The Biggest Storyline in each 2025 State Championship Game

Class 6A DI: Duncanville Panthers vs Galena Park North Shore Mustangs 

DFW vs Houston Supremacy

TXHSFB pundits spent the entire season talking about how it was anyone’s game in Class 6A DI. Turns out, we were assigning a new king to a throne that hadn’t been abdicated. 

Duncanville and North Shore will face off for the sixth time in eight years. If this battle has become a proxy for whether DFW or Houston is on top of high school football, then this championship has massive stakes across the state. After North Shore won the first three title games in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Duncanville has taken the last two in 2022 and 2023. 

Can Duncanville tie up the series, or will North Shore build a 4-2 lead?

Class 6A DII: DeSoto Eagles vs Sheldon C.E. King Panthers

The “Cut the Brakes” Game of the Week

The final hour before DeSoto vs Sheldon C.E. King will feel like you’re ascending to the top of the Texas Titan at Six Flags instead of seated at AT&T Stadium. This game is going to do a 90-degree drop and a loop-de-loop at 100 miles per hour all the way to the finish. 

DeSoto’s offense is averaging 59.2 points per game in the playoffs, while C.E. King has scored over 50 points in four of its five playoff games. Both have a convincing claim as the fastest team in Texas. DeSoto RB SaRod Baker is having one of the all-time TXHSFB playoff runs with 1,503 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns in five games. Meanwhile, C.E. King’s Dillon Mitchell finished fourth at the UIL State Track Meet in the 100m relay last spring… as a freshman. 

And while both defenses will give up points, they’ll also get in on the scoring action themselves. DeSoto’s Jordan Stevens had an 85-yard pick-six that tied up the state semifinal game against Southlake Carroll, while C.E. King defensive lineman Royce Houston picked off an Austin Vandegrift screen pass and took it to the house.

All that to say - buckle up.

Class 5A DI: Frisco Lone Star Rangers vs Smithson Valley Rangers

You are me and I am you

Frisco Lone Star head coach Jeff Rayburn is in the same position as Smithson Valley head coach Larry Hill was last year. The only accolade missing is a state championship ring.

Hill was one of the best stories of the 2024 State Championship weekend. A legendary coach who ranks eighth all-time in career wins, Hill had won every type of game except the final one. He was 0-4 in state titles. 

It took one season for Hill to go from feel-good underdog to big, bad reigning champion. With a win over Frisco Lone Star, he could pin Rayburn into the same position he was once in. Rayburn has built Lone Star into Frisco ISD’s program of record over 13 seasons, compiling a 137-32 record. Frisco ISD has 12 varsity football programs. Lone Star is the only one to ever make a state championship (2015, 2025).

Class 5A DII: South Oak Cliff Golden Bears vs Richmond Randle Lions

Did South Oak Cliff's 7-on-7 Investment pay off?

South Oak Cliff has been a model of consistency, reaching its fifth consecutive state championship game. But after two straight losses, head coach Jason Todd realized his program needed to change things up.

The Golden Bears competed in the State 7-on-7 Tournament in College Station this summer for the first time in their dynastic run. South Oak Cliff passed for 64 yards in 2023 against Port Neches-Groves and 106 yards in 2024 against Richmond Randle. They lost both games by three points. The coaching staff believed they needed a more dynamic passing attack to win the hardest game of the year.

QB Jayden Williams won the starting job over the 7-on-7 circuit and has thrown for 2,653 yards, 27 touchdowns and 2 interceptions this season. In years past, South Oak Cliff has rotated QBs at the beginning of the year. But 7-on-7 allowed the offense to settle on a QB and hit the ground running… or, passing.

A rematch against Richmond Randle gives the program a chance to see how much difference 7-on-7 made.

Class 4A DI: Kilgore Bulldogs vs Stephenville Yellow Jackets

The premier QB matchup of State Championship Weekend

Based on high school production, Kilgore’s Kayson Brooks against Stephenville’s Trot Jordan is the best QB matchup of all the state championship games. 

Brooks, a senior, has the edge in state championship experience over Jordan. In his first year starting in 2024, he broke numerous Kilgore passing records and led the Bulldogs to a state championship game. After falling to Celina, Brooks is out to end his illustrious career by avenging the loss. He’s thrown for 3,134 yards, 29 touchdowns and 5 INT.

Stephenville was the preseason No.4-ranked team in Class 4A DI, but replacing the QB was an offseason question mark. Much like Brooks last year, Jordan emerged seemingly out of nowhere as a junior. He’s thrown for 3,163 yards and 44 touchdowns to just 4 INT.

Class 4A DII: Carthage Bulldogs vs West Orange-Stark Mustangs

Can Scott Surratt cement his status as GOAT high school coach

Not only does Scott Surratt hold the most state championships in TXHSFB history, but he is also a perfect 10-0 in title games. The most impressive stat: only one of those contests was decided by one score. Wait, I forgot the actual most amazing stat. Surratt has more state championship wins (10) than playoff losses in his career (8). 

If Carthage wins this game, Surratt officially doesn’t have enough fingers for his state championship rings. In my mind, this makes him the automatic greatest TXHSFB coach of all-time.

Class 3A DI: Yoakum Bulldogs vs Grandview Zebras

Damn, I’m getting old

Grandview versus Yoakum is one of three state championship games in which no player on the field has any state championship experience. The other two are 3A DII’s Wall versus Newton and 2A DI’s Joaquin versus Hamilton.

But wait, how can that be? Wasn’t it just a couple of years ago when Grandview superstar Dane Jentsch won back-to-back Offensive and Defensive MVPs in the 2018 and 2019 state title wins? Well, Grandview’s current seniors were in sixth grade when that happened. Dane is now an assistant coach on the team, and his brother, Briggs, is a two-way star as a freshman. 

Ok, well, we’ve seen Bo Robinson lead Yoakum to Jerry World recently. It was only 2016. Current star wide receiver X’Zavier Barnett and the rest of the Yoakum seniors were in third grade. And some of Yoakum’s biggest playmakers, like Germann and Germarquis Robinson, are underclassmen. 

So while we’ve seen these helmets before, there are new faces under them. Who handles the moment better?

Class 3A DII: Newton Eagles vs Wall Hawks

Two great offenses, two different styles 

Don’t blink, you’ll miss the touchdowns that happen in this game. These are Class 3A’s two fastest teams facing off at AT&T Stadium.

Both programs have different racing styles, however. The Newton Eagles are a ground-and-pound offense with a two-headed monster of Kendray Porter Jr (1,828 yards, 29 touchdowns) and Deldrick Samuel (1,302 yards and 26 touchdowns). Wall, meanwhile, is one of the state’s best aerial assaults. QB Landon York has thrown for 3,868 yards and 57 touchdowns to just 6 INTs. While Wall has a balanced group of receivers, Reid Robertson has the numbers that pop with 1,326 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Class 2A DI: Hamilton Bulldogs vs Joaquin Rams

The only state championship between two teams making their first-ever appearance

No, these programs didn’t just start, either. Joaquin has played football since 1930, which is a young program compared to Hamilton, which began in 1914. That’s the same year World War I started.

Joaquin made the state championship as a playoff three-seed (finishing third in District 11-2A DI). It’s a playoff run only rivaled by what Joaquin did last year, when it made the state semifinals as a four-seed.

Joaquin would be the de facto Cinderella story on state championship weekend if not for Hamilton. The Bulldogs’ all-time record is 492-522-32, a .485 winning percentage. This is just the fifth season ever in which Hamilton has won double-digit games.

Class 2A DII: Muenster Hornets vs Shiner Comanches

In a state championship rematch, what's changed?

Last year’s state championship, a 36-29 Muenster win, was an instant classic. Muenster QB Casen Carney’s rushing touchdown with 40 seconds left, and the ensuing point to his ring finger, was one of the most iconic moments of the weekend. 

Carney is back this season, but so is most of the Shiner squad. The Comanches lost just five lettermen from last year’s state finalist team. So, with so many of the principal characters back, what’s changed?

Muenster’s offense still lives and dies with Carney; 99 percent of the time, they thrive. Carney has thrown for 2,514 yards and 35 touchdowns to just 2 INTs. He’s the leading rusher by far, too, with 1,621 yards and 22 touchdowns. 

Shiner has a new QB at the helm of its split-back veer offense, sophomore Jarvis Williams. But TXHSFB fans will remember Quincy Jones, who had 87 rushing yards and a touchdown in the state title game last year.

Class 1A DI: Gordon Longhorns vs Rankin Red Devils

Can Gordon become the greatest six-man football team of all-time?

Ok, Fort Hancock did win four consecutive state championships from 1988-91. But if Gordon completes the three-peat, this will be the most dominant six-man football team of all time. The Longhorns have three Division I football recruits: Stryker Reed (Air Force), Ry Reed (Army) and Brayden Walters. 

In their semifinal game against Union Hill, Gordon scored 69 points on 12 offensive plays. They were tackled just three times. Gordon is so dominant in six-man football that it even played an 11-man game against a Class 2A playoff team in Thorndale… and won 54-21. The closest margin of victory in a six-man football game was 44 points.

Class 1A DII: Richland Springs Coyotes vs Jayton Jaybirds

The pedigree clash between two of the most-decorated six-man programs

Jayton is making its sixth state championship appearance and has the crown from last year, but Richland Springs is the most historic six-man football team of all time, with 12 state championship appearances. Does Richland Springs take back the throne, or is Jayton narrowing the game as six-man football’s preeminent brand?

Another interesting storyline is how dominant these defenses are in the usually high-flying six-man game. Outside of a season-opening loss to Gordon, Richland Springs is allowing 9.2 points per game. Jayton, meanwhile, has only surrendered 20 points in a game one time this year.