Just before Christmas 2024, Indian Cain Hayden was catching passes in the 2A State championship football game against Stamford.
After signing his letter of intent to play football at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, Hayden will get to continue playing. “The campus was nice,” Hayden said about UMHB.
“It was nice there and it is an opportunity for me to continue playing football.”
Playing football is something Hayden is excited about and is ready to get started. He isn’t sure if he will get playing time his freshman year, but that’s his goal.
Hayden racked up the accolades while in high school making the all-district team all four years, as well as making the all-state team his senior year and was named the State Championship game Defensive MVP. He also finished second all-time in receptions for the Indians.
“Cain was the first male athlete to make the first team Academic All-State, for the first time in eight years,” Ganado Athletic Director and head coach Josh Ervin said.
“More important than all the athletic accomplishments, Cain embodies what it means to be a Ganado Indian,” Ervin said. “Everything he does is A class.
He is a young man of great integrity and he gives total effort in all aspects of his life.”
The UMHB football team are members of the American Southwest Conference and have a winning tradition and went 9-3 last year.
While in college, Hayden plans on studying engineering.
The UMHB football team will play their first game of 2025 in early August.
