By Brian Gosset
FORT WORTH – It didn’t take long for Steve Wood to be a head coach again. Wood retired from Aledo ISD at the end of the 2022-23 school year, but just two years later he joined Cody Worrell’s staff at Mineral Wells.
After last season concluded, Fort Worth Southwest Christian came calling and the two parties made it official to make Wood its next head coach in December.
“I wasn’t really too good at it,” Wood joked about retirement.
Wood spent two decades as an assistant coach with Tim Buchanan at Aledo – helping win several state championships. Coach Buc moved to the admin role and Wood became Aledo head coach in 2014. The two swapped positions in 2019 before announcing their retirements in January 2023.
As head coach with Aledo, Wood went 75-4 with a state semifinal appearance in all five seasons. The Bearcats made the championship game four times and won three titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
“I missed this,” Wood said. “Just the kids and the relationships, the grind of it all. Coaching football – that’s what I did and honestly when I quit doing it, I wasn’t too excited to quit doing it.
“The opportunity came up and there’s unbelievable people over here. It’s been a blessing for me and my family.”
Added Tracy Howard, SCS Director of Athletics, “It’s hard not to know Steve Wood. He has his name on buildings in Aledo. “We were looking for a change at the head coaching position and there’s no one better to go after than Steve Wood. Luckily he answered the phone and decided to come over and sit down with us.”
Wood had his official debut game on Friday night at home against FW Lake Country Christian as TAPPS pushed up its season one week. UIL teams will kick off next week starting Thursday Aug. 27.
SCS dominated from both sides of the ball and rolled to a 45-0 victory for Wood’s first win as a Southwest Christian Eagle. The team scored all 45 points in the first half.
“Couldn’t ask for any more,” Wood said. “The kickoff team set the tone for the ball game. I felt like we should win this game, we’re a bigger school than they are, but we were ready to play. I was a little concerned because we were sloppy last week at our scrimmage. But it’s a good start to the season. It’s only going to get tougher from here so we just need to keep getting better.
“I have the utmost respect for those Lake Country kids. They fought and battled the whole game. A lot of them played both ways. We played hard and physical from a defensive point of view and the offense executed which is what you ask for.”
SCS scored less than three minutes into the contest. Quarterback Eli Hufstetler kept it for a 14-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead at the 9:15 mark.
Lake Country had trouble all night getting across midfield. Southwest Christian got the ball back and got a long TD pass and catch from Hufstetler to Malcolm Anderson to make it 14-0 with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Two minutes later and SCS got its third touchdown of the opening frame – a TD from Hufstetler to Crosby Pipes. Hufstetler, who also kicks field goals and extra points, made a FG to push the lead to 24-0. Then LCCS fielded a punt with a knee down to give SCS the ball inside the 10.
Tre Taylor scored Southwest Christian’s fourth touchdown of the game, with one coming from the wildcat that extended the lead to 31-0 with eight minutes to go in the first half.
“It was huge for us,” said Hutstetler, a senior. “New coach, new offense – the O-line blocked great and the defense made big plays. We came out here and showed everyone what we could do.
“We had the momentum. We were hyped in the locker room before the game and we knew what we could do. I think we have the biggest potential in my four years here. We all want to win and have a common goal and we’re not going to go down.”
The Eagles went 6-5 last season and lost to Austin Regents in the first round of the playoffs. Next up will be a trip to FW Trinity Valley followed by Tioga, FW Country Day, West and Dallas HSAA.
