Biggest Storyline for Each 2025 TXHSFB State Championship Game
Did South Oak Cliff Golden Bears' investment in State 7-on-7 pay off? Is Kilgore Bulldogs vs Stephenville Yellow Jackets the premier QB matchup? We discuss.
The premier QB matchup of State Championship Weekend
Based on high school production, Kilgore’s Kayson Brooks against Stephenville’s Trot Jordan is the best QB matchup of all the state championship games.
Brooks, a senior, has the edge in state championship experience over Jordan. In his first year starting in 2024, he broke numerous Kilgore passing records and led the Bulldogs to a state championship game. After falling to Celina, Brooks is out to end his illustrious career by avenging the loss. He’s thrown for 3,134 yards, 29 touchdowns and 5 INT.
Stephenville was the preseason No.4-ranked team in Class 4A DI, but replacing the QB was an offseason question mark. Much like Brooks last year, Jordan emerged seemingly out of nowhere as a junior. He’s thrown for 3,163 yards and 44 touchdowns to just 4 INT.
Can Scott Surratt cement his status as GOAT high school coach
Not only does Scott Surratt hold the most state championships in TXHSFB history, but he is also a perfect 10-0 in title games. The most impressive stat: only one of those contests was decided by one score. Wait, I forgot the actual most amazing stat. Surratt has more state championship wins (10) than playoff losses in his career (8).
If Carthage wins this game, Surratt officially doesn’t have enough fingers for his state championship rings. In my mind, this makes him the automatic greatest TXHSFB coach of all-time.
Damn, I’m getting old
Grandview versus Yoakum is one of three state championship games in which no player on the field has any state championship experience. The other two are 3A DII’s Wall versus Newton and 2A DI’s Joaquin versus Hamilton.
But wait, how can that be? Wasn’t it just a couple of years ago when Grandview superstar Dane Jentsch won back-to-back Offensive and Defensive MVPs in the 2018 and 2019 state title wins? Well, Grandview’s current seniors were in sixth grade when that happened. Dane is now an assistant coach on the team, and his brother, Briggs, is a two-way star as a freshman.
Ok, well, we’ve seen Bo Robinson lead Yoakum to Jerry World recently. It was only 2016. Current star wide receiver X’Zavier Barnett and the rest of the Yoakum seniors were in third grade. And some of Yoakum’s biggest playmakers, like Germann and Germarquis Robinson, are underclassmen.
So while we’ve seen these helmets before, there are new faces under them. Who handles the moment better?
Two great offenses, two different styles
Don’t blink, you’ll miss the touchdowns that happen in this game. These are Class 3A’s two fastest teams facing off at AT&T Stadium.
Both programs have different racing styles, however. The Newton Eagles are a ground-and-pound offense with a two-headed monster of Kendray Porter Jr (1,828 yards, 29 touchdowns) and Deldrick Samuel (1,302 yards and 26 touchdowns). Wall, meanwhile, is one of the state’s best aerial assaults. QB Landon York has thrown for 3,868 yards and 57 touchdowns to just 6 INTs. While Wall has a balanced group of receivers, Reid Robertson has the numbers that pop with 1,326 yards and 20 touchdowns.
The only state championship between two teams making their first-ever appearance
No, these programs didn’t just start, either. Joaquin has played football since 1930, which is a young program compared to Hamilton, which began in 1914. That’s the same year World War I started.
Joaquin made the state championship as a playoff three-seed (finishing third in District 11-2A DI). It’s a playoff run only rivaled by what Joaquin did last year, when it made the state semifinals as a four-seed.
Joaquin would be the de facto Cinderella story on state championship weekend if not for Hamilton. The Bulldogs’ all-time record is 492-522-32, a .485 winning percentage. This is just the fifth season ever in which Hamilton has won double-digit games.
In a state championship rematch, what's changed?
Last year’s state championship, a 36-29 Muenster win, was an instant classic. Muenster QB Casen Carney’s rushing touchdown with 40 seconds left, and the ensuing point to his ring finger, was one of the most iconic moments of the weekend.
Carney is back this season, but so is most of the Shiner squad. The Comanches lost just five lettermen from last year’s state finalist team. So, with so many of the principal characters back, what’s changed?
Muenster’s offense still lives and dies with Carney; 99 percent of the time, they thrive. Carney has thrown for 2,514 yards and 35 touchdowns to just 2 INTs. He’s the leading rusher by far, too, with 1,621 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Shiner has a new QB at the helm of its split-back veer offense, sophomore Jarvis Williams. But TXHSFB fans will remember Quincy Jones, who had 87 rushing yards and a touchdown in the state title game last year.
Can Gordon become the greatest six-man football team of all-time?
Ok, Fort Hancock did win four consecutive state championships from 1988-91. But if Gordon completes the three-peat, this will be the most dominant six-man football team of all time. The Longhorns have three Division I football recruits: Stryker Reed (Air Force), Ry Reed (Army) and Brayden Walters.
In their semifinal game against Union Hill, Gordon scored 69 points on 12 offensive plays. They were tackled just three times. Gordon is so dominant in six-man football that it even played an 11-man game against a Class 2A playoff team in Thorndale… and won 54-21. The closest margin of victory in a six-man football game was 44 points.
The pedigree clash between two of the most-decorated six-man programs
Jayton is making its sixth state championship appearance and has the crown from last year, but Richland Springs is the most historic six-man football team of all time, with 12 state championship appearances. Does Richland Springs take back the throne, or is Jayton narrowing the game as six-man football’s preeminent brand?
Another interesting storyline is how dominant these defenses are in the usually high-flying six-man game. Outside of a season-opening loss to Gordon, Richland Springs is allowing 9.2 points per game. Jayton, meanwhile, has only surrendered 20 points in a game one time this year.
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