Season preview: Crowley football is looking to keep ascending under head coach Carlos Lynn

In his first year at Crowley, head coach Carlos Lynn guided quite a turnaround.

The former state championship coach at Cedar Hill led the Eagles to a 7-4 mark and a Class 6A playoff berth last fall. The 7-4 mark was a three-win improvement from 2022 and the Eagles won more games last fall than 2021 and 2022 combined.

The pieces are in place this year for the Eagles to have another solid campaign. They will start the season against Birdville at 8 p.m. Thursday at Birdville FA/AC.

“We got a good group coming back,” Lynn said. “A good, cohesive group that experienced a lot of success last year. So hopefully we can build on that success. And try to take another step or two, have an opportunity for some of these kids to show all their hard work and what they did last year was the real deal.”

Six players who earned all-district honors last year return, including Class 6A District 3 offensive newcomer of the year in wide receiver Antayvious Ellis, who had 36 catches for 708 yards and 7 touchdowns as a freshman. He’s a four-star recruit by On3 and is the No. 8-ranked wide receiver in the Class of 2027. He holds 23 Division I offers after one season of high school football.

The man running the offense is quarterback Caleb Williams, a senior who is entering year No. 3 starting for the purple-and-white squad.

He completed 67% of his passes last year, throwing for 2,869 yards with 34 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. The dual-threat quarterback was also lethal on the ground with 771 yards — good for 7.5 yards per carry — and a team-high 7 touchdowns. He holds an offer from Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State heading into the 2024 season after being a first-team all-district pick at quarterback.

“We’re gonna go offensively as he goes,” Lynn said of Williams. “If he’s on, then it’s gonna be a long night for a lot of defenses.”

Opposite of Ellis is senior Derrick Tasby, a first-team all-district pick. The 6-foot, 180-pound target led the Eagles in catches (63), yards (826) and touchdowns (13) last season.

“Man, if we can get a repeat performance, that will be great,” Lynn said of the wide-receiving duo. “Those guys really, really solidified us offensively. They made things a whole lot easier for Caleb. Tasby is just a Swiss Army knife. He does so many different things in our offense. We use him in so many different ways. Look for him to have a great guy season. And Tay is going to be outstanding. He’s really gotten stronger, he’s gotten faster, so it’s going to be real good to see those guys.”

The offensive line features sophomore Alexander Herrera, a 6-foot-6, 275-pounder who holds an offer from Texas Tech. Senior offensive tackle Keyapha Harris (6-2, 280) holds a handful of Division II or NAIA offers.

The running attack will be young but a name to watch is sophomore Kenyen Cotton, who ran a 11.3 second 100-meter dash this spring.

Three of the team’s four first-team all-district players are back — the exception is Priest Ashe, now a defensive lineman at the University of Louisiana.

Senior Tamondre Bowie returns at outside linebacker, while the secondary returns junior cornerback Brandon Ford and senior safety Jonathan Blake.

Lynn calls Blake and Bowie the anchors of the defense that provide leadership.

“Those guys are heat-seeking missiles as far as football games,” Lynn said.

Lynn says Ford (5-11, 180) is a ‘lockdown corner’ who will be matched up with the opposition’s best target each game. Ford has garnered interest from D-I programs, holding 18 offers so far, including from Texas Tech, SMU, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Kansas State and Houston to name a few. He had 17 tackles and one interception last year.

Blake had three interceptions and 30 tackles last fall and holds eight offers, including from UTEP.

Bowie did a little bit of everything last year and filled up the stat sheet. He had 89 tackles, 13 TFL, two sacks, four interceptions, two pick-sixes, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a blocked punt.

The defense is returning seven starters.

Junior defensive back Jaleel Allen, who has offers from UTEP, Pitt and Arizona, will join Ford and Blake to comprise a tough secondary.

Senior defensive end Ke’Shawn Morris had 26 tackles — 9 for losses — and holds an offer from UTPB, Central Michigan and Stephen F. Austin.

Also returning is Linebacker Tyler Hooper had 49 tackles as a sophomore and is second among returning tackler behind Bowie.

Crowley will look to return to the playoffs for the third year in a row, something that has happened only happened once in program history in the 2017 through 2019 seasons.

However, with the success last year, Lynn says the goal is to go deep in the playoffs.

“We’d like to try to make an appearance in at least that third round of the playoffs,” Lynn said. “We get that far, we got a chance to do something special.”

The last time a Crowley team went to the third round? A quarterfinal run back in 1971. That team accounted for two of the team’s five playoff wins in school history.

Crowley has dropped its last six playoff games, so one win to snap that streak would be a good stepping stone.

They will be tested this year with a new look district with Mansfield, Mansfield Lake Ridge and Mansfield Legacy joining the district — though the Eagles played and beat Legacy last year.

Also new to the schedule are Tyler Legacy, Dallas Skyline and Galena Park North Shore — a top 20-nationally-ranked team.

North Shore is the No. 3-ranked team in Class 6A by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football — behind DeSoto and Duncanville.

North Shore features three of the top 50 players in the state and cornerback Devin Sanchez is the nation’s No. 1-ranked player at that position and is an Ohio State commit.

“We get the opportunity to really pull out the measuring stick and see where we are as a team early,” Lynn said of the David vs. Goliath-type matchup. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that if we lose that game. Got an opportunity to go out and really see where we are. So we’re excited. Our team is excited. Our community is excited to be hosting that game. We’re looking forward to it.”

That early test will come in Week 2 and will arguably be the biggest game of the year for the Eagles — that is until they play rival North Crowley in the regular-season finale.

Star-Telegram high school sports editor Charles Baggarly contributed to this story