Every year when the summer edition of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football comes out, fans and media alike look at the teams we have at the top of the pre-season rankings to get an idea of who likely makes the trip to Arlington to play for a state title at AT&T Stadium in December.

While the teams ranked highly in the pre-season are there for a good reason, we all know there are always a few mystery guests that pop up with deep playoff runs and sometimes state titles when the season wraps up.  Who are those teams you need to keep an eye on in 2019? We’ve got you covered at DCTF as we bring you our 2019 Hipster Picks to keep in your back pocket as you casually drop them into conversation with your friends from time to time, so once they make that deep run, you can look like a Texas high school football genius!

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The “Bold Gold” have a personality for sure, its to line up and run right at you time after time and eventually they’ll have a speedy RB who can cause the dam to break with a long run. That back looks to be Ashton Jefferson and he’ll team with QB Taytem Thetford to lead a veteran offense with nine returning starters from last year’s playoff squad. The Antelopes should also see big improvement on defense with eight back on that side of the ball. Coach Pittman is going to lean on a strong group of juniors to lead the way as PHS looks to get a high seed in a top heavy district.

Valley Mills

7-2A-Divison I is one of the toughest districts in the state and breaking into that top three that features, San Saba, Crawford and DeLeon will be tough, but if you are looking for a possible fourth place finisher that can turn some heads Valley Mills might be your squad. The Eagles have an impressive 17 returning starters and are led by outstanding RB Spencer Eccelston and LB Dalton Martin. The Eagles finished in fourth place last year and might do so once again, but they’ll be a battle tested bunch come November.

Shelbyville

Fresh off a basketball title in the spring there’s a lot of athletic momentum in Shelbyville and Coach Benbow thinks the Dragons are primed to break out in a brutally tough region. Six starters return for the Dragons on both sides of the ball including RB Jaylon Brinson who is a big play waiting to happen. Year two in Benbow’s system should offer more stability and greater understanding of the schemes on both sides of the ball, including the ultra-aggressive 10-1 defense.

Brackettville

Gray Griffin enters his third season leading the Tigers and he’s got squad loaded with experience as just four seniors graduated from a team that was 6-5 a year ago. Brackettville gets overshadowed in their own district by defending state champion Mason, but the Tigers believe their seventeen total returning starters will be key to not only making the playoffs, but sticking around for a few weeks.