threat in the backfield, comprised of senior Paydon Dixon and sophomore Daniel Hutcheson, who both turned in 100-yard-plus performances at Sarcoxie.
The 5-7, 158-pound Dixon’s impact last year is well documented, as Sloan moved him from quarterback to running back in Week 4 and he proceeded to run roughshod through and around opponents’ defenses for the rest of the season, recording outings in excess of 300 yards and 200 yards while scoring 14 touchdowns along the way. Joining Dixon in the Houston backfield in 2018 is Hutcheson, a newcomer to the offensive side of the ball who was a season-long starter on defense last year as a freshman. At 6-2, 215 pounds, he presents a whole other challenge to would-be tacklers. And it’s not just his bulk, but also his speed; he finished 7th in the 100-meter dash at last year’s district track meet, and won the 100 and 200 the previous year at the conference championships as an 8th-grader – both in school-record times.
And then there’s quarterback Dakota Burchett, who seems like one of those guys who is simply a poised and steady play-caller who will rarely do anything to hurt his teammates and often do things to help them. Burchett didn’t have to throw much last week (a good thing caused by the overwhelming success of the team’s running game), but can and will when Sloan (who is also the Tigers’ offensive coordinator) calls for it.
In front of the Burchett is an offensive line with plenty of size and mobility, including junior Devin Wallander (a transfer from Mountain View) and a pair of capable sophomores in Trevor Mitchell and Chris Cichon to go alongside seniors Brecken Adey and Dawson Koch.
Mitchell and Cichon are also part of a stout and competent defensive line with senior Aiden Saywer, while Wallander is a member of a top-notch crew of linebackers that includes Hutcheson and CJ Lee, who both earned all-conference honorable mention last year (Lee was also Houston’s leading tackler in 2017). Houston’s secondary is also loaded, led by Dixon (a first-team all-conference safety in 2017) and Burchett (who had two interceptions last week and has arms long enough to wrap up a redwood tree, let alone a high school ball carrier).
To me, the sum total of what Houston brings to the stadium on Friday nights this year looks like a group with the potential to post at least a .500 record (which would be the program’s first since 2008), and maybe, just maybe, go a bit beyond that by snatching an upset win or two.
Anyway, the Tigers will take their 1-0 record to their home field this Friday in a matchup with Cuba. If they take care of business in that contest (which on paper would have to be called winnable), they’ll be 2-0 heading for Salem on Sept. 7.
And then the table would be set for an upset.
As a reminder, Houston hasn’t beaten Salem in 37 consecutive tries. Sheesh, 37 straight; the last time the Tigers beat their Dent County namesakes was in 1980, when there were no cell phones, disco music was still going strong and a peanut farmer gave way to a former movie star as president of the U.S.
But maybe things are different this year, and one of the world’s longest-ever football losing streaks is in jeopardy. It’s obviously early, but it sure looks like that could be the case.
By the way, if you can’t make it to a game but would like to watch it, check out the Houston Herald Live broadcast on the newspaper’s website. You have to see this: The picture is now in high-definition (HD) and the improvement in quality is incredible (and extremely obvious as soon as you see it). There are also new on-screen graphics, and the whole package results in a more professional presentation, and makes what was already an enjoyable way to take in a high school football game even better.
Go Tigers!
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald.
Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
