HENDERSON, Texas — The Henderson Lions are riding high at 5-1 on the season. And, perhaps, the biggest reason for that is their upset win over the Kilgore Bulldogs in Week 6 of the high school football season.
The Lions shut out the Bulldogs in the first half, 21-0. However, Kilgore came roaring back in the second half tying the game at 24 with less than a minute to go.
That's when Henderson quarterback Vince Howard took the matter into his own hands, literally, with a run that got the Lions into field goal range. Sophomore Ivan Navarro kicked it right between the uprights, giving the Lions the 27-24 "W" over the Bulldogs.
This is Navarro's first year on varsity. He spent years training and working hard to earn his spot. So, he felt the pressure when it was time to win the game.
"A lot of stuff was going through my head and the on sidelines, my teammates were just coming up to me and telling me my field goal is going to come down to my field goal, it's going to be the game winner," said Navarro. " That just made it worse for me, but then my other teammates were telling them to let me lock in and that helped."
In 2023, the Lions went 2-8 under alum Clay Baker, but this year feels different.
"When I came here, I was told quite a bit that discipline is an issue, the personal fouls were a big issue," said Coach Baker. "It's a big credit to our kids and our coaching staff. They we were really close last year we had a lot of lot of games that were one play, two plays away from it falling our way."
Coach Baker saw the potential in his players and had patience to develop them into the dynamic team they are now.
"The big thing for us coming in as a new staff was just developing the trust with the kids, developing those relationships with the kids," Coach Baker said. "I can't say enough about how much they have bought into that."
Now, the Lions will turn their attention to Mabank.
"It was an exciting moment for us and the community is still excited, but we're done," said Coach Baker. "We're past it, starting today, we're locked in on Mabank. It's by no means the finish line for us. It's just a start to what we're trying to do here, it's time to redirect your focus and get locked in on Mabank this week."
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