‘It Felt Amazing’: Pineville’s Ayden Tate Delivers School-Record 407-Yard Performance in Road Win
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
When Pineville travels to Leesville for Friday’s regular season game, the non-district matchup has evolved into more than just an opportunity to see one of the state’s top running backs.
The Wampus Cats feature the school’s second all-time rusher in Xavier Ford who’s one of the state’s leading rushers with a 400-yard effort already to his credit this season.
Pineville (2-1) now has its own candidate in the 7 p.m. matchup worth keeping an eye on after junior Ayden Tate took a gigantic leap in last week’s 39-36 victory at Tioga.
Tate, who began playing running back midway through the 2023 season, has been the team’s focal point in its new no-huddle spread offense this season. The 6-0, 195-pounder gave a glimpse of his potential a week ago, becoming the top rusher in a single game in the 72-year history of the school with a 37-carry, 407-yard outburst, and four touchdowns.
“I’m not going to be scared of another opponent who plays the same position on the opposite team,” Tate said. “I’ve heard of his name (Ford) and watched film and he’s a really good running back. That’s not going to stop me from playing the way I played last week. I’m going to keep pushing, I’m going to get better and work on things I need to work on. Knowing that I’m playing against another running back, I’ll try and learn some things from him if I see anything, and maybe have a great game like last week.”
Pineville split its first two games at home, falling to New Iberia (35-24) before posting a win over Avoyelles (35-20).
The constant in those first two games were less than desirable conditions on Pineville’s natural grass field which gave way to rainy and muddy conditions.
Tate was derailed to some degree, averaging 2.9 yards per carry with 98 yards and three touchdowns on 33 attempts.
“We’re in a new offensive system,” said Pineville’s fourth-year football coach Bryant Bell, whose team previously operated a triple-option Flexbone scheme. “Ayden started the last half of our (2023) season and did some really good things in district. For a sophomore to start in our district is not going to be kind to anybody. It got him ready for this year. The first two games of the year were played in sloppy, muddy, and wet conditions. It was Ayden’s first opportunity to run on a dry surface at Tioga and it treated him well.”
Pineville was locked in a duel with Tioga, leading 23-21 at halftime. The Rebels extended that lead to 29-21 in the third quarter on Tate’s 24-yard touchdown when the Indians rallied to twice tie the game over the last four minutes of the game.
Pineville got the ball back in the final minute of play and drove the field to set up a game-winning field goal from Jaco Li with eight seconds left.
For Tate, it was the perfect ending to a perfect night.
“I didn’t realize I had run for over 400 until after the game,” he said. “It felt amazing doing that.”
Pineville Finds Way for Offense to Feature Tate
Past contributions were more common on the defensive side of the ball for Tate, one of the best athletes on the team. When it came line to lay out a vision for the future of his offense, Pineville’s coach decided to speed things up and get to the line of scrimmage quickly enough to task opposing defenses.
Pineville was 2-8 a year ago with an offense that was shut out twice and scored a touchdown or less six times. The Rebels, already with 99 points, didn’t reach that point total until the seventh game last season.
“We’re getting to the line and snapping the ball and you’re trying to catch the defense off guard,” Bell said. “The kids love it. It’s what we’re doing to live and die with. We have a good senior class that came in with me and we’re trying to send them out on the highest note. I’m calling the plays, but everyone’s got a voice and responsibility on Friday nights. It’s truly a group effort.”
Bell said the transition to a faster pace of offensive football was done in part with Tate in mind, a scheme that best suited his talents that would have an experienced offensive line leading the way.
“For what we’re doing here we need a tough running back,” Bell said. “It takes a man to carry the ball 37 times is what he did the other night. That’s not for the faint of heart or the weak-minded. He was a centerpiece of it. We knew coming in we would hand the ball off 25 times a game to him.
“I had no idea he’d carried the ball 37 times,” Bell said. “Some of his carries were untouched to the end zone. We have a team full of hard workers and that’s what it took the other night. His success wasn’t an accident. It came from years of preparation.”
Bell has no reservations in saying Tate could have remained on defense where he would have impacted the defense in an equal manner. He may still play linebacker in certain situations with Pineville set to face the likes of Alexandria, West Monroe, Neville, Ruston and Ouachita in District 2-5A play.
“You ought to see him rare back and chunk it,” Bell said of Tate’s throwing abilities. “He’s our backup quarterback. He can throw it further than anybody on our team. He also catches it well, so we’re not afraid to flex him out and throw it to him. There’s a lot that he can do.”
Making It All Work
The process of flourishing has been a constant grind for Tate that’s included time in the weight room and his conditioning. The transition to a new offense has also taken patience to get a better grasp of the playbook and the blocking schemes.
After the first two weeks of further learning the plays, Tate said that he and his offensive line worked in concert to produce the most yards in a game in school history.
“Last week I understood everything perfectly,” Tate said. “I didn’t start reading the blocks better until Tioga and I ran it pretty good.”
That’s an understatement.
Behind an offensive line with multi-year senior starters Elias Sellers at left tackle and Dayton Bass at center, Tate enjoyed a night most running backs could only dream about.
The Rebels’ line, which also includes junior left guard Kelby Clayton, junior right guard Brady McCann, and right tackle Kamryn Perry – all first-year starters, paved the way for Tate along with senior first-year starter Zachary Tranchina at tight end.
“I couldn’t have done it without my offensive line, without everybody doing their jobs,” Tate said. “The game went pretty well. I tried my best and set a record. I was seeing the holes better in the first quarter, I noticed that my line was doing their jobs and our quarterback (Carter Smith).
“Their energy pushed me,” Tate said. “I didn’t want to be lazy and walk around. After every carry or play, I wanted to run to the next play and get set. Seeing the way my offensive line and the receivers blocked, they did really good. Not to get touched sometimes by people felt amazing. Watching everyone on the sideline and in the stands felt amazing.”
Bell also credited sophomore running back Hy’keem Mix for taking over on certain series and allowing Tate to catch his breath.
“He definitely bridges the gap so that Ayden can come out here and there,” he said. “With our up-tempo offense, Ayden touched it 37 times, but we need someone else to touch it. We need 40 other plays as well. We can’t throw the ball 40 times. It’s definitely a team effort for him to get there.”
Tate’s fast start was only eclipsed by his effort to produce at such a high level in the second half when Pineville needed him.
One of his first scores, a 25-yard touchdown, was a direct snap in shotgun formation, while his other three scores were more traditional on handoffs from Smith. While the holes were massive, Tate also displayed vision and power to make defenders miss or leave them on the ground after breaking arm tackles.
“He texted me on Saturday saying he wasn’t going to let his team down, that he was going to keep going,” Bell said. “He did get stronger as the game went on.”
While his touchdown runs enabled Pineville to either keep pace or extend its lead, Tate also had lengthy runs of 62 and 73 yards which were a thing of beauty that flipped field position, setting up the Rebels in favorable field position.
“I felt pretty good and was very happy with myself,” Tate said. “I couldn’t stop smiling on Saturday. There’s still some work to do. I want to beat that record. I’m going to keep pushing. I still have a lot of the year to go, and I’m still going to push to break that record even though it’s mine.”