FOOTBALL: Abilene High closing in on title

Some outstanding offensive football players have come through Abilene High in recent years.

Taylor Potts and Lyle Leong, who graduated in 2005, set several school records in the passing game and then excelled at Texas Tech. Herschel Sims, a prominent member of the Eagles’ 2009 state-championship team, rushed for an 81-yard touchdown for Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Longtime Abilene High coach Steve Warren said his current crop of playmakers — quarterback Evin Abbe, running back Paxton Grayer and receivers Keevan Lucas and Tyler McGary — might not be as good individually as some of their predecessors. But together, they might be unmatched.

 “We’ve had some exceptional guys, there’s no doubt about that,” said Warren, in his 16th season with the Eagles. “As a collective group, this may be the most explosive group we’ve had overall.”

Abilene High (6-3 overall, 4-0 District 3-5A), which will try to complete an unbeaten district run when it plays Permian (6-3, 3-1) at Ratliff Stadium Friday night, easily has the most explosive offense in the league. The Eagles average 499.9 total yards and 46.6 points this season, and they’ve been even more productive in district play.

Abbe is the leading passer in district games with 1,141 yards and 11 touchdowns. Grayer is the leading rusher with 616 yards and seven touchdowns — he’s averaging 10.8 yards per carry — and McGary and Lucas rank first and third, respectively, in receiving yards. McGary has 378 yards and three touchdowns, while Lucas has 330 yards and two scores.

Blayze Walker and Grayer — who earlier this season became the second player in school history to have 100-plus yards rushing and receiving in a game — have combined for 273 yards and four touchdowns receiving in district play.

“It’s great as a quarterback knowing we have enough dynamic players that can make explosive plays and put the ball in the end zone,” Abbe said. “It makes things a lot easier on me that I can put the ball in the vicinity and they’ll go up and get it, and we have a running back I can give the ball to and there’s no telling what he can do with it.”

The Eagles’ offense was at its best against rival Abilene Cooper last week, racking up a school-record 643 total yards in the 62-6 win that clinched at least a share of the district title. Grayer rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and Abbe passed for 349 yards and two scores while rushing for another. McGary, who finished with 10 catches for 198 yards and a touchdown, came close to the program records for receptions and yards in a game.

“That was one of those games where everything just kind of clicked,” McGary said. “Eight turnovers by Cooper kind of helped that.”

Permian coach Gary Gaines said the Eagles are “the real deal” nonetheless, and they might be good enough to make another run at a state championship.

Warren said it’s still too early to start thinking about that. He’s just glad to have such a versatile and balanced offense, which wasn’t a guarantee entering the season.

The strong and speedy Grayer was the team’s only skill-position player with previous varsity experience, and Grayer was only a part-time starter last year. Abbe was the sophomore team quarterback and had to win a preseason battle with Nate Kittley, but the junior has played like a veteran with 14 more touchdown passes than interceptions and a completion percentage of 66.7.

“They’ve obviously exceeded my expectations,” Warren said. “I thought we had a chance to be pretty good on offense, but when you start a whole new set of skill guys from last year, you really don’t know. But as the season has progressed, these guys have just gotten better and better and better.”

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