It’s hard to stumble into Gordon, Texas — population: 470. It’s just a couple miles off of I-20 in Palo Pinto County, but if you blow past the exit for Highway 193, you’re out of luck.

But if you can find your way there, you may just find some of Texas’ last true hidden gems.

Stryker Reed and Ry Reed are the headline attractions for the Gordon Longhorns, the two-time defending 1A Division I state champions. The numbers are staggering: Stryker, the 2024 Division I player of the year, accounted for 44 total touchdowns — rushing, receiving, passing and defense; Ry, the 2023 player of the year who had to settle for Offensive MVP honors last season, scored 31 times in total.

That’s 75 touchdowns between the two, a stat made all the more flabbergasting by the fact that Gordon only played 320 minutes and 15 seconds of actual football last season — 13 of the Longhorns’ 15 games ended at halftime due to six-man football’s 45-point mercy rule, and only one game went the full 40 minutes.

Put another way: someone with the last name Reed was in the end zone every 256 seconds.

But if you’re worried about infighting over who gets the touches, don’t be.

“You can be selfish when other people have the ball,” Stryker Reed said. “I’m gonna go get mine — I’m gonna pancake this guy, I’m gonna make sure I get my blocks. You can still stand out on film even when you don’t have the ball.”

It’s a way of thinking that starts at the top, with head coach Mike Reed.

“You have to preach a propaganda mindset and brainwash them,” Mike Reed said. “It’s never about the name on the back of the shirt — it’s about the name on the front.”

Though the name on the back of the shirt is the same, the Reeds are of no relation —Stryker is Mike’s son, and Ry is the son of head basketball coach Shad Reed. Shad enjoyed a successful run with Callisburg‘s hoops team before Gordon needed a coach in 2022, and Ry was quick to make friends in his new town.

“I think the first time I met everybody was at Stryker’s birthday party — and from then on, we were just attached the whole summer,” Ry Reed said. “I knew right away this was gonna be like a family.”

That familial relationship has paid dividends in the form of the back-to-back state titles, plus excellence on the basketball floor and the track. But even with two titles under their belt, there’s no sense of an accomplished mission.

““We’re not satisfied,” Ry said. “We want to make sure that if somebody talks about the greatest six-man teams to ever play, they say the Gordon Longhorns.”

Stryker and Ry’s exploits are even escaping the usually insular Class 1A football ecosystem — the duo made history this offseason in being named the first six-man players to be named three-star prospects by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. The duo have picked up offers from the likes of UTSA and Army, and there’s more on the horizon.

It’s no surprise to their head coach. If anything, it’s a long-time coming.

“If Stryker was playing at North Crowley or Westlake, he’d be getting recruited by Alabama and Texas,” Mike Reed said. “He’s that kind of talent — it’s just a little harder for us.”

It’s all part of the struggles of getting recognition at the smallest UIL classification, and playing a distinctly different brand of football.

“If you’re coming from six-man, you’re not one position — you’re an athlete,” Stryker said. “That’s the coach’s job to figure out where you fit.”

For now, the Gordon duo — fresh off leading the Longhorns to a state track title — have eyes set on a three-peat. They’ll work together, but there is one thing they disagree on.

“I know Stryker probably told you he’s faster than me,” Ry said. “But he’s not. I’m faster.”