Sweetwater High football coach Ben McGehee likes his chances with his young and growing team going forward.
“This season we were really young and had a rough season at 1-9,” McGehee told Texas Scorecard. “Although our record was poor, we were competitive in most of the games and have a lot of experience coming back next season.”
Much of the veteran coach’s optimism centers around the return and bright future of freshman quarterback Leo Holsey. The 5-foot-9, 145-pound rising star started all 10 games for the Mustangs this season, seemingly getting better and better with each game.
On the season, Holsey finished with 1,314 yards passing and 12 touchdowns, while completing a more than respectable 63 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 283 yards on an average of more than eight yards a carry and another two scores.
In three of the Mustangs last five games, Holsey passed for more than 200 yards, and in their lone victory of the season over Peco (37-34) amassed 172 all-purpose yards and a score.
“He’s a dynamic player who can hurt you with his arm or his legs,” McGehee said. “He will be the leader for our football team for the next three seasons.”
Sweetwater finished sixth in the 4A-2 Region 1 District this season, averaging 26 points a game over their last four, including a 37-34 season-ending overtime home loss against Monahans, where Holsey passed for 214 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 61 yards and another score.
Holsey’s heroics against Monahans came on the heels of him passing for 211 yards and a score in a Week 9, 36-23 road loss at Fort Stockton.
