Gordon spent halftime planning its game-winning touchdown celebration, one touchdown away from their 12th 45-point mercy rule win of the season. On the first play of the third quarter, Gordon’s Stryker Reed dropped back, then scrambled for a 45-yard touchdown and a 70-24 victory in the Class 1A Division I State Championship over Whiteface.

The entire team rushed the field, gathered beside Reed, and stood with arms crossed and head tilted to the side. The pose cemented the difference between this year’s state title win and the first one in 2023, from doing it as the underdog to doing it with a target on your back.

“We thrive taking the villain role, making it fun,” Defensive MVP Ry Reed said. “Just trying to do what everyone wants us not to do.”

Everything had gone according to the plan hatched in the halftime locker room. Well, almost.

“I’m going to be honest; I made the wrong read,” Stryker said.

It was one of the few mistakes Gordon made all afternoon - and all season. The Longhorns scored nine touchdowns on just 17 offensive plays. Stryker earned Offensive MVP, completing 2-of-4 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns, and adding 91 yards and two scores on the ground. Ry Reed (no relation to Stryker) was equally lethal, rushing five times for 99 yards and three touchdowns. On the outside, Brayden Walters caught three passes for 92 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“Don’t use bathroom breaks,” Stryker advised six-man football fans. “Don’t go to the concession stand unless it’s halftime.”

The defense coordinated by Ligon West cemented itself as the best statistical unit in UIL six-man history, allowing just 7.2 points per game on the season. Gordon head coach Mike Reed (Stryker’s father) said after the game that he hugged the three kids who acted as Whiteface star running back Ethan Kauffman on the scout team over the last two weeks because they were integral in Gordon limiting Kauffman to 67 yards on the ground.

Those two units combined allowed Reed, who led Rule to back-to-back state championship appearances in 2006-07 and Throckmorton to three consecutive appearances from 2010-12, to declare this football team the best he’s ever had.

“They are the greatest group that I’ve coached,” Reed said. “They would beat any other team that I’ve coached. And every kid that I’ve coached will holler at me after this and say, ‘Ah, but Coach.’ Yes we would.”

BOX SCORE

Gordon Passing

Gordon Rushing

Gordon Receiving

Whiteface Passing

Whiteface Rushing

Whiteface Receiving

Gordon Defense

Gordon Fumble Recoveries

Whiteface Defense