Booneville's Dax Goff is 2023-24 SBLive Arkansas high school boys athlete of the year

Goff helped the Bearcats to the Class 3A football title and competed in five sports

Booneville senior Dax Goff is the SBLive Arkansas Boys High School Athlete of the Year for 2023-24. / Photo courtesy of Booneville Schools

Booneville High School seniors Dax Goff and Colter Fisher made a deal before the beginning of the school year.

Goff, a star football player who hadn’t played basketball since ninth grade, agreed to play on the Bearcats basketball team in the winter if classmate Fisher, primarily a basketball player, played football.

The deal worked out well. Fisher found a home in the secondary, and the Bearcats won a football state title. Goff added a fifth sport to his resume as the basketball team won the regional tournament and qualified for the state tournament.

“They tried [Fisher] at running back, but he fumbled four times in the first game, so they moved him to defensive back, and he really helped us there,” Goff said.

“It was fun playing basketball. A lot of that is just the effort. I knew I wasn’t going to score 20 points per game, but I could get a lot of rebounds.”

Dax Goff nearly averaged a double-double in his first season playing basketball since the ninth grade. / Photo courtesy of Booneville Schools

Goff averaged nearly 10 rebounds and nine points for the Bearcats with 1.9 steals and two assists per game. With his instant contribution in basketball and all-state honors in football and baseball as well as solid showings in the state track and weightlifting meets, Goff was named the SBLive Arkansas High School Boys Athlete of the Year for 2023-24.

“I say it all the time: As good as Dax is on the field or in the gym, he is an even better kid,” said Doc Crowley, the school’s head football and track coach. “It is a lot of fun to watch his leadership and the kids underneath him and see how he handles that role. He is a heck of a kid, and we won’t have another one like him. We will miss him a lot.”

Goff, a two-time all-state football player, was already well-known for his gridiron exploits before the 2023 season, but his performance on both sides of the ball his senior season elevated his reputation.

The Harding University signee ran 223 times for 2,691 yards and 39 touchdowns as the Bearcats' top ball carrier. He had two passing touchdowns on three attempts and caught six passes for 161 yards and two more scores. He ran a kickoff and a punt back for touchdowns. He had a total of 43 touchdowns and four two-point conversions, totaling 266 points.

At linebacker on defense, he totaled 99 tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception.

Thanks to Goff’s two-way effort, Booneville finished 13-2 and won the Class 3A state championship over Prescott.

“That was a perfect ending to a storybook high school football career,” Goff said. “I didn’t see it ending any other way.”

The football title was the lone championship this school year for him, but he did take third in the state weightlifting meet in his division and placed seventh at the Class 3A state track meet in the shot put with a toss of 44 feet, .25 inches – a personal best.

Crowley said Goff competes in only two track meets a year because of baseball.

“It doesn’t matter what he is doing, he just competes his tail off,” Crowley said. “No matter the sport, he is doing everything he can to help win.”

Dax Goff managed to squeeze in two track meets this spring while playing baseball. / Photo courtesy of Booneville Schools

Goff finished his prep athletic career on the diamond with another stellar season. He batted .563 with six doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He added 18 walks and 41 RBIs. He finished with a 1.070 slugging percentage and a .660 on-base percentage. On the mound, he was 6-0 with two saves, pitching 50.2 innings with 71 strikeouts, 19 walks and a 2.35 ERA. Opposing batters hit .221 against him. He had a .962 fielding percentage at catcher and threw out 6 of 19 baserunners.

“As good of a football player as he is, he is probably a better baseball player,” Crowley said. “I’m really shocked he didn’t have a D-I baseball offer. He just killed it.”

At one point, it appeared DI football was also in the cards as Kansas State showed heavy interest. Goff signed with the Bisons, who are the NCAA Division II national champions.

Goff said Harding was the first school to show interest in him, and he didn’t forget it.

He said after his sophomore season, he attended a camp at the Searcy school. He acknowledged that season, he was mostly a role player, but that didn’t stop Harding head coach Paul Simmons from calling him by name.

“I went to another school [to visit], and they didn’t really know who I was and weren’t expecting me,” Goff said. “They had to add me to the list. That made me respect the Harding coaches more. When they came down to watch me in spring ball [before his senior season], I committed a few days later. It’s an awesome program.”

Dax Goff was undefeated on the pitching mound this spring. / Photo courtesy of Booneville Schools

While his days at Booneville are over, they won’t soon forget what he did for the athletic department and community. His name will be mentioned in the same breath as some of the other immortals that starred for the tradition-rich Bearcats on the gridiron and in other sports.

And Goff said he will never forget his hometown and how community groups fed him and his football teammates several times during game weeks and all the fan support at all of his games. Those are the memories he takes with him after a stellar senior season.

“I grew up around the program, so I saw how it was to be a part of it from an early age and was so excited to be a part of it as a player,” Goff said. “I’m going to remember the tough practices and the Charleston team camp and the bus rides and the hotel rooms. All of that small stuff and the struggles we went through as teammates. I’m never going to forget it.”

--Nate Olson | nate@scorebooklive.com | @ndosports