GRIDIRON GLANCE ‘23: May Tigers

August 17, 2023 at 6:30 am Derrick Stuckly

MAY – The May Tigers experienced an uncharacteristic 2022 football campaign with a first-round playoff exit and their string of six consecutive district championships snapped.

Coming off an 8-2 season, the Tigers enter their 20^thyear under head coach Craig Steele ranked No. 5 in Class A Division I by sixmanfootball.com.

“Our expectations don’t really change from year to year,” Steele said. “It’s a different team with a different make up to it. We don’t have that many seniors, just three. It’s a younger team but the kids understand the expectations when they enter the program and those aren’t going to change just because we’ve got some youth. Kids are going to have to step up and we’re excited about the young guys, and they’re fitting right in.”

After reaching the state championship game in 2020 and 2021, the conclusion of a season prior to Thanksgiving left a sour taste in the mouths of the returning Tigers.

“Our kids were extremely disappointed,” Steele said. “In some ways some of the kids feel like they dropped the ball a little bit as far as the program goes. That happens some years, though. If things had fallen right Irion County could have easily been in the state championship game. It was a good football team we lost to, no shame in that, but at the same time with the success and playoff wins we’ve had in recent years, some of the kids took that really hard.”

May must again contend with reigning District 14 champion and sixth-ranked Jonesboro. According to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, the Tigers are expected to repeat their runner-up league finish.

“It’s definitely a top heavy district,” Steele said of the District 14 race. “Jonesboro has everybody back and should easily be considered the district favorite. Lometa didn’t graduate that much and they have some good skill kids as well. Evant and Santa Anna have some of their core groups coming back. This is one of those years where we can’t be sleeping on the rest of the teams in the district and just worry about Jonesboro, we really have to take care of business.”

Prior to the start of District 14 action the Tigers will test their mettle against Ira, Austin St. Stephen’s, Knox City, Garden City, Fort Worth THESA and Oglesby.

“We’ve got a bunch of kids that understand football,” Steele said in regard to the strengths of the team heading into the opener. “We’re not very big, but we have a lot of skill kids that can catch it and throw it. The kids that are going to be on varsity have a lot of knowledge about what’s going on out there, but there’s going to be times we have to do things differently than we have in the past offensively. We’re going to have to manufacture points because we’re not just going to line up and run the football all day long. Defensively, we’re not going to be able to stand in front of every team and whip a dude one-on-one. By and large we’re going to have to move around a lot.”

Players to watch for the Tigers in 2023 are juniors Braden Steele and Ben Harrell, among others such as Wyatt Hardy, Hagan Hester, Ryland Billadeau, and Lane Goodson.

Steele rushed for 1,482 yards and 10 scores a year ago while passing for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns and finishing with 293 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions. He also tallied 87 tackles in an honorable mention all-state season.

Harrell posted 1,344 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last year, while tallying 72 tackles as he earned Class A Division I Region IV Newcomer of the Year accolades.

As for what it will take for May to return to its spot atop the district standings and make another push for Arlington, Steele said, “Staying healthy is a big deal, and I want to see us progress and see the young kids grow in the positions they’re in and see some positive steps. We don’t expect to be a finished product, especially with so few seniors, in Week 1, so we want to continue to see that growth week by week. We’ve got to grow up fast. We’re starting a lot of sophomores this year and by and large that doesn’t happen a ton with us. We have to develop some leadership because some of the ways we reacted last year to some of the things that went wrong wasn’t the way you want kids to react. We’re going to have to mature a little bit physically and emotionally, and then the question is can we stay healthy?”

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MAY TIGERS 2023 VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 26 – Ira (at Jayton), 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 1 – at Austin St. Stephens, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 8 – Knox City, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 15 – at Garden City, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 22 – Fort Worth THESA, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 29 – at Oglesby, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 6 – at Evant*, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 – Lometa*#, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 20 – at Santa Anna*, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 27 – Jonesboro*, 7:30 p.m.