Top 10 Games on the First Friday Night of the 2026 Season
The best games on the first Friday night of the 2026 Texas high school football season include Allen vs. Duncanville, Richmond Randle vs. South Oak Cliff, and Newton vs. West Orange-Stark.
We couldn’t think of a better matchup for the first Dave Campbell’s Friday Night Football spotlight game, with Greg Tepper and Greg Powers on the call. Not only is this matchup a banger, but it’s between two programs who deserve more coverage on a statewide scale than they normally receive.
Coach Rick LaFevers has turned Fort Bend Ridge Point into one of the most underrated Division I football factories. Since taking over in 2020, LaFevers has sent 71 Panthers to college football, including 46 to the DI ranks. John Snelson’s Dickinson Gators, meanwhile, are coming off a 13-1 season, the deepest playoff run since 2015.
As for the actual game, this is an intriguing matchup. Dickinson quarterback Lorenzo Aguirre is back for his senior season after winning District MVP with 3,410 passing yards and 43 touchdowns. He’ll face one of the toughest defenses he’ll see all season in Week 1. Fort Bend Ridge Point returns eight starters, headlined by three-time captain Dyllon Bennett at linebacker.
For multiple reasons, we need to shout out Jason Todd and Brian Randle.
Most importantly, Todd has turned South Oak Cliff – the school where his grandfather was the longtime principal – into the greatest inner-city football success story of all time. Randle has taken a brand new school named after his father, a decades-long superintendent, to back-to-back state championship games.
But, most selfishly as a TXHSFB fan, shout out to them for scheduling this state championship grudge match in Week 1. Richmond Randle won an instant classic in 2024, while South Oak Cliff got its get-back in 2025 in dominating fashion. After Randle was bumped up to Class 5A DI, there’s a scenario where we never see a third game between these two juggernauts. But Todd and Randle, in many ways, aren’t like most head coaches. And we are thankful for it.
One of the many perks of my job is that I get to watch Texas high school football games for free. But this has quickly spoiled me. My attitude is now, ‘If I gotta pay, I’m not gonna play (go sit in the press box and type on my computer).’ But Port Neches-Groves at Port Arthur Memorial might be the one game the stadium staff could name their price for, and I’d happily pay whatever it was to sit in the stands.
These two teams have some of the proudest fan bases in the state, but they’re also in the Golden Era, arguably, of their program. Port Arthur Memorial is coming off its best season in program history, a 14-1 run to the state semifinals. Port Neches-Groves is 53-7 with two state championship appearances since Jeff Joseph took the reins.
All this is a recipe for a damn good time.
Don’t mistake Columbus as a heavy underdog for being a Class 3A DI program going up against a Class 4A DI team. The Cardinals have experience playing non-district games against teams higher in the pecking order. And if they don’t win outright, they at bare minimum take them to the mat. This year should be no different. Coach Matt Schobel’s squad returns 17 starters from an 11-3 team, including Texas Longhorns lineman commit Keyon Hemphill-Woods. His Cardinals are the preseason Class 3A DI State Championship pick in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine.
But they’ll have their hands full with Bay City. The Blackcats went 9-4 last season and expect to be stronger in 2026. The confidence starts with senior athlete Keimarion Wiggins, a First Team All-State utility player last season. Wiggins had over 2,200 total yards and 31 touchdowns at quarterback, and is also one of the team’s best defensive players.
This game is gonna hurt. Like, you might sit in the stands and leave with a few sympathy bumps and bruises just from watching these two teams beat each other up. West Orange-Stark and Newton are two of the toughest teams in Southeast Texas. They’re gonna line up and smash into each other’s brick wall until someone taps out.
Both programs were named the best defensive lines in their respective classifications. But they also each have arguably the best running back in their respective classifications. West Orange-Stark RB Khelvy Jefferson is already the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,208) ahead of his senior year. Newton RB Kendray Porter Jr. is a preseason Class 3A Player of the Year candidate after rushing for 2,400 yards and scoring 40 total touchdowns. This is truly a case of when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
Not to go all Stephen King here, but I have two scary ideas to put in your head. Waco La Vega returns 17 starters from an 11-3 team, and Coach Don Hyde’s ballclubs only get better as the season goes along. Franklin, on the other hand, is coming off a 9-3 season – an excellent year for 99 percent of TXHSFB programs – but just the second time in 15 years the Lions failed to reach the third round of the playoffs. Mark Fannin’s Lions will be out to prove they’re the kings of the jungle once again.
These Gulf Coast powers are connected by more than just small-school Texas high school football dominance. Tidehaven head coach David Lucio was the offensive coordinator at Bay City when Ganado head coach Josh Ervin was the senior quarterback. Lucio joked that Ervin could’ve been the offensive coordinator as a senior in high school. Judging by Ervin’s success at Ganado, he probably wasn’t joking. Ervin is 47-10 over his first five years, bringing Ganado its first state championship in school history along the way.
We expect this game to be much closer than last year’s 38-12 Tidehaven win. Tidehaven had a historic senior class last season that compiled a 50-8 record over four seasons. Meanwhile, Ganado’s 11-2 finish can easily have you forget that the Indians were in rebuilding mode coming off the state championship year. With 18 returning starters hungry for revenge, this should be a cinematic experience.
Hamilton is one of the most intriguing storylines heading into the 2026 season. Fresh off the first state championship since the program’s inception in 1914, the Bulldogs are bumping up to Class 3A DII. Bremond, a 2A DII program that we can set our watch to playing December football, is a perfect test to see if Hamilton could be as good as last year’s team.
Bremond returns seven starters on each side of the ball, headlined by All-State honorable mention QB Sam Kasowski (2,478 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, four interceptions). It’s strength on strength, because defense should be Hamilton’s calling card, at least early in the season. The Bulldogs bring back three-year starter Colton DeLaGarza (141 tackles, six interceptions) and linebacker Easton Marwitz, one of the state’s breakout stars as a freshman with 179 tackles.
These are two of the Big Country’s best, and you can be sure both teams will bring their best in Week 1. The 2026 season opener is a grudge match. Hawley and Albany are knotted 2-2 in the non-district series since 2022.
But this game is also exciting because of the questions both teams have to answer. Look, Albany and Hawley are going to make the playoffs – and probably go on a deep run. The coaches are too good for less. Over 39 years as Albany’s head coach, Denney Faith has soared to fifth all-time in career wins (379) and playoff wins (82). Meanwhile, Mitch Ables has a 126-31 record since taking over at Hawley, leading the Bearcats to their first state championship in program history in 2022. But Ables has a quarterback competition on his hands for the first time in years, and we still don’t know who’ll take the first snap against Albany. Faith, meanwhile, has to find some new skill position weapons for Preseason District Offensive MVP QB Clay Chapman. We’ll find out a lot about each program on August 28.
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