The 2026 Mid-Season Teams of the Year
The Brazosport Exporters are 5-0 for the first time since 1999, Mason Punchers have opened up the new Puncherdome in style, and Allen Eagles have state's best resume.
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln started 4-0 for the first time in school history. Those four wins were more than the Huskies had from the 2018 to 2025 season combined. In that span, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln had five winless seasons, a COVID-canceled season, a 2-8 season, and a 1-9 season.
We don’t know how this season will end for the Huskies. They lost their district opener 40-6 to Mission Pioneer, and they’re nine-point underdogs against Laredo Cigarroa this week. But regardless of what happens from here on out, Coach Daniel Cortez’s squad is one of the state’s best stories.
Brazosport made the playoffs six straight years from 2017-22. But since the 2022 season, these Exporters have been derailed by back-to-back 0-10 seasons, and a 2-8 season last fall. Now, under new head coach Justin Velasquez, Brazosport is 5-0 for the first time since 1999.
Velasquez, a young offensive mind who cut his teeth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area but had never been a head coach, said hiring Oscar Trevino as his offensive coordinator and Richard Davis as his defensive coordinator was the best thing he ever did. Brazosport ranks top ten in the state in most improved offense (29.2 more points per game) and defense (30.6 fewer points allowed per game). Velasquez says his coaching staff is working more hours a day than they have in their careers, and it’s paid off with a historic start.
The defense has been buoyed by breakout sophomore stars. Linebacker Parker Pinckard has racked up four sacks on the season, while Luke Kucera leads the team with 8.5 tackles per game. Junior running back Carnell Hinton is averaging over 100 yards per game on the ground.
One week before the start of the season, East Bernard head coach Jeremy Jenkins and his wife, Brandy, were killed in a single-car accident. They left behind four kids and an entire community in mourning. The Jenkins family had only been in East Bernard for two years, but Coach Jenkins was the heart and soul behind one of the most memorable seasons in the Brahmas’ storied tradition. East Bernard was counted out multiple times – first after a 0-3 start, then after an embarrassing 59-6 loss to Tidehaven in the district finale. But they stormed to the state semifinals with a miracle kickoff return against Poth and a revenge game over Tidehaven.
When talking about the season with Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, Jenkins said he hoped it’d make his football players better men one day.
“This is why athletics are so awesome,” Jenkins said. “A month ago (against Tidehaven), the wheels fell off, and the entire community was humiliated. But in life, the wheels are going to fall off. Somebody will get cancer. You’ll lose your job. If you keep your composure, stick together, and do the right thing, you can overcome it. That’s the beauty of athletics. It mimics life.”
At the Jenkins vigil, community members wore that quote on their maroon shirts. In the face of unbelievable tragedy, Jenkins's football team has embodied his quote in the 2026 season, starting 4-1 with signature wins against Edna and Ganado.
I’ve struggled with how to write and talk about East Bernard’s season. I’ve cringed a little when I’ve heard myself and others say it’s a great story. It’s truly an awful story, and I feel like we need to acknowledge how awful it is. But we can also acknowledge that what these kids are doing is great. If they played this entire season and didn’t win a game, they would still be courageous. Instead, they’re 4-1, and giving this town something to rally around.
I’ve talked to enough coaching families to know how much time they invest in these kids. I also know the doubts that creep in, the questions about whether or not all this time is really changing these kids for the better, if the lessons they’re saying are really breaking through. I don’t know if Jeremy and Brandy ever had those questions. But I do know that if they did, they’re smiling down on this season now as their boys answer them.
In a sport known for its stadiums, Mason’s “Puncherdome” is on the Mount Rushmore of most iconic Texas high school football venues. Originally a horse racing track, Mason’s football team began playing there in the 1930s. Soon, the townsfolk realized the unique overhang on the home-side bleachers protects fans from the elements and, even more importantly, creates a megaphone to amplify their cheers.
In May of 2024, the Puncherdome sustained critical damage from a windstorm, forcing the town to demolish the iconic overhang. Over the 2026 offseason, Mason ISD completely rebuilt the Puncherdome. Superintendent Sean Leamon said the new and improved Puncherdome will look similar to the original, but “will hopefully be here another 100 years.”
This fall, Mason ISD unveiled the new Puncherdome, and Mason head coach Wade Griffin unveiled a new and improved football team. Mason is one of the state’s most storied small-school programs and was coming off a 10-4 season. But after the first half of the season, we’ve noticed that these Punchers might hit harder than the average Mason team. Mason is now the No.2-ranked team in Class 2A DI after beating undefeated Ingram Tom Moore – a team two classifications bigger than them – by three touchdowns. Mason has also beaten defending state champion Hamilton and is scoring 57.4 points per game.
The team’s dominance, combined with the iconic stadium’s reopening, makes them the story of Class 2A football.
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