Teams to watch: Holliday Eagles

Holliday coach Frank Johnson knew he had a good group of players coming into the season. But after losing both his starting quarterback and center in the first quarter of a 21-7 loss to Iowa Park, he was interested in seeing how his team would respond against an undefeated Nocona squad in the District 5-3A opener. The Eagles stepped up to the challenge and dominated what had been one of the most explosive teams in the state on both sides of the ball. Holliday soared past Nocona 56-14, kicking off the district season on the right foot and eliminating any doubt about who is the team to beat moving forward in district play. “I don’t like losing that first district game,” Johnson said. “We’ve just been preaching to our kids since the start that if we wanted a chance to make the playoffs and reach our goals, we’re going to have to play well against Nocona.” The Eagles jumped all over the Indians right out of the gate Friday night, forcing a quick turnover on the opening possession of the game before grabbing an eye-popping 49-0 lead at the half. Senior running back Justin Jones led the way offensively, rushing for 286 yards and four touchdowns on just six carries through the first two quarters. Jones, who had to play at the JV level last season after transferring to Holliday, has already surpassed the 1,000-yard mark (1,013 yards, 18 TDs) and gives the Eagles’ offense a weapon it hasn’t had in several years. “We knew what Justin had coming into the year – if you give him a crease, he can go,” Johnson said. “He went to the state track meet in the 100m dash. He’s a student of the game, and just has great vision. You won’t find a kid with a better work ethic, and he’s just so versatile.” Jones takes a lot of pressure off the Holliday offense, especially with starting quarterback Jett Johnson out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. But the Eagles are confident in his replacement, senior Kade Patterson, who will fill that role for the remainder of the season. Patterson does a little bit of everything for Holliday, starting at deep snapper and in the secondary at safety as well. “He doesn’t come off the field,” Johnson said. “He’s a very intelligent kid, so he can manage the game very well for us. The nice thing about Kade is he knows where everybody is going to be – the line, the receivers and the running backs – and you need a guy like that at QB.” While it’s the offense that grabbed the headlines in the win over Nocona, it’s the Holliday defense that gives the team a chance to build on last year’s 7-4 record. The Eagles are holding opponents to just over 10 points per game, consistently putting the offense in position to do its damage. It starts up front with a talented defensive line, led by Tanner Bayard (69 tackles, 23 TFL, 8 sacks), Travis Foster (44 tackles, 8 TFL) and Jake Turner (34 tackles, 4 TFL). The group has dominated in the trenches, forcing opposing opponents out of their comfort zone all season. “Our defense has surpassed my expectations,” Johnson said. “I thought we had a pretty good defense last year and a lot of these guys are back – they’ve just played lights out. Our front three create so many problems for other teams. “If you’re going to win a championship, you’re going to have to do it with defense.” Winning the District 5-3A title is the goal and it’s one that appears to be obtainable after a dominant showing against Nocona. The Eagles have City View (2-3, 0-1) this week, but have a pivotal showdown against Jacksboro (6-0, 1-0) in the regular season finale circled on the calendar. “I think we have a chance to win a district title, and we’re going to have to do it with salty defense,” Johnson said. “As long as I can keep them healthy and hungry, we can be a really good team with a chance to go at least several rounds deep.”

— –– —