Last weekend, Hightower made a statement to the Texas high school football outlook by defeating perennial superpower Westfield.
Their decisive 14-9 victory over the Mustangs came on the heels of defeating Pearland Dawson (21-20) in the season opener, giving the Hurricanes a perfect start to the Fall season.
After taking the reins of the program in 2021, coach Cornelius Anthony has evidently turned the Fort Bend team into a force worth reckoning.
“Our mentality moving forward is ‘Why Not Us?’,” he said. “I’ve been blessed and fortunate with a great staff, and to have won a lot of games that this program had never been able to do previously. Two years ago, we defeated Manvel which had never been done before, and now the same thing happened with Westfield, last Saturday.”
“One of the things that I’ve been telling the players is ‘why not us?’, why shouldn’t this be the group that makes history for the program?”
The former Texas A&M linebacker certainly has the right mentality as the Hightower play-caller. What’s been the secret ingredient that has invigorated the program to re-establish its precedence?
“We’ve got a special group of seniors this year,” said Anthony. “They are completely bought-in to the culture of excellence that we’re instilling in our young men. They are locked in, and they are focused on keeping their eyes on the prize. That involves making sure their academics are taken care of, operating with class and character within the community, while putting in the work on and off the field.”
“Furthermore, I’m so proud of my staff for preparing our guys and putting together air-tight game plans to make sure they are successful. The difference with this group, in comparison to any other group that I’ve coached, is that they trust and believe in that.”
Sr. WR Zion Kearney (Oklahoma-commit)
Jamey Wright (VYPE)
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Sr. RB Jeremy Payne (TCU-commit)
Jamey Wright (VYPE)
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Sr. DL Dailon Ellis
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Sr. DB Ephraim Dotson (Rice-commit)
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Jr. QB Joseph Stewart Jr.
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Sr. DB Kameron Reddic
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Sr. LB Braylen Kizzee
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Sr. OL Jeremiah Swarz
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Jr. DB Kade Phillips
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Sr. DB Kelon Fountain
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Given the tremendous start the Hurricanes have had through the first two weeks of play, one might wonder what more can be expected from this program.
“I tell the guys this all the time…‘If you look at an elephant and somebody tells you to eat that elephant, looking at that is a very daunting and overwhelming task’, Anthony said. “But the way you do that is one bite at a time. You just focus on what you can do at that moment. So, we just need to focus on being 1-0.”
“We aren’t looking behind us because that’s over with, and we aren’t looking too far ahead of us because that hasn’t come yet. Right now our focus is on the one opponent we face each week. If we can do that consistently, and we’re fortunate and blessed enough to make that happen, then good things will come.”
Hightower certainly has the players and determination to carry on this momentum. They start district-play against the Travis Tigers this Friday, so the show is just getting started.
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