GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: Cross Plains Buffaloes

August 19, 2025 at 6:39 am Derrick Stuckly

CROSS PLAINS – For the first time in 15 seasons, the Cross Plains Buffaloes football program is under new management as Jared Sanderson takes over at the helm.

Sanderson, who owns a 43-39 record as a head coach with a four-year stint at Levelland and two seasons at Midland Greenwood, has been a part of the Cross Plains staff for three years.

“ Being here and knowing the kids helps,” Sanderson said of his transition from assistant to head coach. “The hardest thing about changing jobs is learning the kids and the system and what they’ve done and trying to figure out how to make it yours. Coming in and knowing the kids has been beneficial in moving forward. Our energy is great, our retention is really good from the spring, the guys have come out since day one and it’s felt like just another day. We’re real excited about being able to move forward and put in our offense and defense. It’s crucial at this time for them to continue to show with the type of energy they’ve had.”

In terms of scheme, Sanderson stated he will be making significant changes from what the Buffaloes have run in the past.

“It’s changed quite a bit on both sides of the ball,” Sanderson said. “We’re going to try and run the ball more than we have in the past offensively. Defensively we’re going to be in a four-man front with gap control. We’ve been more of a pressure team in the past and this year we’re going to try and line up and play more technique and be in a position to not let someone else dictate what we’re doing.”

Sanderson inherits seven offensive and 10 defensive starters from a 4-6 team that missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years in 2024.

“We’re still young in some areas but we’ve got some experience coming back and that’s really good for us,” Sanderson said.

Players to watch for the Buffaloes include Tyler Mackey (645 rushing yards, 8 TDs; 38-514, 5 TDs receiving; 69 tackles, 11 for loss, 7 interceptions), Colt Sanderson (77 tackles, 14 for loss, 1 sack), Jessey Bradford (77 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks), Rylen Reed (11-160, 3 TDs receiving; 22 tackles), Luke Henry (18 tackles), Lawson Brown, and newcomer Kye Schuman.

“Tyler Mackey is an all-around kid for us that does a lot of different things,” Sanderson said. “Colt Sanderson is a big player for us up front offensively and defensively. Kye Schumann’s a move-in kid that we expect big things out of. We’re looking for him at some quarterback and playing safety for us. Jessey Bradford was an all-district player for us last year for us on defense and I think he’s going to have another great year. Rylen Reed had a great freshman year and has really grown this summer and developed as a player and we expect big things out of him. Luke Henry, he’s a big kid for us, moves bodies up front, and he’s hard to move defensively. Lawson Brown was a freshman last year and ended up starting for us at center most of the year and he’s really developed, too.”

The Buffaloes begin the season Aug. 29 at Haskell, then host Abilene TLCA (Sept. 5) and Hico (Sept. 12) before traveling to Merkel (Sept. 19) and welcoming Sterling City (Sept. 26) in the pre-district finale.

Regarding pre-district goals, Sanderson said, “I just want to see improvement. Eliminate the busts within our system, be able to run our system on both sides of the ball and be able to execute that. Our energy’s great, we play hard, it’s about being disciplined and intentional with everything we do.”

In District 7-2A Division II action, Cross Plains is picked by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football to place behind Albany, Roscoe, Hamlin and Miles.

“It’s going to be competitive,” Sanderson said of the district race. “There’s two new coaches and us, but it’s going to be competitive again. Albany’s going to do great like they always do. They’re very disciplined and let you make mistakes. Something we’re really focusing on is how do we get to that level as far as our discipline goes. Coach (Dan) Loyd is going to do a great job at Roscoe, he had great years at Seymour. Coach (Jason) Botos at Hamlin, they’ve really come on, they’ve got good kids and run a good program. Coach (Jayson) Wilhelm, I know he lost a lot of kids at Miles but they’ve got a good system and he’s been there long enough that those kids are just going to come in and know it and be able to run it. Winters, with Coach (Ryan) Panell, I know he’s going to be excited and have those kids fired up, so it’s going to be competitive every week. We’re going to have to play hard and be at our best.”

As for how good Cross Plains can be in 2025, Sanderson said, “The sky’s the limit for this team. I feel like we’ve got more than what we’ve seen the last couple of years. In order to be that, we have to be a disciplined football team. We’re going to be hard-nosed, we’re going to be tough, we’re going to play hard, but we have to be disciplined and do the little things right.”

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CROSS PLAINS BUFFALOES 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 29	at Haskell	7 p.m.
September 05	Abilene TLCA	7 p.m.
September 12	Hico	7 p.m.
September 19	at Merkel	7 p.m.
September 26	Sterling City	7 p.m.
October 03	OPEN
October 10	Roscoe*#	7 p.m.
October 17	at Miles*	7 p.m.
October 24	Albany*	7 p.m.
October 31	Hamlin*	7 p.m.
November 07	at Winters*	7 p.m.