District champs!

Call him the X-factor.

Kilgore's Xavian Sanders began making plays early Friday night in the Bulldogs' eventual 27-14 win over Nacogdoches here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium — and several of them helped the Ragin' Red earn another district championship.

Sanders had a dynamic catch

from quarterback Steven McBryde on the third play from scrimmage that he took the rest of the way for an 82-yard touchdown, had two fourth-quarter interceptions, then made another tightrope-like catch in the back of the end zone of a pass from McBryde for an insurance score.

The senior wide receiver/cornerback can now celebrate yet another District 14-4A championship, something that it seems like they do at Kilgore every year.

"I couldn't be any prouder of our team, our coaches, or our fans," coach Mike Vallery said, after the game. "We love to win district championships around here. We were able to put ourselves in the position to do that again. It's one of those things our kids have gotten used to doing, and we like to keep it right here."

SANDERS Kilgore (8-2 overall, 4-1 in district play) wrapped up the regular season with the victory, and will face Marshall in the first round of the UIL Class 4A Division 2 playoffs this Friday night. That game will be played at Maverick Stadium in Marshall, a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

The district played out to a wild conclusion in the final weeks, with the last two playoff spots not being claimed until Friday night. Headed into Friday's games, Kilgore and Lindale were the only two teams that had clinched playoff spots. Whitehouse defeated Henderson, 56- 35, to win the No. 3 playoff spot in the district. Lindale hosted Jacksonville and would have been the No. 1 seed in the Division 2 playoffs with a win, but Jacksonville pulled the 22-19 upset, and in the process — coupled with Kilgore's win over Nac — the Indians claimed a postseason berth.

Whitehouse would have played Longview if Nac had made the playoffs, but with Jacksonville sneaking in, that allows Whitehouse to face Texas High. J'ville will take on Longview, and Kilgore and Marshall meet once more.

The Bulldogs and Mavericks have had a knack for running into each other in big games, and while Kilgore lost the first battle between the two this season (Marshall beat KHS 28-18 on Sept. 12), the Ragin' Red have been playing arguably the best football in East Texas since the second week of district play.

GO, BULLDOGS! — The Kilgore High School cheerleaders (right) had plenty of reasons to be happy Friday night after the Ragin' Red claimed another district title. KHS defeated Nacogdoches, 27-14, and will open the UIL Class 4A playoffs at Marshall this Friday night, a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Marshall beat Kilgore earlier this year, one of two losses by the Bulldogs in 2008. Above: Kilgore running back Frank Reddic (4) runs through the tackle of a Nac defender, behind the blocking of Vince Cano (68) and Jeff Watson (64). Against Nac last night, that was no different.

With the numbers the Bulldogs' rushing game has put up in recent weeks, opponents have begun trying to slow down Kilgore running back Frank Reddic. Nac seemed bent on doing that in the first quarter, but that allowed McByrde, after buying some time, to complete a pass to Sanders. Sanders made the catch past midfield, was hit by a Nac defender near the goal line, but spun away and into the end zone to put Kilgore on the scoreboard with less than five minutes gone by in the game. Officials ruled the point after was wide right, but Kilgore led 6-0.

Nac got a big 37-yard return on the kick from Jermichael Smith, but it was nullified in part by a personal foul flag on Nac that moved the Dragons back 15 yards. Kilgore linebacker Mishaud Austin, as he's done all year, came up with a big play of his own on third down on that series, sacking Nac quarterback Chase Wallace for a 6-yard loss. Austin would add another sack in the first half, as well.

The punt was partially blocked, and Kilgore claimed the ball at its own 33. The Bulldogs picked up just 1 yard on the first two downs of the series, but McBryde found another KHS receiver, Devaron Harvey, for a 37-yard gain on the third-down-and-9 play. Harvey made a diving catch to Nac's 29-yard-line, and then Reddic picked up 9 on the ensuing first down. It was all offensive line and Reddic after that, as the senior tailback scored six plays later on a 5-yard run. Reddic finished with 160 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns.

Nac missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, but did intercept a long pass by McBryde on the last play of the half to avoid going down by three scores.

The Dragons came out and moved the ball early in the second half, but once again missed a field goal after running about six minutes off the thirdquarter clock.

Kilgore's next drive ended with a very rare fumble by Reddic at the Nac 4, but not before the Bulldogs had ran the time off the third quarter almost entirely. Nac recovered the fumble at at its own 6, but couldn't pick up a first down and punted the ball back to Kilgore.

Sanders picked off Nac's Wallace on the next Nac offensive possession, which led to a 3-yard touchdown from McBryde to Sanders (in the back of the end zone), and when Nac got the ball once more, it was Sanders making yet another interception. He returned the second one to the Dragons' 5, and Trevor Moon scored on a 1-yard run two plays later. Bustin hit 3-of-4 extra points in the game, the last one with 7:17 left.

Nac scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes, the final one on a kick return by Damian Leonard, but Kilgore's Andrew Ector recovered an onside kick attempt by Nac and the Bulldogs knelt down to end the game. McBryde went 3-of-9 for 122 yards, with Sanders making two of those catches and Harvey the other.