The Most Improved TXHSFB Offenses of 2025

5th: Merkel (7-5), up 23.5 ppg

After a 0-10 season in which they averaged 12 points per game, Merkel head coach Wes Wood gave it to his team straight. 

“I challenged our offensive line before the season,” Wood said. “I said, ‘Us being able to compete will be 100% determined on whether or not you guys can overachieve.’ We lose the eye test every game. We do not have size, but we have fight.”

With new offensive coordinator Chris Kincaid, Merkel fought all the way to a 7-5 record, the best season since 2017. Wood said the offensive line’s improvement started with First Team All-District 4-3A DII center Logan Alexander, while sophomore Johnny Anderson won the district’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Kincaid wasn’t the only new coach on staff. Wood convinced former assistant Marcus Malone to come out of retirement. Marcus’s son, Easton, earned First Team All-District quarterback honors as a sophomore, throwing to the dynamic Kaden Blubaugh. The senior wide receiver had a bounce-back year with 882 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

“The ultimate truth about Kaden Blubaugh is that he had the exact same talent as he had last year,” Wood said. “His attitude, leadership, buy-in and character have done a complete 180. We’re so proud of his character growth.”

Tied 4th: Alvord (9-3) and Mansfield Lake Ridge (9-3) both improved by 24 ppg

Alvord hired Hardin-Simmons assistant coach Matt Fanning last January, but he was no stranger to the high school game. Fanning led Jim Ned to a 21-point comeback win in the 2020 Class 3A DI State Championship. He brought that same scheme - and swagger - to Alvord, which went 9-3, the highest win total since 1997, and won the first district championship since 2014.

Fanning’s staff switched Alvord’s offense from a spread scheme to a run-first, pistol offense with a bevy of tight end formations. Senior running back Zane Fuentes earned Unanimous District 6-2A Overall MVP with 1,879 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns. He won the Built Ford Tough Player of the Week after carrying the ball 49 times for 350 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-42 win over Tom Bean.

Fuentes already had the 10.7 100m dash speed, but Fanning said his vision progressed as the season went on behind an offensive line led by the district’s Offensive Line MVP, Matthew Gonzalez. The junior combo-blocked or pulled across the formation on nearly every play and was dominant in Alvord’s counter and power run schemes. 

“He was the nasty guy,” Fanning said with a chuckle. “He was violent. And, really, that whole unit of our offensive line, in district play, that was what set us apart from everybody else.”

The entire team embraced the schematic change by following the example of senior QB Dalton George and senior WR Brayden Clark. Those players could’ve pouted about losing opportunities in the move from the spread. Instead, they both earned First Team All-District honors by taking the top off the defense with RPO plays when the safety crept into the box to stop Fuentes.

To read about Mansfield Lake Ridge's season, click here for the 'Most Improved TXHSFB Teams of 2025.'

Tied 3rd: Lubbock Liberty (10-2) and Raymondville (10-1), up 24.8 ppg

When William Littleton surveyed the Raymondville locker room for the first time, he believed this 3A program had as much talent as the 5A program (PSJA Memorial) he had just come from. The Bearkats combined their talent with Littleton’s offseason program for the first 10-win season since 2010.

“Our message from Day One was that we were going to outwork everybody,” Littleton said. “I have a strength and conditioning program that we feel is as tough as anybody in the state.”

While senior running back Traeshaun Washington deservedly grabbed headlines for his 1,700 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns, a bulked-up offensive line from the offseason weight room was the offense’s engine.

“I think Traeshaun would be the first to tell you that the success he’s having is from his offensive line,” Littleton said. “The best unit on our team without a doubt is the offensive line, led by right guard Randi Pedraza, who’s a dominant force.”

Pedraza, who broke all the school’s powerlifting records, made life easier for sophomore quarterback Jeffrey Lefevre. Littleton described Lefevre, who is the nephew of Raymondville’s offensive coordinator,  as one of the smartest football players he’s ever been around. Lefevre threw 22 touchdowns to just one interception. 

To read about Lubbock Liberty's season, click here for the 'Most Improved TXHSFB Teams of 2025.'

2nd: Terrell (12-1), up 25.7 ppg

Terrell went 12-1 this season, the first 12-win season since 1997. But head coach Marvin Sedberry Jr. was most proud of his Tigers for becoming one of the most physical teams in the Dallas area.

“The biggest compliment we’ve received about our football team from coaches that have played us this year is how physical we’ve been,” Sedberry said. 

Behind a Wing-T attack with two 1,000-yard running backs, Terrell scored more than 40 points in all but three games. Sophomore Julian Ashley earned unanimous District 6-5A DII MVP with 1,448 yards and 21 touchdowns, while senior Roderick Hambrick Jr. was the perfect power back complement with over 1,200 yards. In a Wing-T scheme that thrives off misdirection, what the running backs did without the ball in their hands was just as important as what they did with it. 

“The very first game, when we watched kids carry out fakes while the other kid was carrying the football, we were like, ‘Take a defender with you. You’re explosive enough to make them think you have the ball,’” Sedberry said. “The kids have really bought into that mentality where they play for each other.”

Terrell also had four First Team All-District offensive linemen, headlined by senior guard Carson Baskin, who earned Co-Offensive Line MVP. 

While the Tigers were a run-first offense, their play-action passing game was often a knockout blow. Junior quarterback Nolan Hall threw for 17 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

1st: Chilton (10-2), up 28.8 ppg

After three consecutive double-digit win seasons, a young Chilton team crashed back down to earth with a 3-7 record in 2024. But an offense that returned 10 starters became the most improved unit in TXHSFB.

QB Marneko Thomas and RB X’Zavion Taylor combined to form one of Class 2A’s top rushing tandems. Taylor led the team with 22 touchdowns on 1,280 rushing yards, while Thomas had 30 total touchdowns and 1,376 yards on the ground. The holes were made by fellow First Team All-District offensive lineman Armondo Robles. 

Chilton will be one of the offseason’s most intriguing teams. Thomas and  First Team All-District wide receiver Jamarion Clark both return, along with two Second Team All-District offensive linemen, Brent Murphy and Miguel Fajardo. Could there be room for even more improvement upon a 10-2 season?