Three defending champs fall on opening night

It was a wild opening night of Texas High School Football on Thursday as a pair of state champions fell on national TV. The defending 6A-Division I state champions, Galena Park North Shore, raced out to a 21-7 halftime lead on Katy, but the Tiger defense dominated in the second half to take down the Mustangs 24-21. North Shore had several key players missing and it showed, especially on offense. But the real story was Katy’s defense which contained the Mustang’ speed in the second half. Katy’s offense wasn’t great and had several mistakes, but in crunch time, the Tigers showed why year in and year out they are one of the state’s top programs making big plays on both sides of the ball. While down in Mason, Fox Sports Southwest brought the magic of the Puncherdome to the entire country as defending 2A-Division I state champion Mason hosted 3A-Division I powerhouse Wall. A year ago, Mason went to Wall and knocked the Hawks off in a close one, but this year a veteran team from Wall had no problems with the defending champions rolling past Mason, 47-7, and ending the Punchers 38-game home winning streak. We almost had five defending champions go down as both Highland Park and Longview needed late heroics to escape with wins on Friday night.

Richmond Foster makes a statement

After a crushing loss to district rival Alvin Shadow Creek in the regional finals, it was evident that No. 3 Richmond Foster was ready to get the season started as the Falcons obliterated College Station, 52-14, to open the season. Foster raced out to a 28-0 halftime lead on the strength of three first-half touchdown passes from QB Ryan Stubblefield and a defense that didn’t allow a single first down in the first two quarters. It’s only Week 1, but there’s no question Shaun McDowell’s squad validated their high ranking with an impressive win and are certainly on the short list of state title contenders.

Arlington Martin drills Lake Travis

In one of the most surprising results of Week 1, unheralded Arlington Martin, a team that posted a 5-6 record a year ago, went three hours south to Austin and beat state power Lake Travis. Bob Wager’s Warriors dominated, rolling to an impressive 35-14 victory. Martin’s defense flustered Lake Travis QB Hudson Card and totally took away Lake Travis’ ground game and outscored the Cavaliers 21-0 in the second half to get the win. The Warriors have a quick turnaround this week as they’ll take on Hebron Thursday night in a now much anticipated Thursday night DFW showdown.

Plano ISD’s rough start to 2019

It was not a good start to the season for Plano ISD. In fact, the past three weeks have been forgettable if you include the public relations debacle Plano ISD endured with the cancelling and rescheduling of the El Paso Eastwood game in Week 2. On Thursday night, Plano East, considered the best team in PISD and a playoff team in 2018 was stunned by Hurst Bell, a team that had only won a single game in the past two years. Plano, on Friday, took on highly-regarded Hebron and got absolutely annihilated, trailing at one point 53-6 in the second half, before adding three window-dressing scores in a 53-26 loss. The most respectable performance came from Plano West who despite being mired in a 27-game losing streak showed fight and major improvement in a 17-7 loss to a Frisco Reedy team who posted a 13-1 mark in 2018.

Corpus Christi Miller rolls

Corpus Christi Miller is a team that many think has potential to make a lot of noise down in South Texas this year and the Buccaneers are living up to the hype after routing San Antonio Highlands 79-0 to open the season Thursday night. QB Andrew Body led the way for Miller throwing six touchdown passes, but even more impressive was the much-maligned Miller defense pitch a shutout. If Coach Justen Evans’ defense can take the next step, this is a real district title contender in 15-5A Division I.

Lubbock Estacado stuns Lubbock Coronado

4A Division II Lubbock Estacado didn’t seem fazed facing much larger Lubbock ISD opponent Lubbock Coronado on Friday night. In fact, despite Coronado’s rout of the Matadors in 2018 and the Mustangs’ deep playoff runs in 2017 and 2018 pedigree was on Coronado’s side. Pedigree doesn’t win you games however, and the boys from East Lubbock got a major win and hometown bragging rights shocking Coronado 36-30 Friday night. Trailing by one point 30-29 late in the game, sophomore backup QB Colby Sims stepped in when Estacado’s starter was suffering from leg cramps and delivered the game winning scoring pass of 35-yards to Keke Murray to lift the Matadors to the thrilling win and what could be a major springboard to big things in 2019.

A week of impressive debuts

Lots of new faces in new places had impressive debuts this weekend, including Tyler Chapel Hill led by HC Jeff Riordan. The Bulldogs were considered by some to be underdogs against Crandall, but certainly didn’t look that way as they routed the Pirates 42-0 to equal their win total from 2018. Joe McBride returned to coaching after a stint as Coppell ISD AD and his McKinney Boyd Broncos were very strong Thursday night rolling past Garland Naaman Forest, 45-7. New Magnolia HC Craig Martin’s squad opened up the 2019 season rolling past Barbers Hill 35-10. While down in Columbus, local legend Matt Schobel hopes to bring the Cardinals back to prominence and they got off to the right start with a big win over eight ranked Goliad, 42-20. While in DeSoto and Beeville, some old faces made returns to town with wins in the first games of their second stint at their respective schools. Claude Mathis’ DeSoto Eagles had no trouble with Odessa Permian in a 35-14 win, while Chris Soza’s Beeville Jones Trojans rolled past Kingsville 49-21.

Waco University upsets Waco

For the first time since 2009, Waco University owns bragging rights in the city of Waco as the Trojans stunned Waco High 36-35 to open the season Friday night. Special teams proved to be key for Rodney Smith’s squad as University had a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns and with less than a minute left, Jaylen Marshall broke through and blocked a Waco High PAT that would have tied the game up. University looks to carry this momentum into district play in 5-5A Division II, which begins in just two weeks as they are in a nine-team district.

Brock shut out for the first time

Brock has only been playing varsity football since 2013 and the Eagles’ incredible success has been well documented, but with their youngest ever team in 2019, it was expected Brock would go through some growing pains early in the season. Those growing pains showed up Friday night in a 10-0 loss to Brownwood at home, which marks only the second time the Eagles have opened the season with a loss and the first time that they were shutout.

Denney Faith gets to 300 after a long wait

We thought Albany HC Denny Faith would get win number 300 a year ago, but after an 0-5 start to the season the Lions wound up falling a game short of AT&T Stadium and getting their coach that milestone in a state semifinal loss to Gruver. Albany made sure Coach Faith didn’t have to wait long in 2019 taking care of Colorado City 18-3 to put Denny Faith in rare air when it comes to all-time Texas High School Football coaches with that 300th victory. Albany’s defense was dominant in the win allowing just 39 yards on the ground and forcing four turnovers.