GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: Blanket Tigers

August 21, 2025 at 7:42 am Derrick Stuckly

BLANKET – After guiding Blanket to an 8-2-1 record and a return to the playoffs after a one-year absence in his initial campaign as head coach, Jalen Helms and the preseason Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class A Division II No. 21 Tigers are setting their sights on the program’s first district championship since 2021 in year two.

“We have high expectations for sure,” Helms said. “Last year we had a pretty solid season, got second in district behind Zephyr and made the playoffs. I feel like expectations this year are definitely to win the district. I know it’s not going to be easy, we have a pretty good district with Zephyr, Rising Star is going to have some kids back that were hurt last year, Gustine should be pretty good, and you never know with Sidney. But definitely the expectations would be to win the district.”

Helms’ performance in Blanket, not only as head coach but as an assistant prior, earned him a spot on Dave Campbell’s 40 under 40 list for high school coaches this year.

“It’s pretty cool,” Helms said. “It’s in our family DNA. My dad was a coach, coached me and my brother growing up and my brother’s a coach in Oglesby right now. It’s definitely a cool honor, but I’m staying focused on the task at hand and taking it one day at a time.”

The Tigers bring back four starters on each side of the ball, including senior running back/defensive end Kannon Kensing (1,070 rushing yards, 18 TDs; 9-205 receiving, 5 TDs; 65 tackles, 10 for loss), senior center/defensive lineman Mason Beck (27-568, 11 TDs receiving; 72 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries), senior receiver/safety Brian Shannon (17-252, 6 TDs receiving; 53 tackles, 8 for loss); senior defensive end/kicker Abel McLaughlin (35 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries), and junior receiver/safety Kade Russell (5-89, 2 TDs receiving; 18 tackles, 1 fumble recovery).

“Kannon Kensing, Mason Beck, and Brian Shannon are the big three,” Helms said. “A kid that got hurt last year that will be back this year is AC French. We’ve got some transfers from last year that should be eligible this year, Jaiden Langford and Landon Romero. We’ve got a really big senior class, so we really have high expectations for those guys.”

While experience is the strength for the Tigers, getting inside their own heads is an area where Helms hopes to see improvement in 2025.

“The things we have to work on is ourselves,” Helms said. “I feel like the past couple of years when things start going down we get down on ourselves and starting self-imploding. I feel like we have to work on the mental aspect of our game.”

The Tigers open the season Aug. 29 in a rematch of a game that was halted due to weather in a tie a year ago. Blanket then hosts Cranfills Gap (Sept. 5) followed by road trips to Evant (Sept. 12), Santa Anna (Sept. 19) and Throckmorton (Sept. 26), with the pre-district finale being the homecoming game against Woodson (Oct. 3) – all games the Tigers won in 2024.

“Like any season, I want to see the grit and the effort working to what we eventually want to be,” Helms said of the pre-district goals. “We’re going to have some growing pains like always. There’s going to be some things that we think we have down that we’ll see through the first few games that maybe we might need to work on more.”

The District 13-A Division II schedule features an Oct. 10 home date with Gustine, an Oct. 17 trip to Rising Star, the Oct. 24 showdown at home with Zephyr, a bye on Oct. 31, and the regular season finale at Sidney Nov. 7.

“I would think us and Zephyr are the two favorites, after that I don’t know for sure,” Helms said. “Rising Star and Gustine could be right there, they could surprise some people and sneak out a playoff spot.”

As for how good the Tigers can be in 2025, Helms said, “We have the potential to be the district champs and make it a few rounds in the playoffs. If we can win the district that first round should be an easier game. We got second last year and had to see Oglesby and that would probably be the same this year. Hopefully we can avoid that. Round two would be Richland Springs, and if we could get past them, we could go a while.”

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BLANKET TIGERS 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 29	at Menard	7:30 p.m.
September 05	Cranfills Gap	7:30 p.m.
September 12	at Evant	7:30 p.m.
September 19	at Santa Anna	7:30 p.m.
September 26	at Throckmorton	7:30 p.m.
October 03	Woodson#	7 p.m.
October 10	Gustine*	7:30 p.m.
October 17	at Rising Star*	7:30 p.m.
October 24	Zephyr*	7:30 p.m.
October 31	OPEN
November 07	at Sidney*	7:30 p.m.