Top 25 Early Contenders high school football team preview: No. 5 Cedar Hill

Top 25 Preseason Early Contenders - No. 5 Cedar Hill
View images by photographer Keith Owens from his preseason photo shoot with the Longhorns

It will go down as best agonizing season-ending loss in the history of Cedar Hill football. At least for the non-seniors on the 2015 Longhorns team.

Blessed with extremely talented 2017 and 2018 classes, Cedar Hill lost a painstaking 37-33 first-round 6A playoff game to Carroll (Southlake). The Longhorns went into the game 9-1, winners of back-to-back state championships and feeling very confident.



"It definitely left us with a huge chip on our shoulders heading into this season," Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said. "We're very focused."

As if the Longhorns need anything else.

The three-time state champions have never been more talented or experienced. Of their 58 seniors, 10 have been offered Division I scholarships and seven others have paths to lower-level rides. On top of that, four incoming juniors have been offered full Division I rides. They return 16 starters from last season, 10 on offense.

See the Cedar Hill Early Contenders photo shoot

That's why just about everyone in the talent-rich state of Texas is picking the Longhorns as its No. 1 squad.

"This team has a chance to be pretty special," said McGuire, entering his 20th season at Cedar Hill and 14th as head coach. "We learned the hard way last year that you better play hungry. I'm confident in this group that they will."

The Players
Dual threat 6-foot-1, 195-pound quarterback Avery Davis is licking his chops to play his senior year with this group. The Notre Dame-bound standout has what McGuire believes is the best tandem receivers in the country in Charleston Rambo and Camron Buckley.



Rambo (6-2, 172) is committed to Oklahoma and Buckley has 20 college offers and is strongly considering Miami, Ole Miss and TCU. A third receiver, Colorado commit Jaylon Jackson (5-10, 180), played on the 2013 and 2014 state title teams but is out until midseason with a knee injury.

"(Rambo and Buckley) are inseparable on and off the field," McGuire said. "They're complete opposites. (Buckley) is always on fire and gets everyone fired up. (Rambo) is an equal competitor but does so quietly."

Some believe that senior Kaegun Williams (5-10, 190) is the best all-round back in the state. He has seven offers, including Tennessee, Cal, Colorado and SMU. Stanford and Texas are also looking at the all-around back.

"He's got incredible balance," McGuire said. "Like Barry Sanders, he's really hard to tackle. Defenders don't necessarily hit him, he hits them. Besides that he has great hands, we run him in the slot, and he blocks well."

Talented backs Marquise Forman and Josh Fleeks will also get plenty of carries, but everything revolves around Davis, who passed for 1,966 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushed for 934 yards and 13 more scores.

"He's pretty quiet kid who has a lot of fun with his teammates but is very serious on the field," McGuire said. "He's smart, that's why Notre Dame wants him. He's a true leader. He uses a stern tone when he needs to.



"As an athlete, he's got a cannon for an arm and he's got legitimate 4.5 speed (in the 40-yard-dash). He'll beat you equally with his arm or feet."

The Longhorns have plenty of size and skill up front with center Zion Byrd (6-3, 315), tackles Donovan Runnels (6-4, 280) and Dylan Taylor (6-4, 290) and guard Glen Waters (6-1, 265). Tight end Parker Cupp (6-4, 250) is strong catching and blocking.

On defense, Cedar Hill features future college players Shabazz Dotson (6-4, 265) and Deven Lamp (6-5, 230) on the line and linebackers Dimitri Moore (6-3, 210), Devin Rader (6-0, 205) and Greg Jackson (6-1, 210). The secondary, a possible area of concern early, is led by safety Josh Newman (6-1, 190).

"(The secondary) is already improving and looked good in 7-on-7s," McGuire said. "We have the athletes there, we just need some experience."

The Schedule
The Longhorns will need that experience by their season opener Aug. 27 when they host No. 3 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) in one of the best games of the year nationwide. The Gaels have won 39 straight games.

The game will be televised on ESPN and McGuire said 2,500 seats will be added to Cedar Hill's stadium. The Longhorns also host No. 8 DeSoto (Texas) on Sept. 23.



"There will be 10,000 folks jammed in for (the Gorman game)," McGuire said. "It's going to be an incredible opportunity to play one of the best programs in America. It helps give us tremendous focus during the offseason because we'll have to be ready from the get-go. We'll find out immediately our strengths and weaknesses."

And just how deep that chip runs, too.