It has been said that defensive football played well is a thing of beauty.
If that’s the case, the Houston High School D has been downright gorgeous so far in 2018. Five games into the season, the Tigers boast a lofty 4-1 record, largely because of their play when the other team has the ball – play that could only be labeled “physical.”
It all started during week one when Houston traveled to Sarcoxie and blanked their hosts 18-zip. The Tigers then rolled over Cuba 61-22 at home, with their guests scoring a couple of times against JV players.
In week three, Houston held Salem scoreless in regulation before falling 7-0 in overtime. The following week, Cabool managed to avoid a shutout with a late TD in a 44-7 thrashing.
Then last week, the Tigers’ defense made a major statement in a huge 7-6 victory over a high-flying Thayer squad.
At this point in the season, Houston is allowing an average of less than nine points per game and has outscored the opposition 163-42.
Last Friday, Thayer’s Bobcats managed only 155 total yards of offense, and of course scored a mere six points. Houston only totaled 106 total yards, but that was enough thanks to a stellar defensive effort highlight by three crucial fumble recoveries.
The first came in the second quarter, when Houston (trailing 6-0) took possession at the Thayer 18-yard line and went on to score what turned out to be the winning touchdown and extra point.
The second came in the third quarter shortly after the Tigers had turned the ball over on their own 29-yard line.
The third recovery happened with about 30 seconds left in the third quarter with the Bobcats driving and looking like they were about to score before coughing up the ball at the Houston 12.
All three recoveries played a huge role in the Tigers’ eventual win. But then, recovering fumbles is just part of the Houston defense’s standard operating procedure, as they’ve recovered 10 already this year.
And speaking of turnovers, get this: Houston has scored 163 points so far this season, and 61 of those came following a turnover. That’s an amazing example of a defense setting up an offense for success.
There are so many contributors to the Tiger D’s beauty this season, and they can be found up front, in the linebacker crew and in the secondary. And they’re all prone to delivering the goods hard when facing a ball carrier.
While junior nose guard Chris Cichon may be just slightly undersized, he makes up for it by being quick and by making heady decisions. Cichon is fifth on the team in tackles with 24, but leads in tackles-for-losses with seven. He also leads Houston with two sacks and four forced fumbles, and has tacked on a recovered fumble to boot.
Alongside Cichon is senior lineman Aiden Sawyer, who has penetrated the opposition’s line to rack up a robust six tackle-for-losses while recording a total of 19 tackles.
Meanwhile, senior linebacker CJ Lee continues to be a tackling machine, leading Houston with 43 and apparently headed for a second straight season as the squad’s top tackler. It’s worth noting, too, that Lee is the Tigers’ punter and adds a rare characteristic to the team’s overall package by consistently blasting big kicks that time and again change the field and slow the opposition’s momentum by placing them deep in their own territory. He can also kick extra points pretty well, something Thayer certainly wishes wasn’t the case.
In only five games as a Tiger, junior linebacker Devin Wallander (a transfer from Mountain View) has become a team leader on the field and has a nose for the ball carrier resulting in 39 tackles already in 2018.
Junior Chris Mitchell is another member of the Tigers’ stout linebacker corps, and has racked up 22 tackles (three for losses), snagged a pair of interceptions, caused a fumble and recovered a fumble.
In Houston’s defensive backfield, senior Paydon Dixon may well be on his way to another all-conference nod at safety, already recording 38 tackles, hauling in an interception (that he ran back 79 yards for a score against Cuba), recovering one fumble and causing another. And then there’s junior Dakota Burchett, who has already caught four passes from opposing quarterbacks, while chipping in 15 tackles (one for a loss) and a fumble recovery.
The contributions don’t stop there, but space limits mentioning everything and everyone.
While it’s obviously high school boys who are making the plays on the field, much of the success being enjoyed by the Tiger D has to be attributed to the leadership duo of head coach Eric Sloan and defensive coordinator Jake Brookshire. The two are certainly on the proverbial same page and have displayed a working relationship that exudes tons of positivity that spills over onto the players.
All in all, the 2018 Houston Tigers are a special group from top to bottom that’s led by an extraordinary defensive unit.
So this week, the Tigers and their dazzling, physically-oriented defense will claw their way to Ava to take on the host Bears in a tilt that will leave the winner in control of their own destiny in the race for the South Central Association conference championship.
Houston will be a significant underdog, but why wouldn’t that be the case against a team that destroyed Salem last week, 39-0? But here’s the deal: Ava’s offense hasn’t yet faced the Tigers’ defense (or anything remotely similar to it) and the Bears are likely going to be hard pressed to do a lot of scoring.
I’m kind of greedy when it comes to this kind of thing, and I want the Tigers to win a second straight game they’re “not supposed to win.” And the way I see it, if Houston score once or twice, that might just do it.
Then the Tigers would be left with home games against Willow Springs and Mountain View and a road matchup at Mountain Grove. The possibilities are pretty cool, and the spoils are right there for the taking.
But regardless of the outcome this week, it’s really fun to even be considering such a thing at this point in the season. And for that, we need to give some props to one heck of a group of defenders.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald.
Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
