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Best HS football player EVER in East Texas?


Eagleborn

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Keyou Craver of Harleton, Chris Harris of EF probably the best two running backs I ever saw on the field, usually just catching the back of their jersey heading to the end zone. Clint Gillespie of Arp was probably the best lineman. 

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11 minutes ago, Stoney said:

Keyou Craver of Harleton, Chris Harris of EF probably the best two running backs I ever saw on the field, usually just catching the back of their jersey heading to the end zone. Clint Gillespie of Arp was probably the best lineman. 

Clint was a beast!

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1 minute ago, Stoney said:

Two of us chopping at knees couldn’t bring that big boy down.

I believe that...Clint is a great man now...Love his family to death. Clint and Cale both turned out to be very good men.

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On 6/22/2019 at 9:40 PM, MavGrad99 said:

It said "East Texas" which is why i threw his name in there.  If we are going for one of the best ever in Texas, you guys may have seen Jonathan Gray...  That kid was a beast in high school.  I am trying to think of a few in E TX that I've seen in person...

Muckelroy from Hallsville... his teams weren't always the greatest, but I know when I listened and watched Marshall games, his name was constantly being said making a tackle or in the mix of a big play etc...

When I was the Athletic Trainer at Marshall, Longview was in the district, but they didn't have a stud... their whole damned team were studs... and to be honest, so were we, but we were no match... I think my final year there, we had 12 kids sign for at least a partial scholarship to play college football and we probably still lost by 40 to Longview.

PT, Mt Pleasant, Kilgore, Hallsville were all down while I was there.  And to be honest, Texas High didn't have much besides a QB back then either...  

When I was in school, Longview had Fred Talley, we had a solid team, Lufkin was a beast, John Tyler was in a decline, and I believe Tyler Lee had a good QB (1998).  

So overall, Talley is the only individual that I really remember being a standout since 1996 until present in East Texas that I have seen play in person.

Texarkana has had around 10 go to the NFL since 1996. You don't go to that league unless you're special. I saw Talley play. He was outstanding. LaMichael James was better. Tra Carson has now been an NFL back for three years. James was second in Heisman Trophy voting one year, and still leading rusher at Oregon I believe.

 

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Fred Talley of Longview High School. Hands Down! I wish there was a way to go back in time and let every team play against him for just ONE quarter so everyone could leave with a baste taste in their mouths. Lol! 

Fred Talley, headlined MOST of the local newspapers and ALL of the Friday Night Football post game shows on television. And, that includes KSLA out of Shreveport, Louisiana. If you tuned into sports around 10:20 pm on a Friday night, it was FRED TALLEY of LONGVIEW then whomever your local team was followed that. FACTS.

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2 hours ago, 68Hornet said:

Texarkana has had around 10 go to the NFL since 1996. You don't go to that league unless you're special. I saw Talley play. He was outstanding. LaMichael James was better. Tra Carson has now been an NFL back for three years. James was second in Heisman Trophy voting one year, and still leading rusher at Oregon I believe.

 

Will Middlebrooks was a straight running baller as well. Not only was he an incredible QB/free safety, but he was hands down the best high school punter/kicker I ever saw. LaMichael James and him put on a show against Gilmer in first round(I think it was 2006). They played in Longview. Gilmer had a couple of future NFL players on their squad with GJ Kinne at QB; they were 10-0, and #1 team in 3A, but  L-E ran right through em; one helluva game. That was a great night; Country Tavern ribs with great east Texas playoff football...couldn’t have possibly gotten any better. 

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30 minutes ago, Bedias2002 said:

My pick

1.Thurman Thomas- Running back and LB for Willowridge

2. I never saw Earl Campbell

3. Harvey Williams Hempstead

Harvey Williams! Wow there’s a blast from the past! Dude had a chicken neck but was great! How long was he in NFL? 10 years?

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On 6/22/2019 at 9:40 PM, MavGrad99 said:

It said "East Texas" which is why i threw his name in there.  If we are going for one of the best ever in Texas, you guys may have seen Jonathan Gray...  That kid was a beast in high school.  I am trying to think of a few in E TX that I've seen in person...

Muckelroy from Hallsville... his teams weren't always the greatest, but I know when I listened and watched Marshall games, his name was constantly being said making a tackle or in the mix of a big play etc...

When I was the Athletic Trainer at Marshall, Longview was in the district, but they didn't have a stud... their whole damned team were studs... and to be honest, so were we, but we were no match... I think my final year there, we had 12 kids sign for at least a partial scholarship to play college football and we probably still lost by 40 to Longview.

PT, Mt Pleasant, Kilgore, Hallsville were all down while I was there.  And to be honest, Texas High didn't have much besides a QB back then either...  

When I was in school, Longview had Fred Talley, we had a solid team, Lufkin was a beast, John Tyler was in a decline, and I believe Tyler Lee had a good QB (1998).  

So overall, Talley is the only individual that I really remember being a standout since 1996 until present in East Texas that I have seen play in person.

what years are you talking about with texas high? 

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On 6/24/2019 at 12:07 AM, Quick said:

Fred Talley of Longview High School. Hands Down! I wish there was a way to go back in time and let every team play against him for just ONE quarter so everyone could leave with a baste taste in their mouths. Lol! 

Fred Talley, headlined MOST of the local newspapers and ALL of the Friday Night Football post game shows on television. And, that includes KSLA out of Shreveport, Louisiana. If you tuned into sports around 10:20 pm on a Friday night, it was FRED TALLEY of LONGVIEW then whomever your local team was followed that. FACTS.

Don't you think L-E's James and Will Middlebrooks didn't dominate some headlines and get a lot of television exposure winning the state championship in 2006. They beat a 10-0 Gilmer team at Lobo in the first round that was ranked the biggest upset in Texas that year. Like you say, Talley was special, but James' career was a bit more I'd say.

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On 6/22/2019 at 9:40 PM, MavGrad99 said:

It said "East Texas" which is why i threw his name in there.  If we are going for one of the best ever in Texas, you guys may have seen Jonathan Gray...  That kid was a beast in high school.  I am trying to think of a few in E TX that I've seen in person...

Muckelroy from Hallsville... his teams weren't always the greatest, but I know when I listened and watched Marshall games, his name was constantly being said making a tackle or in the mix of a big play etc...

When I was the Athletic Trainer at Marshall, Longview was in the district, but they didn't have a stud... their whole damned team were studs... and to be honest, so were we, but we were no match... I think my final year there, we had 12 kids sign for at least a partial scholarship to play college football and we probably still lost by 40 to Longview.

PT, Mt Pleasant, Kilgore, Hallsville were all down while I was there.  And to be honest, Texas High didn't have much besides a QB back then either...  

When I was in school, Longview had Fred Talley, we had a solid team, Lufkin was a beast, John Tyler was in a decline, and I believe Tyler Lee had a good QB (1998).  

So overall, Talley is the only individual that I really remember being a standout since 1996 until present in East Texas that I have seen play in person.

JT won the district Talley's senior yr (98-99) (and beat Longview), and his junior yr, JT went to state semi finals (Longview went to finals, but they played one less game in Div.1 then).  JT also went to state 2 yrs later.  The decline started after the 2001 season.

But to continue the conversation, the best players for me...Earl, Marc Broyles (John Tyler), Adrian Peterson, Keyuo Craver, Pat Mahomes, Kendrick Starling (Marshall),

Honorable mention, Aaron Ross, David Warren, Jeremy Johnson, Greg Ward, Fred Ross (all from JT)

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29 minutes ago, JTFAN99 said:

JT won the district Talley's senior yr (98-99) (and beat Longview), and his junior yr, JT went to state semi finals (Longview went to finals, but they played one less game in Div.1 then).  JT also went to state 2 yrs later.  The decline started after the 2001 season.

But to continue the conversation, the best players for me...Earl, Marc Broyles (John Tyler), Adrian Peterson, Keyuo Craver, Pat Mahomes, Kendrick Starling (Marshall),

Honorable mention, Aaron Ross, David Warren, Jeremy Johnson, Greg Ward, Fred Ross (all from JT)

You guys were always good in those years, but didn’t have that one big playmaker right?   98 was a strange year.  Marshall knocked off several state #1s, including Longview and JT, but fell to Lufkin and Lee and ended up missing the playoffs 

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39 minutes ago, MavGrad99 said:

You guys were always good in those years, but didn’t have that one big playmaker right?   98 was a strange year.  Marshall knocked off several state #1s, including Longview and JT, but fell to Lufkin and Lee and ended up missing the playoffs 

Marshall destroyed JT in 98 at Rose stadium.  Some how, JT manage to win district.  What is crazy is if JT lost to Lee last game of season in 98, they would have missed the playoffs, but beating Lee made JT the district champs. Very rare to see such a scenario. 

The 97 and 98 JT teams didn't really have one stand out player but a bunch of good ones.  As a matter of fact, Ricklan Holmes was on the 97 team. The 2000 team that lost to Katy in the state title game had a bunch of very good players too, but Aaron Ross probably stood out on that team along with Robert Gorman. Coach Allen Wilson and his unique style of rotating running backs in the wing T and his aggressive def is what really stood out the most during the 90s and early 2000s at JT.

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40 minutes ago, JTFAN99 said:

Marshall destroyed JT in 98 at Rose stadium.  Some how, JT manage to win district.  What is crazy is if JT lost to Lee last game of season in 98, they would have missed the playoffs, but beating Lee made JT the district champs. Very rare to see such a scenario. 

The 97 and 98 JT teams didn't really have one stand out player but a bunch of good ones.  As a matter of fact, Ricklan Holmes was on the 97 team. The 2000 team that lost to Katy in the state title game had a bunch of very good players too, but Aaron Ross probably stood out on that team along with Robert Gorman. Coach Allen Wilson and his unique style of rotating running backs in the wing T and his aggressive def is what really stood out the most during the 90s and early 2000s at JT.

For whatever reason, we played those wingT JT teams well in the 90s... but if you put us up against a wishbone team they were guaranteed at least 40 points.

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3 hours ago, BulldogBacker12 said:

I wanted to look back at Dwight Smith. Take the video to about 9 minutes and watch him run over Gilmer. I forgot how good he was. Best RB I ever saw with my own eyes.

 

What a beast he was. 

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