Photo by Nolan Ruth
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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ENNIS— For the third consecutive season, head coach Mike Reed and his Gordon Longhorns are heading for AT&T Stadium in Arlington after mercy ruling the Union Hill Bulldogs on Saturday night 69-24.
With three Division I athletes, two going to the different service academies, the Longhorns dominated from start to finish with Stryker Reed (Air Force) and Ry Reed (Army) both getting three touchdowns, and Brayden Walters (uncommitted) getting two.
The Longhorns now get an extended week before kicking off the UIL State Championships at 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 17 against the Rankin Red Devils.
The game got off to a stellar start for Gordon, when Stryker Reed took the second snap of the game 31 yards to paydirt.
After a quick defensive stop, it only took one more snap for the Longhorns to find the endzone again when Keegan Hight dropped back to pass and found Walters in the endzone from 40 yards out to make the score 14-0.
With just over two minutes to go, Hight and Walters connected again to give the Longhorns a 21-0 lead after one quarter.
It did not take long into the second quarter for the Bulldogs to finally come up with a response. From the 14 yard line, quarterback EJ Mowery threw to Harlee Burns to get Union Hill on the board.
However, in what became a trend throughout the game, the Longhorns responded on only one play. Noah Kostiha dropped back to pass and easily found Evan Jackson from 37 yards out to make the score 29-8.
After a quick defensive stop, Stryker Reed got his second on a long run from beyond midfield. Gordon then recovered the kickoff, and only needed one more play for Kostiha to find a wide open Ry Reed in the flat for a 34-yard score, making it 45-8 with still over 7 minutes to go in the first half.
Union Hill cut the lead down again on the ensuing drive when Payton Dunn found Mowery in the end zone, but the Longhorns responded on one play with a 34-yard touchdown run by Stryker Reed, bringing the score to 53-16.
Gordon then proceeded to reach the 45-point threshold when backup quarterback Hudson Campbell threw to Corvin Seymour with no defenders around him, making it 61-16.
After the two-minute timeout, the Bulldogs scored again when Dunn connected with Jacob Brewster to cut into the lead. But again, it only took one play for Kostiha to find Ry Reed for what resulted in the game winning score.
After a quick defensive stop, the Longhorns kneeled the game out to send them to their third state championship in as many years.
