GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: May Tigers

August 22, 2025 at 7:03 am Derrick Stuckly

MAY – With five starters returning on both sides of the ball from a 9-2 squad a year ago, new head coach Jacob Brown looks to guide the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football preseason Class A Division I No. 4 May Tigers to their first district title since 2021 – and beyond.

Brown, a 2018 graduate of May High School, is making his head coaching debut at his alma mater.

“I’m excited, there’s a lot of tradition here,” Brown said. “Following Craig Steele, and James Ball and Mitch Lee last year, are big shoes to fill. I’m excited for the kids, having seen just about everything there is having been under those coaches. I’m excited to continue that tradition that’s been going on so long in May. I’m excited to see where I can take the program from here, continue that success and add to it.”

Brown spoke about how his coaching will both mirror and differ from the most recent May head coaches.

“The kids have the advantage of seeing what both Craig Steele did in the T and a little bit of spread, and then what Mitch Lee and James Ball do which is pretty much straight J-bird,” Brown said. “I plan on using that to our advantage as a team so we’re not that predictable and can run multiple things. We have the kids to run any formation we want to so I’m going to take advantage of that and do that on both sides of the ball. Last year we stuck to the same base defense we’ve had. We changed up a couple things in pass rotation but we’re going to keep the same principles as far as that goes and add in a couple of wrinkles.”

The five starters returning on offense and defense are part of a roster than features 10 seniors, including DCTF District 14-A Division I preseason offensive player of the Kobey Morris, Cayson Dail, Lane Goodson, Kaden Watkins, Jackson Lusk, Brody Stice and Mikey Scheriger.

“They’re all capable and have plenty of experience,” Brown said of the senior class. “Lane Goodson can play anywhere on the field, a starter on both side of the ball. Kobey Morris, we got him last year and he can fill in at any spot you ask him to. He also returns on both sides of the ball. Kaden Watkins, he’s a big kid up front and moves people well which is a key for us. You’ve got Jackson Lusk, who is another returner on both sides of the ball. We also have Brody Stice, Levi McInnis, Cayson Dail whose coming back as a two-year starter at quarterback, which is big to have that experience at that position. We also have Maddix Raffel coming up from the JV to fill some holes on defense.”

The Tigers open the season against Class A Division I No. 2 Whiteface in Jayton on Saturday, Aug. 30, followed by a trip to Class A Division II No. 3 Richland Springs on Sept. 5. A contest at Rochelle follows on Sept. 12, then home games against Newcastle (Sept. 19) and Iredell (Sept. 26), a game at Irion County (Oct. 3) and a home date against Rocksprings (Oct. 10) rounds out the pre-district slate.

“The main thing is I want to see our kids grow as team, something we got away from at times in the past,” Brown said of the pre-district goals. “We want to keep the kids fighting for each other. I don’t want to see the bickering anymore, I want to see cohesion between that group. I feel like if they’ll fight for each other in and out of athletics, then I feel like we’re going to be very successful on the football field.”

The District 14-A Division I race begins after a bye on Oct. 24 at Santa Anna, with a home date against Lometa (Oct. 31) to follow, and the showdown with reigning district champion and 12th-ranked Jonesboro (Nov. 7) to close the season.

“I don’t want to count out anybody, but the last few years it’s been us and Jonesboro and I kind of expect it to be that again this year,” Brown said. “Jonesboro is going to be tough, it’s a always a physical battle and we play there this year, and it’s always hard playing there. I could see us playing them for the district championship again, and that game will tell us a lot about how the playoffs are going to work.”

As for how long the Tigers’ season could last in 2025, Brown said, “Potential is dangerous, but this group has a lot of potential. It’s up to them if we achieve that potential or not. We’re going to put in the hard work. Something I’m going to push this year is never complain about how we work hard. I feel like as long as we work hard, I feel like we have the capability to make a deep run in the playoffs. We can achieve that if we keep our heads in the right place.”

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MAY TIGERS 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 30	Whiteface (at Jayton)	7:30 p.m.
September 05	at Richland Springs	7:30 p.m.
September 12	at Rochelle	7:30 p.m.
September 19	Newcastle	7 p.m.
September 26	Iredell	7:30 p.m.
October 03	at Irion County	7:30 p.m.
October 10	Rocksprings	7 p.m.
October 17	OPEN
October 24	at Santa Anna*	7:30 p.m.
October 31	Lometa*	7:30 p.m.
November 07	at Jonesboro*	7:30 p.m.