THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Houston High School Athletics

Winning a football state championship is hard. Winning one coming out of TSSAA Region 8-6A is even harder. What's even harder than that? — winning back-to-back state championships. Capturing another golden ball is the goal for defending 6A champions Houston but that goal has nuance. "We're not defending the gold ball, we're trying to go get it again," senior captain Andre Allen said. Houston coach James Thomas has preached to his team that this is a new year with a new team. "Instead of talking about back-to-back, we're talking about this team doing as well as they can," Thomas said after a dominant scrimmage performance at Memphis University School last Friday. "It's a different group. It's about, 'What do you want to be the legacy of this team?' " Despite winning a state championship, two-way senior captain Owen Waggener said Houston still has the mentality of an underdog. "We take everything personally so we still have the mindset of an underdog even though we won the big trophy last year," Waggener said. "People always said 'Germantown is going to beat Houston, Houston can't handle Germantown's offense.' That's something we talked about leading up to (the state quarterfinal) and it still motivates us." Losing two of its first three games last season, including a loss to Germantown, served as a much-needed wake-up call for Houston. The early adversity was a valuable lesson that carries weight this year with an even larger target on the team's back. "Players got hurt, but we were just beating ourselves," Allen said. "(Captains) had a meeting with all the players and we got to talk about what we had to do to get better." "They were heartbreakers," Waggener said of the losses. "We just had a heart-to-heart and asked 'What do we want from this season?' Everyone said 'We want to win that last game.' Those first two losses hurt so it made us all lock in and focus up." Senior leadership, especially on defense, will be a crucial piece of Houston's 2024 title hopes. Nine members of the senior class including Waggener and Allen started together as sophomores. Waggener, who plays linebacker, says playing together now is second nature. "We have a lot of experience and we work so well together," Waggener said. "We trust each other and are ready to go to war with each other every play." On offense, the story is similar. Although the offensive line will look much different, All-State quarterback Chandler Day will have several experienced receivers. Day, now a senior and two-sport star, threw for 2,479 yards and 34 touchdowns a season ago with eight interceptions. He also rushed for 332 yards and eight touchdowns. "He's a great leader," Waggener said of Day. "He's got a motor and a switch, and when that switch is on, it's hard to stop him." Elsewhere on offense, junior running back Celley Davis figures to play an important role in filling in for graduated all-state athlete Damon Sisa. Davis rushed for 509 yards and six scores last season. Even with all of the team's talent, Waggener understands that this is a new year with new challenges. There's still room to grow in the preparation before the season begins on Aug. 23 versus Briarcrest. "If we can dominate up front like we did last year, if we get that in a good spot, I feel like it's gonna be a really good year for us," Waggener said. One thing for Houston is certain, though. Its mindset is ready to attack another championship run. "The goal for this season is to be in Chattanooga and get another gold ball," Waggener said. "We're not going to hide from it, we're going to go get it."

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Houston High School Athletics

HOUSTON FOOTBALL KEEPS UNDERDOG MENTALITY DESPITE BEING DEFENDING TSSAA CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONS

WENDELL SHEPHERD JR.

Commercial Appeal | 8/6/2024

PHOTO CREDIT: Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal