Baker Hornets Football Looks to Defend Region 1 Title Behind Veteran QB Tate Graham

The Baker Hornets open the 2026 high school football season with a target on their backs after claiming their first Region 1 championship since 1989 a year ago, and head coach Eric Scott says the program’s foundation is strong enough to withstand significant roster turnover.

Baker finished the 2025 campaign 9-3, capped a run to the second round of the Class 7A playoffs before falling to Opelika, and delivered just the third region title in the West Mobile school’s history.

The season extended a remarkable three-year stretch under Scott, during which the Hornets have gone 26-9 overall — the best three-year run the program has produced — and earned a final state ranking in four of the last five seasons after collecting only one ranking in the decades before that.

Replacing the group that made it happen will be the Hornets’ biggest challenge this fall.

Baker graduated a trio of its most dangerous offensive weapons in Khatori Marion, Speedy Wheeler and Joshua Jones from an attack that averaged 31.8 points per game, eighth-most in Class 7A a year ago.

The defense loses just as much production, with Ronald Reed, Ashton Stokes, Keandre Pettway, Carmelo Taylor and Jerrod Grissom all gone from a unit that ranked eighth in the classification by allowing only 18.7 points per game.

What Baker does return is arguably the most important piece on the field: a proven starting quarterback.

Senior Tate Graham threw for more than 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns against just seven interceptions last season, and Scott is counting on that experience to steady an offense that will otherwise look considerably different.

“It’s going to look a little different, but we’re going to try to continue to be explosive on offense,” Scott said. “We’re definitely going to be tempo, continue to do the things that have been successful for us here in the past. Tate really has done a great job of controlling the offense, running it. He’s mastered it. He’s doing a great job, and as he goes, we’ll go.”

Graham won’t be doing it alone. Senior Gavin Wood, who piled up more than 450 total yards and six touchdowns in 2025, returns alongside emerging junior receiver Jamien Pryor as Baker looks to develop a new supporting cast around its veteran signal-caller.

“The identity has changed,” Scott said of the offense. “They’re a younger group, especially on offense. Those guys around Tate are younger, so Tate is like the older brother over there, and there’s a bunch of little brothers. Having them focus and getting those guys to learn how to lock in and play at a high level consistently has been the challenge.”

The defense, meanwhile, brings back enough experience that Scott believes it can carry the team early while the offense finds its footing.

Edge rusher Kaden Moorer returns after a disruptive 2025 season, and the Hornets have experience up front with Lavondraie Roscoe, Caiden Davidson and Davale Cunningham. Baker’s linebacker corps could be one of the deepest in Region 1, returning Theodore Roberts, Alex Hawthorne, Gacorian Smith, Champion Campbell, Jax Williamson and Jordan Drinkard.

Senior Myles Johnson headlines a secondary replacing three starters that Scott still expects to be among the region’s stronger units.

“They’re going to be fast again,” said Scott, a longtime defensive coach. “We’ve got a chance to be pretty good. They’re continuing to improve, and they’re taking some steps now that I’m very excited to see. Once we figure a few more things out on defense, I think we have a chance to be pretty good.”

Baker will also be playing under a new wrinkle from the Alabama High School Athletic Association this fall, which expanded its playoff format to allow six teams to qualify from each region — a change that widens the postseason field even as the Hornets try to defend their regular-season title.

With Graham back under center and a defense that returns much of its front seven, Baker enters preseason workouts as one of the more experienced teams in Class 7A, Region 1, even with major question marks at the skill positions. How quickly that younger supporting cast develops will likely determine whether the Hornets can make it back-to-back region titles for the first time in program history.

Graham on Taking the Leadership Reins

Graham, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior, enters his third season as Baker’s starter and says he understands that with a much younger supporting cast around him this fall, the leadership burden falls even more squarely on his shoulders.

“I have to be able to change the way I lead according to the situation,” Graham said.

Last season, Graham played behind a senior-laden group of skill players who already knew the playbook inside and out. This year is different.

“But now I’m having to lead these young running backs, lead these young receivers and just kind of take control of the offense and then take control of the team,” Graham said. “So I think over this summer, we’ve already made strides. I’ve made strides and we’ll be ready come August.”

Graham said he watched closely how last year’s senior class led the team before it was his turn, and has tried to build his own approach from that example along with lessons from coaches and players he has studied at higher levels. “I think it’s just recognizing how talented they were and just knowing that they’ve gone through more things in terms of high school football than I had,” Graham said.

“So now I’m taking what I learned from them, but then also what I’ve heard from other coaches and players and players in the NFL and all that and putting it together to make my own leadership role.”

A Passer First, But More Mobile Than He Lets On

Graham described himself as a “strong-arm, pro-style” quarterback who prefers to stay in the pocket rather than tuck and run, even though he has more athletic ability than his career carry total suggests.

“I can run but it’s not my first option,” Graham said. “I can escape and make things happen, but I’m not the one that is going to run the ball 20 times a game. I’m going to sit in the pocket and make things happen and when I have to escape I can throw on the run and make things happen.”

Coach Eric Scott said fans should expect to see more of that mobility on display this season. “People don’t realize just how fast he is and what he can do with his legs because he hasn’t had to use them in the past,” Scott said. “I think he’s just a complete player in my book, and we’re glad we’ve got him.”

Graham’s career passing numbers back up the trust Scott has placed in him. Last season he completed 185 of 289 passes for 2,896 yards and 27 touchdowns while carrying the ball just 14 times for 55 yards.

As a sophomore starter he threw for 1,498 yards and 14 touchdowns, and as a freshman he appeared in just three games, completing all three passes he attempted for 13 yards. He enters his senior season with 4,407 career passing yards and 41 touchdowns.

College Commitment and Season Opener

Graham recently announced on social media that he has committed to continue his football career at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

He said growing up as a self-described “college football nerd” who pored over stats and recruiting coverage of top quarterbacks made his own recruiting process feel surreal.

“Growing up I would read the stats and read the newspaper and all that and see these guys, these top-notch guys like Tua (Tagovailoa) or guys like that and then just seeing their recruiting process and now me being thrust into it is pretty cool,” he said.

Baker opens the season on Friday, Aug. 21, at home against Class 4A Williamson, which went 13-1 last season and advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals.

Williamson returns several highly regarded players, including defensive back Jaylen Scott, an Oklahoma commit, and linebacker Ellis McGaskin, a Florida recruit.

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