Best of the Best Texas: Cedar Hill High School 2015 Football Preview

Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA

In the Recruiting News Guru best of the best series, every top high school listed has something to brag about entering the 2015 season. For Cedar Hill High School they can brag about recent history and talent that will carry them through the upcoming season.

These Longhorns are located south of Dallas and Arlington but have put Cedar Hill on the map nationally in recent years thanks to head coach Joey McGuire. Cedar Hill has played in three consecutive 6A Texas High School State Championship games winning the previous two. The Longhorns finished 2014 with a 14-2 record toppling Katy in a 23-20 high intensity game.

Despite losing 12 seniors to the Division-I ranks, a lot of preseason hype is placed firmly on the shoulders of Cedar Hill for a third straight title. USA Today ranks the Longhorns No. 9 and PrepNation has the squad at No. 10.

If Cedar Hill is to make another deep run into the Texas high school playoffs replacing running back Aca’Cedric Ware (US), wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge (Ole Miss), and linebacker Richard Moore (Texas) will be at the top of the list. The biggest concern might be along the offensive line after the loss of Randy Crystian (Georgetown), Jarrid Williams (Houston), Justice Powers, and tight end Kobe Idumwonyi (Houston).

Offense
No matter how much talent a team has coming up from the underclassmen ranks replacing four of five starters along the offensive line will be a difficult task. The Longhorns use a hurry-up offense placing more emphasis on quick hits and quick blocks instead of a grind it out pro-style I-back approach. Knowing assignments and firing off the ball in space can overcome a lack of size upfront.

Whoever wins the starting spots on the offensive line typically get rotated in and out fairly regularly keeping each player fresh for the fourth quarter. The space eaters up front have another challenge and that is opening holes for the next 2,000 and 1,000 yard rushers. Cedar Hill was blessed with Denvre Daniels’ (Liberty) 1,170 yards and 19 touchdowns along with Aca’Cedric Ware’s eye popping 2,440 yards with 34 touchdowns.

Longhorn fans have no fear because two 4-star rated Class of 2017 juniors are here. The production should not drop off much with Kaegun Williams (5’10”, 190) and scat-back Jaylon Jackson (5’10”, 155). Jackson had 32 carries for 262 yards with a score as a sophomore and Williams chipped in 63 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown.

Justin McMillian took all the snaps last year passing for 2,854 yards with 37 touchdowns while only tossing four interceptions. Tough shoes to fill but expected starting junior quarterback Avery Davis is expected to do well. The 5’11”, 188 pound, dual-threat is already rated as a 3-star recruit with offers from Kansas, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Utah State, and SMU.

If Davis is not getting it done junior Garret McGuire can step in and get the job done. If not, when he goes home head coach Joey McGuire will be there to tell him what he did wrong and how to do it better next time.

The top senior receiver is 3-star Josh Stewart. Stewart is a big target at 6’3”, 200 pounds. His 2014 numbers were down with four seniors ahead of him but mainly Lodge’s 1,219 yards and 25 touchdowns. Expect Stewart to have a breakout year.

As is the case with much of the Longhorns’ team, a lot of the talent resides in the 2017 class. Davis or McGuire will have Cameron Buckley (6’0”, 180), Charleston Rambo (6’2”, 170), and even McGuire to throw to if he’s not under center.

Defense
The talent on defense, especially in the back seven, is tremendous. The Longhorns have three Class of 2016 D-I verbal commitments in the secondary with Jameel Moore (Rice), Michael Clark (SMU), and Eric Sutton (SMU). A junior that is expected to get some playing time is Joshua Scott. Clark is a transfer from Sachse who can play safety or corner for Cedar Hill.

The linebacker corps is spearheaded by senior Kolbi McGary (6’1”, 193) and juniors Dimitri Moore (6’3”, 190) and Donovan Conley (5’11”, 195). Keeping offensive linemen off the linebackers are tackles Clifton Coffey (5’9”, 276), Joseph Lamott (5’9”, 267), and junior Glen Waters (6’0”, 250).

Richard Moore was the heart and soul of the Longhorns defense coming up with 175 tackles and 31 tackles for a loss as a senior in 2014. Early on the defense will have to pick up the lost production of Moore as a unit until a replacement is found.

Schedule
If Coach McGuire can pull this young team together for a third consecutive state championship, look for a statue to be erected in his honor. The Longhorns still might be a year away from being truly dominating again but they have enough talent to contend and defend.

The tough games on the schedule include Skyline (Dallas), DeSoto, and South Grand Prairie.

2015 Cedar Hill Football Schedule
Aug. 28 South Oak Cliff at Cedar Hill
Sept. 4 Cedar Hill at Arlington Bowie
Sept. 11 Skyline at Cedar Hill
Sept. 18 Coppell at Cedar Hill
Sept. 25 Bye
Oct. 2 Cedar Hill at Midlothian
Oct. 9 Duncanville at Cedar Hill (homecoming)
Oct. 16 Cedar Hill at Grand Prairie
Oct. 23 DeSoto at Cedar Hill
Oct. 29 Cedar Hill at Mansfield
Nov. 5 South Grand Prairie at Cedar Hill

Photo credit: vype.com; Cedar Hill championship photo