A King of Kings

The manifestation of this championship started for the players on Southside, but for John King it started in 2004 in his first season as the head coach of the Longview Lobos. Yesterday we got the opportunity to see the wisdom of learning from your mistakes.

King of Kings

2009: In Lufkin Texas, getting our asses whipped. We were struggling to do anything offensively and things were leaning heavily on the side of LP. We turned the ball over right before halftime and Lufkin stretched their 21-7 lead to a 28-7 lead, making it improbable to comeback.  

Yesterday: Late in the second quarter after a kickoff we saw a small scuffle. Keilyn, frustrated by his performance and lack of production, was rattled and got a 15 yard penalty. Down 28-20 with a less than 2 minutes King made one of the best decisions of the night. He inserted both Kevin Jones and Kaden Meredith into the backfield. Meredith bust his only carry for 18 yards. He tried to backdoor it with a screen to Jones, but there was a lineman downfield.

Now you might read that and say what was significant about that? King noticed the temperature of his team in that moment and felt their concern. His best players were on the field showing frustration. Getting the ball coming out of half time it wasn’t important to score right before half time. But what was important was getting to half time. A mistake, or a fight, or a turnover could have made the game 35-20 before half and made the road for a comeback even more difficult.

2004: That 12-1 season showed the promise but also started the trend of the lessons learned over the 15 year career as a head coach. We watched the second most talented group Longview ever have gave up a 20-7 lead that day. We saw Chris Ivory fumble the football 5 times that evening.

2005: We watched one of the most talented team Longview lose in the first round to a team they should have dismantled. We watched a sophomore fullback get the ball on a 3 and 1, while having an All American running back behind him. We watched King decide to let Zack Decker kick a field goal into a whirlwind of wind. We saw the worst loss in program history.

Yesterday: Second lesson comes from what King decided to do coming out of halftime. The previous two weeks were all about Keilyn Williams and Jessie Anderson. The offensive line created great movement in the second half against Westfield and we saw both of them go over a 100 against Tascaso. But in the wake of having your son named 6A Player of the Year and Texas Football Player of the Year, and the offensive line not being able to dominate up front, King decided to roll with his boy. King decided the ball was going to be in the hands of his best player.

He went more spread than we’ve seen him before. 4 receivers and Jessie in the backfield, King started attacking the secondary of the Bruins and taking advantage of one on one matchups. As things loosened up in the secondary, the run game became even more of a threat with Jessie as the lead blocker for Haynes. His big touchdown run in the 3^rd is because of the passing threat that Longview was executing. He stayed in run sets, yet choosing to throw and take advantage of the one on one matchups on the outside to Kaden Kearbey and to Kamden Perry.

2011: We saw Caraway struggle to throw the ball in the same type of wind we saw in 2005. Shot after shot to Eric Hawkins, all die in the wind. We saw Deontre Wilson get 6 yards a carry as he bulled through the middle. We watched as Spring Dekaney, with one real player, beat the last team that we thought had legitimate state championship chances at the 5A/6A level.

December 8, 2018: After watching Haynes throw 2 first half interceptions in one of the windiest games of the season, King came out of half time and decided to handle business through the run game. Jessie Anderson went for 18 carries for 101 yards that day. The passing game wasn’t complete thrown out of the picture, but the shift that King decided to make in play calling allowed for the Lobos to move on and survive another week.

2009: In the State Championship I watched a fumble get picked up and taken the other way, when we tried to run the power read for the first time in the State Championship game. Rayshone McGee and Aaron Johnson mishandled the ball on the play and watched it bounce to the ground.

Yesterday: There were was nothing original in yesterday’s game plan. Of course there’s new wrinkles each and every week, but there was nothing that was brand new. The state game isn’t a time to try something new for the first time, and fortunately that lesson was learned.

2010: We saw it all wipe away within 35 seconds with the punt block at SMU. But two plays prior we watch Pete Robertson misread the option. He missed the give read, where the fullback would’ve gotten at least 5 yards. Instead, Pete was tackled for a loss of yards. Run it again, pick up 6 and now it’s 4th down.

Yesterday: Take the option away. The dive read wasn’t called one time yesterday, and for good reason. The offensive line didn’t dominate the point of attack in the run game all night long. That’s key for having success on that play. The next thing you do is you take away indecision from a kid. As good as Pete was in 2010 at running the dive option, there’s always a chance of messing it up.

2015: We saw Tylan Miller break and run away on 3 runs in a row to get us into field goal position with 1:07 left on the clock. Then we saw Michael Ross throw the football 3 plays in a row and watched Cody Jenkins miss a field goal to send it to overtime against Mansfield Lake Ridge. 56-53 loss.

2016: We watched DCrayvan Polk go arm over, an ill-advised move preached to him over and over again, and fumble late in the 4^th quarter with a lead against Beaumont Westbrook. We watched a young L’Rayven Elia drive the ball down the field to take a one point lead. We watched Longview drive the ball to attempt a 45 plus yard field goal. We watched Chris Kessler whiff on a kick wide left that never had a chance.

2017: Luck was on our side. We watched Haynes throw his 10^th interception of the season and thought the game was over. We watched Kyle Johnson smoke Moredcai and make him fumble. Keilyn Williams takes it all the way to the 7. We get knocked back the next play and then we watch Chris Kessler go wide left to lose in the state semis.

Yesterday: The best part of trailing in the game was that we were trailing by 5 in the 4^th. Most people like to trail by 3 or less if they have to trail so they can at least get a field goal. For Longview, and our previous history, it was best that it didn’t come down to a kick. JK Martin hit a field goal to make it go down from an 8 point game to a 5 point game. That was huge. But fortunately enough it wasn’t enough to even consider bringing him out ever again.

What a moment.

It’s an absolute honor to have coach and played for you. To see the work and effort and life that you give to this program, to this city, to these players has been fulfilling. You’ve got the legendary record. You’ve had the legendary success, year in and year out. Now you’ve got the legendary State Title. You’ve always been a legend in my book, but now it’s cemented across the state of Texas. The Legend of John King: King of Kings.