ARLINGTON -- Soon after Jamie Driskell took over head coaching duties at Malakoff High School in 2009, he instituted a seven pushups rule after every offseason practice and Friday night game. Except the players wouldn't count it out. Instead, they'd chant.

"Every. Decision. I. Make. Affects. The. Team."

Malakoff was 0–10 the year before Driskell arrived. That inaugural season, they went 8–3. And ever since, it's been a long build to winning the program's first Class 3A Division I State Championship over back-to-back defending title winners Franklin. But Driskell won't take all the credit.

"It's important to hire people smarter than you," Driskell said.

It's also important to have players who've bought into the process. Driskell remebers in those early days when the coaching staff had to lay the hammer down. Sitting next to junior quarterback Mike Jones and senior wide receiver Chauncey Hogg, he was reminded how deep the culture's seeped into the program. Hogg and Jones were the examples of guys who took younger players off to the side to show them the ropes during the long grind of a season. 

"I've been asked this question, 'What's the difference in this team, and prior teams,'" Driskell said. "These two guys - especially Chauncey and Mikey - probably Doc (Renberg) and Josh Garcia, we've never had leaders like them. They're the best leaders we've ever had. And we've had some good leaders, don't get me wrong."

After the final horn sounded, Hogg sat down on the AT&T Stadium turf for a minute to soak it all in. Driskell spoke on Hogg's intelligence as a senior, how he knew every position in the wide receiver corps and defensive secondary. That intuition was tested Thursday afternoon when Hogg was rotated from cornerback to safety to shadow Franklin's Devyn Hidrogo. Hogg aced it, limiting Hidrogo to two receptions and 31 yards. A legacy-cementing performance.

"As a senior, all you want to do is win state," Hogg said. "You just kind of keep everybody in line, and work as a coach, but not really as a coach."

Where as Hogg's performance was sendoff, Jones's day was the breakout. But he's been a celebrity in Malakoff for some time.

Jones used to go by Mikey as a kid. Once he got to middle school, however, the coaches started calling him Mike as a comparison to the rapper Mike Jones. The coaches even made a bet that Jones wouldn't introduce himself as "Mike Jones" at a school pep rally.

Sure enough, Jones went out in front of the school and grabbed the microphone.

"It's your boy, Mike Jones!" Jones said.

The entire football team shouted back 'Who?', and the name stuck. It seems Jones has always been comfortable on the big stage. The junior completed 10-of-14 for 140 yards and 2 TDs. He also added 103 rushing yards. Hogg was his favorite target, reeling in seven catches for 108 yards and two TDs.

And while Jones and Hogg were part of the 2023 Malakoff group which finally reached the mountain top of a state championship, they're far from the only guys who've had a hand in the achievement. These medals were earned starting back in 2009, seven pushups at a time.

"The ex-players we've had since '09 all the way through, probably 300 to 350 kids, they're a part of this," Driskell said. "They're part of the reason that we have won. We've learned lessons from maybe their losses. I just want them to know that they're a part of this as well. I wish we could give them all a medal."