We’re three Fridays away from Week 1 of the TXHSFB season, which is simultaneously right around the corner and an eternity away. To help ease fans through the last dog days of summer, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football walked down memory lane with eight head coaches reminiscing about their favorite play calls in their career.

Scott Surratt, Carthage

Carthage head coach Scott Surratt’s favorite play call in his career came directly after what should’ve been his favorite touchdown call was brought back because of a penalty.

The Bulldogs were in a track meet with the 14-0 Brownwood Lions in the 2010 state semifinals. Brownwood’s offense, headlined by future Texas Longhorns wide receiver Jaxon Shipley, was attempting to set a state record for points scored (they’d finish with 801 points in 15 games, a 53.4 points per game average). At one point that year, the Lions had scored on 19 consecutive possessions. 

Carthage’s offense had to keep the ball away from Brownwood. Running back Hunter Holland rushed for over 300 yards, while quarterback Anthony Morgan threw for over 300. But the game was still in doubt even with those heroic efforts. Shipley, who finished the 2010 season with 87 catches for 1,653 yards and 27 touchdowns, couldn’t be stopped by Carthage’s DI safety, corner and linebacker all playing bracket coverage.

“We went for it on fourth-and-13 from our own 20 and fourth-and-10 from our own 30 because we said, ‘We’re not punting it to Shipley. We’re going for it every time,’” Surratt said.

Surratt had to dig deep in his bag of tricks with four minutes remaining in the game and the score tied 28-28. He dialed up a reverse pass where wide receiver Courtlyn Ware took a jet sweep, then threw the ball back to Morgan at QB, who then threw a jump-ball touchdown to wide receiver Edward Pope. Carthage had taken a critical lead for all of five seconds before the official called the touchdown back because Ware had thrown a forward pass to Morgan. 

Surratt was livid, and he let the line judge know it. He’d stood directly down the line of scrimmage and swore Ware’s pass had gone three yards backward. 

“I’d bet you $1,000 that it wasn't a forward pass,” Surratt said.

“How about a steak dinner?” the line judge said.

As Surratt gave the official an earful, Carthage’s coaches in the booth alerted him that the play clock was winding down. They had to stop worrying about the play that would’ve been and instead focus on the play that was about to be.

Surratt called Jack Right Pap 9 Has 9 Go/Leak.

Morgan took the snap and threw a 29-yard touchdown strike on a go route to Courtlyn Ware with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown ended up being the game-winner - Brownwood drove the ball all the way to Carthage’s 5-yard line before an incomplete pass ended the game.

Surratt didn’t win the bet, but his Bulldogs did win their third consecutive state championship the following week.

John King, Longview

John King couldn’t believe the number of fans that lined the street as his Longview Lobos loaded the team bus for the 2018 Class 6A DII State Championship game. As he settled into his seat, he turned to his son, Haynes, the starting quarterback. 

“Son, if we don’t win this one, we may not be able to come home,” John said.

“Dad, don’t worry about it,” Haynes said. “We’re gonna win today.”

Haynes was used to having all eyes on him. Not only was he the starting quarterback; he was the head coach’s son. But even he had never experienced a crowd like the 48,421 fans that packed AT&T Stadium, then the fourth-largest attendance in UIL State Championship history.

“Coming out of the tunnel to see the crowd that had filled the stadium, it sends chills down my spine just thinking about it,” John said. 

Longview trailed Beaumont West Brook 34-29 with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter. The drive prior, the Lobos had settled for a field goal after reaching first-and-goal. That wouldn’t do this late in the game. 

Seeking a spark, Longview called Ricky 70 W Drive. Haynes took the snap and launched the ball from his own 27-yard line to the opposite 18-yard line, connecting with wide receiver Kyas Moore on a post route. Moore didn’t score on the play - he was tripped up at the 11-yard line - but it was the play that won Longview the game. 

Longview’s 35-34 victory broke an 81-year state championship drought and cemented John King as the best coach in program history. For John, that 2018 team was a fitting group to accomplish it.

“There’s no amount of money that can give you that feeling,” John said. “It wasn’t just winning with my son, it was winning with his childhood friends, kids that I’d seen grow up.”

Todd Dodge, Lovejoy

Todd Dodge’s favorite play call is the puke that sealed Southlake Carroll’s three-peat, although “61 smash, backside pipe” didn’t mention throwing up.

The Dragons were tied with Austin Westlake 29-29 with under eight minutes left in the 2006 Class 5A DI State Championship game. Westlake’s defense used heavy pre-snap movement in an attempt to confuse Southlake quarterback Riley Dodge, alternating from one-high safety to two-high safety looks. Westlake checked into Cover Zero, man-to-man, for the first time all day, and Riley’s eyes lit up. 

The problem was, so did his stomach. He yelled the audible for the offensive line, got back into his stance, and threw up a bunch of Gatorade. 

Riley was a dual-threat quarterback who normally ran for 100 yards a game, but he tore up his ankle against Odessa Permian in the third round of the playoffs. He could barely practice before the quarterfinal and semifinal games, then got sick the week of the state championship. By the fourth quarter of the state championship, the lack of conditioning and illness had him running on yellow Gatorade, which was now spread on the Alamodome turf.

As soon as he stopped upchucking, Riley shouted the snap count and chucked a 29-yard TD pass to Anthony Ford. The Dragons went on to win, 43-29, marking the program’s 48th consecutive win.

On Christmas morning, a couple of days later, Todd asked Riley if he ever thought about calling a timeout when he felt himself about to puke.

“Hell no, Dad,” Riley said. “You saw what I saw. That’s the first time they’d been in zero. If I had called timeout, they might’ve gotten into a different coverage.”

Dodge’s other favorite play call doesn’t involve a pre-snap puke, but there were still plenty of similarities between Riley’s touchdown pass and Austin Westlake quarterback Cade Klubnik’s touchdown to Jaden Greathouse in the 2021Class 6A DI State Championship game. Both were part of three-peat championship wins. But both are special to Dodge because it was the first time the 2006 Southlake team and 2021 Westlake team had trailed in a game all season. 

That night, Westlake went into the halftime locker room down 14-13 to Denton Guyer. Westlake’s offense set a big school record with 908 total points and 56.75 points per game, but it didn’t have an answer for Guyer’s defense in the first half. Dodge’s fear that his kids would lose confidence was put to bed when he looked into their eyes and saw they were clear.

Locked in a 23-21 dogfight midway through the third quarter, Dodge dialed up post-smash, a post route for the field side receiver and a smash route for the boundary side. The inside receiver ran a streak route at the safety so that Greathouse could have a one-on-one post route against the cornerback. 

When Dodge’s offense runs a post route, he coaches the quarterbacks to complete it exactly 42 yards deep within a three-yard landing zone that stretches one yard inside the hash and one yard outside of it. Klubnik, in his final game as a starter, threw one of the best balls of his career - 42 yards exactly on the hash. Greathouse took it 69 yards for a touchdown, and Westlake never looked back in a 40-21 victory. Greathouse finished with a state championship game record 236 yards and three touchdowns.

“The reason those two stick out more than anything are all the intangibles that go into them,” Dodge said. “ I’m really proud of our kids for not panicking in the presence of adversity.”

Randy Allen, Highland Park

Highland Park needed many mini-miracles to even have an opportunity for a game-winning touchdown in the 2017 Class 5A DI State Championship game against Manvel. 

For most of the game, coach Randy Allen’s goal was to keep the score within 10 points. Quarterback John Stephen Jones had overcome a state championship record seven sacks in the first half to lead Highland Park’s offense to 646 yards of offense. But every time the Scots scored on a 15-play drive, Manvel responded with a score in three plays. Manvel had six yards less than Highland Park (640) on 46 fewer plays (50 total). 

Jones’ 1-yard touchdown run cut the deficit to 49-46 with 2:06 left in the game. Then, Highland Park wide receiver Cade Saustad recovered an onside kick. Facing a fourth-and-15 with 1:11 remaining, Jones threw a moon ball to receiver Finn Corwin on the sideline to save the season. 

With 40 seconds left and no timeouts, Allen called Rio 59 Delay B Go. The two inside receivers on the left side of the formation ran flag routes toward the back corner of the end zone, while Saustad, the outside wide receiver, ran five yards and stopped for two beats. While Saustad delayed, running back Paxton Alexander ran a wheel route that took Manvel’s linebacker with him down the field. Alexander had nearly scored on an 80-yard catch earlier in the game, so Manvel had to respect it. After the pause, Saustad ran a slant route to a now open window in the middle of the field.

Four defenders surrounded Saustad after he caught the ball at the 5-yard line, but Allen knew he would score. 

“There was nobody that was going to keep him out of the end zone,” Allen said.

The touchdown gave Highland Park its first lead of the game, 52-49, with 35 seconds remaining. Jones finished with 564 yards, the first player to throw for over 500 in a UIL State Championship. Saustad, meanwhile, hauled in 12 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. 

35 seconds was nearly too much time for Manvel. On the game’s final play, quarterback Kason Martin launched a pass to the end zone for his favorite target, wide receiver Jalen Preston. Preston came down with the ball, but was stalemated at the 1-yard line by Highland Park safety James Herring. Preston tied with Saustad with 220 receiving yards, but fell one yard shy of winning state.

Larry Hill, Smithson Valley

Larry Hill’s favorite play calls come 30 years apart. The first marked Smithson Valley’s transition from an unknown to perennial contender, while the second transitioned them from perennial contender to state champion. 

When Hill took over Smithson Valley in the 1993 season, their historical record was 42-120-5. The team was competitive in Hill’s inaugural season but finished 1-9. The Rangers didn’t know how to finish games yet. So, for 1994, Hill’s staff scheduled a softer non-district schedule so the team could learn how to win. Smithson Valley entered their first district game against Canyon, their rival and the reigning district champion, 5-0.

Smithson Valley led most of the game, but Canyon charged back to take the lead with less than a minute to go. The Rangers seemed doomed to repeat the same story of the season before with competitive losses. 

But with 11 seconds remaining, the coaches called L Twins Right 71 Stop and Go. Wide receiver Brandon Parrott had hooked his route in front of the cornerback multiple times on the drive. Now, they would attempt to catch him biting with a double move. 

The call didn’t go according to plan. Smithson Valley’s protection quickly caved, which forced quarterback David Mangan to roll right and throw the ball off his back foot. Parrott had beaten the cornerback, but had to come back for an underthrown ball. He and the corner elevated at the same time, but Parrott came down with the ball. Touchdown, Smithson Valley. Ball game.

Smithson Valley was on the road that night, but the schools were so close to each other that Smithson Valley’s students rushed the field. On the bus ride home, Hill saw something in his players’ eyes he’d never seen before: belief that they could be as good as anybody.

“That has to go down as one of the more significant plays in our program’s history,” Hill said.

Hill compiled a 315-89 record in the decades since. But a state championship trophy was the one accolade that eluded him until 2024. Smithson Valley would not have been able to accomplish it without wide receiver Brody Day’s block in the semifinals against Angleton.

Tied 14-14 with just over three minutes to go, Smithson Valley called one of their go-to QB misdirection plays for Cade Spradling, 24 Q Loco. The Rangers hadn’t had any luck on that play all day; Angleton had scouted it to perfection up to that point. But they went back to the well for one final try.

Day, the wide receiver, had a crack block on Angleton’s overhang linebacker. When the ball was snapped, the linebacker blitzed and caught Day off guard. He shoved him in the side, and Angleton’s linebacker flew into Smithson Valley’s other lead blocker, Cisco Carvajal, wiping him out. Without hesitation, Day peeled around and ran to block the cornerback that Carvajal was supposed to block, essentially doing two people’s jobs on one play. That instinctive move sprang Spradling for a 37-yard, game-winning touchdown.

Day caught 62 passes for 1,358 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2024. But that unselfish, football-savvy decision was his most important play, and represents the culture that Hill crafted for three decades after the game-winning touchdown against Canyon.

Gary Joseph, Katy

Gary Joseph is the defensive mastermind of the famed ‘Weak Eagle’ formation. But his favorite Katy play call since he first took the defensive coordinator job in 1982 was the wrap-around draw in the 2020 Class 6A DII State Championship against Cedar Hill. 

Just before halftime, sophomore quarterback Caleb Koger sprints left to hand the running back the ball off tackle. But as he looped around a squatting Isaiah Smith, standing still behind the guard, Koger placed the ball on his left hip.With the entire offense flowing left for the off-tackle fake, Smith burst through the line of scrimmage on the right side. The 55-yard touchdown gave Katy a 24-0 lead heading into halftime, and the Tigers waltzed to a 51-14 victory.

For Joseph, that play, and the program’s ninth state championship, sticks out for how his team handled the COVID pandemic.  

“It was a special year because it was the COVID year,” Joseph said. “All those things you had to go through with COVID - covering the face, not even knowing if we’d get to travel to the Dallas area to play the game - that’s what was special about it. I’ve had better football teams, but as far as those kids having to fight through adversity - what they had to go through just to play football was pretty special.”

Jeff Kasowski, Bremond

Every December, on the anniversary of Bremond’s 2014 Class 2A DII State Championship win over Albany, Jeff Kasowski’s Facebook friends share Roshauud Paul’s game-winning touchdown. Kasowski gets chills when the camera pans to the crowd and he sees the Bremond faithful going crazy. His program went on to three-peat, but the 2014 team holds a special place in his heart.

“Anytime you do something for the first time, it’s always the sweetest,” Kasowski said.

Almost all of Bremond’s playmakers, including quarterback Paul, were sophomores that season. The Tigers upset their nemesis, Teneha, in the semifinals and were then favored in the championship. But the lights were too bright for most of the game, and Bremond fell behind 21-7 in the fourth quarter. The Tigers clawed their way back to a 21-21 tie and had the ball on Albany’s 23-yard line with 1:25 remaining.

During a timeout, FOX Sports Southwest’s cameras pick up Kasowski’s call: Jumbo Joker Right Weak 09. Jumbo was Bremond’s heavy package, which debuted the year prior in a district championship victory over Chilton. ‘09’ designated a quarterback sweep to the left edge with three blockers in space. The game hadn’t gone their way offensively, but Bremond’s young team ran that play to perfection. Paul ran untouched for the game-winning touchdown.

Kasowski’s other favorite play wasn’t for a state championship, but it was almost as meaningful for his family.

Bremond has run a play for years called ‘KC Special' where the wide receivers run a double reverse and pitch it back to the QB who then throws to the wide receiver who originally took the handoff. Kasowski has called it since he was the offensive coordinator at Melissa, when his Cardinals beat Gunter in the first round of the 2007 playoffs with it. 

In a 2019 third-round playoff game against Flatonia, Bremond was driving for a touchdown with the clock winding down. During a timeout, quarterback Seth Kasowski, Jeff’s son, could tell his father was reaching for a call he didn’t have. 

“I can still see him standing there now in that huddle on the sidelines, Gatorade bottle in hand, looking at me like, ‘What are you fixing to call?’” Jeff said. 

Jeff settled on a slant bubble, to which Seth shot down. 

“What do you want to do?” Jeff asked.

“How about KC Special?” Seth said.

Seth was on Melissa’s sidelines as a kindergartner when his father first ran that play, and it’d been imprinted in his mind ever since. He’d dreamed of the day he could run it himself, and now was the chance.

Bremond ran the play, converted on the fourth-and-11, and went on to win the game in overtime.

Claude Mathis, DeSoto

Every program aspires to become a family, but it’s not often actual family members get to connect for a touchdown in the state semifinals.

DeSoto and Southlake Carroll were locked in a back-and-forth fireworks show in December 2023, a game where the last team with the ball would win. DeSoto trailed 31-28 with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when the coaches called a fake halfback insert pop pass.

Tight end Tristan Bailey had served as the lead blocker all afternoon for running back Deondrae ‘Tiger’ Riden Jr.'s 254 rushing yards. When the ball was snapped, Bailey sprinted through the line of scrimmage and straight at the linebacker like he was about to block him, but instead ducked his shoulder and swam past him. Meanwhile, Bailey’s brother, DJ, faked the handoff to Riden and pulled the ball back to pass. By the time the Carroll safety knew what was happening, Tristan had sprinted past him, wide open. The brothers connected for a 40-yard touchdown.

Tristan was one of the unsung heroes of DeSoto’s 2023 state championship team that year. That season, he’d moved from wide receiver to a hybrid tight-end/upback position, throwing his body into opposing linebackers despite weighing 170 pounds. The coaches knew he deserved a spotlight moment, and it came in the season’s biggest game. 

“He was a warrior for us that whole year,” DeSoto offensive coordinator Charles Williams said. “To be able to score a touchdown like that, for him and his family, in a big game like that in his first year starting on varsity - it was big for the whole program.” 

A correction was made on August 8, 2025: Riley Dodge's puke-and-pass happened at the Alamodome,  not Texas Stadium. DCTX regrets this error.