McEachern and Kell are set to open the second week of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic on Wednesday night, though the start time has already been pushed back after the first game ran long. The matchup is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kell High School, but organizers said they would provide an updated kickoff time once it was available.
It’s a fitting stage for two programs with real Corky Kell history. Kell has been part of the event every year since 2010, while McEachern remains one of the classic’s founding teams. So even before the ball is kicked, this one carries some built-in weight.
McEachern walks in with a roster that looks very different from last season’s group. The Indians graduated 35 seniors, and coach Kareem Reid is working with a 22-player senior class, his smallest since he arrived in 2023. There’s still plenty to like at the top of the lineup, though, starting with junior Casey Barner.
Barner gives McEachern a little bit of everything. He can create offense with the ball in his hands and also brings a hard-hitting edge on defense. Reid made it clear how valuable that kind of player is.
“He loves football, so it’s easy to coach a kid like him because he wants to be great,” Reid said. “He’s dynamic on offense with the football in his hand. On defense, he’s a contact guy.”
McEachern also brought in several transfers who could matter right away, including senior quarterback Brenton James, junior receiver Zyon Robinson and senior linebacker Joakim Gouda. Gouda is expected to miss the opener while he continues to recover from a sprained MCL.
Reid pointed to an offseason trip to Greensboro, Georgia, as a key part of the team’s bonding process. The players spent four days together without their phones, something he believes helped a roster with so many new faces connect away from the field.
Kell, meanwhile, is coming off a big season and a bigger challenge. The Longhorns finished 11-3 last year and reached the Class 4A state semifinals, but they now make the jump to Class 6A after reclassification. That means a new level of week-to-week grind, and they’ll have to handle it while replacing several major contributors.
Chief among those departures is quarterback Kaleb Narcisse. Junior Boston Pierce is expected to step into that role. Another name to watch is senior running back Moonie Gipson, who broke his ankle in Kell’s 35-6 semifinal loss to Creekside last season.
Wednesday’s game also comes with a coaching connection. Kell’s Bobby May was Reid’s offensive coordinator at Westlake in 2018 before later taking over as head coach there. Now the two will be on opposite sidelines in a matchup that Reid said he’s looking forward to.
“It’s always good to take on a quality opponent early in the year,” Reid said. “It’s always fun matching up against one of my former assistants.”
For both teams, that’s exactly what this is: an early measuring stick against a quality opponent, and a first real chance to show what 2026 might look like.
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