News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days: Gautier Gators
The greatest show on turf, the Gautier Gators were a sight to behold in 2022 led by All-American Quarterback Kaden Irving, who led the state in passing as a senior, en route to the best season in program history.
Back for more in 2023, the Gators check in at stop number eight on News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days.
“Losing that game in South State, we’re trying to go all the way this year.”
“When you get that close, you’ve got something to lose, so it’s like when you lose it, it’s just gone and you’ve got to wait for the next chance.”
Head Coach Marc High said, “I tell the kids it’s kind of like getting a nice meal to eat. When you’re first tasting it and you’re really liking it, you’re going to go back and get some more, so that’s been our mentality. Let’s try to go back and get some more.”
Practicing over Thanksgiving week for the first time in program history last season, Gautier was plenty hungry for its first-ever South State plate. “You’ve got to earn it. I mean you’ve got to earn the respect. It’s not given to you. You have to go get it, so I feel like last year that group we had really fought for it.”
After losing their season-opener at Provine, the Gators ripped off eight straight wins by an average margin of victory of more than 32 points per game.
With Region 4 Class 5A up for grabs in a winner-take-all regular season finale at Picayune, Gautier was more than ready for the moment, pushing the defending 5A state champs to overtime where the Gators came up just short in the game of the year 48-42. Wide receiver Kelvin Beavers said, “I’ve got to say the first Picayune game, even though we lost, that was a good memory, great atmosphere.”
Defensive tackle Angel McGee said, “I remember everybody going full speed, 11 people to the ball. I remember our offense firing on all cylinders. We had a really reliable quarterback. We had a nice O-line. I mean it was a big O-line. We loved them. And our receivers firing, like they were catching the ball, doing things that I haven’t seen them do.”
The Gators went on to win their first playoff game since 2005 and then another one, their first two home post-season games in school history.
Their reward, a rematch against eventual back-to-back state champion Picayune, who won the sequel 49-14, ending Gautier’s season at 10-3. Middle linebacker Xzavier Hye said, “A good ride. We can’t do nothing except thank God about it, and onto next year.”
“Our whole life, they doubted us. We had bad seasons, but once we got here, we made sure that goes out the window. That wasn’t fixing to happen no more.”
“I tell the kids there’s expectations now. We did something now, everybody really liked it. Now the expectations are going to be very high for us.”
Ole Miss baseball signee and former News 25’s Student Athlete of the Week Kaden Irving, who threw for more than 10,000 yards in his varsity career, will be sorely missed. But the Gators keeping it in the family under center, promoting his cousin, Trey Irving, to QB1 and air raid general. “Well, there’s a lot they do differently now. This one here is a little more shifty, a little quicker. When we went to it, we knew Kaden would be able to get it, and then we knew with Trey coming up behind Kaden, we knew that this could be something that could have a little life span here.”
Despite losing A.J. Phillips to graduation and four-star recruit Dillon Alfred to transfer, Gautier still returns a top 15 receiver in the state in Kelvin Beavers. “Everybody says we don’t have it this year, but we’ve just got to prove everybody wrong.”
Defensively, the Gators are led by C.J. Nelson, Xzavier Hye, and Angel McGee, who says it all comes down to effort. “Don’t downgrade on my defense because my defense is coming as hard as we can.”
“How are you going to take getting hit? You fall, you get hurt, you’re going to get back up. How are you going to take that? How are you going to take dropping a ball? What are you going to do? Like you have to want it, and you have to drop all those mistakes and stuff and come back with a clear mindset, and you have to play football, do what you do best.”
This season, the Gators bring back 19 seniors as well as three starters on offense and four on defense. That Class of 2024 ready to build on the legacy left by the class of ’23. “We just want to go all the way.”
“We want to get past where we made it to last year. Come out with something new, bring back a ring.”
“Well, it’s like we talk about every year. We tell every senior class at the beginning of the year, first practice, we’ll call seniors up, and I’ll say, how are you going to be remembered? How are you going to be remembered when all of this is said and done? Did you do the right things? Did you do it every day? Did you leave an example for the younger guys coming up, the ones in middle school watching you? What did you do on a daily basis to be remembered in the right way?”
Gautier is the one of the last teams to kick off its 2023 season as the nightcap to the Port City Bowl against Gulfport on August 25th.
