The Best Non-District Resumes in TXHSFB

Check out the best at the 6A and 5A levels

For the first time this season, there are more district games (369) than non-district games (307). With that in mind, let’s look back at the best non-district resumes in the state. 

4A

1. Waco La Vega Pirates (No.2 in Class 4A DII, 4-0)

Week 1: @ Franklin, W 42-16
Week 2: @ Austin LBJ, W 57-0
Week 3: @ Tyler Chapel Hill, W 40-14
Week 4: @ Waco University, W 33-7

Waco La Vega is putting teams in the wood chipper right now. Keep in mind, Franklin was the No.4-ranked team in Class 3A DI when the Pirates demolished them 42-16. Austin LBJ was the No.8-ranked team in Class 4A DI when Waco La Vega bludgeoned them 57-0. Waco University, which the Pirates beat 33-7, is a Class 5A DII team, two classifications above 4A DII La Vega.

Senior quarterback Kourtney Parr Jr., a three-year starter, leads an offense that’s averaging 43 points per game. The Pirates are a balanced attack with Parr through the air and senior Benjamin Thompson rushing for 120 yards per game. But Waco La Vega’s defense is downright scary. That unit forced four turnovers and scored two touchdowns against Franklin. Senior strong safety Craig Bradley had five interceptions in three games.

2. Pleasant Grove Hawks (No.3 in Class 4A DII, 4-0)

Week 1: Kilgore, W 42-7
Week 2: @ Sulphur Springs, W 34-27
Week 3: Texarkana Liberty-Eylau, W 29-15
Week 4: Paris, W 41-14

Pleasant Grove had one of the most surprising coaching changes of the entire offseason when Josh Gibson, who remade the Hawks into an East Texas power over 12 seasons, resigned. It’s still early in the Jonathan Darby era, but Pleasant Grove has still looked like a well-oiled machine. 

Pleasant Grove, a Class 4A DII team, beat two Class 4A DI preseason top-10 teams with a 42-7 win over Kilgore and a 34-27 win on the road against Sulphur Springs. The offense, quarterbacked by Central Arkansas commit Colt Yancey, is averaging 36.5 points per game. Darby, previously the defensive coordinator, still calls plays for one of the state’s stoutest front sevens with Ke’Drid Smith and Kai Ringwood.

3. Cuero Gobblers (No. 6 in Class 4A DII, 4-0)

Week 1: Yoakum, W 28-21
Week 2: @ La Vernia, W 35-20
Week 3: @ Sinton, W 38-31
Week 4: Port Lavaca Calhoun, W 28-27

Cuero had big questions to answer this fall after losing the electric QB/WR combination of Jaxxon Marie and Walker Dietze. But the Gobblers have aced every test thus far. Quarterback Jayce Guarjardo has impressed in his first year as a full-time starter, while running back Melo Perez is averaging over 100 yards per game on the ground. Senior linebacker Dominic White leads an improved defense with 10 tackles per game. Cuero allowed over 30 points per game last year, but has allowed over 30 points just once thus far. 

Week 1 brought a rivalry win over defending Class 3A DII state champion Yoakum. In Week 2, the Gobblers took down La Vernia, which made the state semifinals last year. 

Cuero beat Sinton in a grudge match in Week 3. Last year as district opponents, Cuero won the game of the year in a 56-55 thriller over Sinton, only for Sinton to exact revenge with a 45-42 triumph in the regional final. Sinton dropped down a classification in realignment, but head coaches Jerod Fikac and Michael Troutman decided to line it up again in non-district play for the people. Shout-out to those guys, because their programs are literally incapable of playing a normal game.

4. Lubbock Liberty Patriots (No.5 in Class 4A DII, 4-0)

Week 1: @ Lubbock Frenship Memorial, W 49-14
Week 2: @ Wolfforth Frenship, W 44-13
Week 3: Midland Greenwood, W 56-25
Week 4: @ Canyon West Plains, W 29-28

Lubbock Liberty was one of the most improved teams in 2025, going from 2-8 in its first year as a varsity program to 10-2. Based on their non-district schedule, these Patriots might’ve taken another leap in 2026. Is it possible to be the most improved team two years in a row?

In Week 2, Lubbock Liberty had 11 sacks against Wolfforth Frenship. Keep in mind, Lubbock Liberty is a 4A DII team, and Wolfforth Frenship was in Class 6A a year ago. Then, the Patriots avenged their sole regular season loss from last year in a 56-25 stomping of Midland Greenwood. Lubbock Liberty also showed they could win close games, a necessary skill come playoff time, with a one-point victory over Canyon West Plains, a preseason top 10-ranked-team in Class 4A DI.

5. Canyon Randall (unranked in Class 4A DI, 4-0)

Week 1: Roswell (NM), W 50-37
Week 2: @ Wichita Falls Memorial, W 35-34
Week 3: @ Borger, W 49-0
Week 4: Canadian, W 35-28

The panhandle was buzzing about these Raiders this offseason. Canyon Randall returned nine offensive starters and made back-to-back trips to the third round of the playoffs. A 4-0 start has only added fuel to the hype fire. 

Canyon Randall beat Roswell (NM) 50-37 in Week 1, a solid win considering Roswell would be a Class 5A team in Texas. The 35-34 win over Wichita Falls Memorial is also aging like a fine wine, as Memorial is averaging 51 points per game. The 35-28 win over Canadian seems ho-hum, given Randall’s Class 4A DI size compared to Canadian’s 3A DII size. But Canadian, with seven state championship appearances since 2007, is arguably the best team in the panhandle.

3A

1. Columbus Cardinals (No.1 in Class 3A DI, 4-0)

Week 1: @ Bay City, W 34-19
Week 2: La Grange, W 41-31
Week 3: @ Needville, W 48-21
Week 4: Bellville, W 37-34

Columbus stacked their non-district slate with Class 4A teams. After a 4-0 start, they are now like the meme of the Grim Reaper gliding down the hallway and ripping open doors to bludgeon Class 4A powers. 

Week 1’s 34-19 win over Bay City is still the season’s signature win, for now. The Cardinals were five-point underdogs on the road against the preseason No.9-ranked team in Class 4A DI, a full two classifications above Columbus. But Columbus has backed up that result with convincing wins over La Grange, Needville, and Bellville.

Junior running back Doc Cantu has been the season's breakout star, with back-to-back games of over 270 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Against Needville, Cantu shattered a school record with seven rushing touchdowns. His emergence, combined with an offensive line anchored by Texas commit Keyon Hemphill-Woods and Christopher Quin, gives Columbus a scary-good rushing attack.

2. Malakoff Tigers (No. 4 in Class 3A DI, 4-0)

Week 1: @ Edgewood, W 42-14
Week 2: @ Palestine Westwood, W 51-29
Week 3: Grandview, W 40-7
Week 4: Center, W 54-3

Malakoff’s 8-4 record would’ve been considered a great season for 99 percent of TXHSFB teams. But for head coach Jamie Driskell, it was just the third time since he took over in 2009 that his Tigers had won fewer than nine games. Turns out, Malakoff took that personally this offseason. 

The Tigers are 4-0, have scored at least 40 points in every game, and are beating teams by an average of 33.5 points per game. Junior quarterback Canyon Marsh, the reigning District Newcomer of the Year, has been even better in 2026. In a 54-3 win over Center last week, Marsh completed 17-of-24 passes for 306 yards and scored five total touchdowns. The offense has also benefited from sophomore running back Germarquis Robinson’s emergence. Robinson, a star on last year’s state championship team at Yoakum, had 260 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, and an 83-yard kickoff return touchdown in a Week 2 win over Palestine Westwood.

3. Troup Tigers (No.1 in Class 3A DII, 4-0)

Week 1: Diboll, W 54-21
Week 2: @ Edgewood, W 63-21
Week 3: Tyler Grace Community, W 70-21
Week 4: Rusk, W 35-13

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine wrote this offseason that expectations were at an all-time high for Troup coming off a 12-1 season. Nothing about the Tigers’ start has fogged those rosy outlooks. 

Troup is winning games by an average of 36.5 points per game. Senior quarterback Trevor Golightly, a move-in from Edgewood, has thrown 16 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. In four games, the defense has flown around the field with 11 sacks and six interceptions, led by Brett Wells, the Preseason Class 3A Defensive Player of the Year.

4. Gunter Tigers (No.2 in Class 3A DI, 3-0)

Week 1: @ Sealy, W 41-17
Week 2: Bye
Week 3: @ Jefferson, W 28-19
Week 4: Sulphur (OK), W 29-17

After making 10 consecutive regional finals in Class 3A DII, Gunter had many eyes across the state on its DI debut. Thus far, the Tigers look up to the challenge.

We thought Week 1’s 41-17 win over Sealy said more about Sealy’s rebuilding than it did Gunter’s dominance. But that win is aging nicely for two reasons. Sealy, a 4A DI school, is two classifications above Gunter. Sealy has also beaten Madisonville and La Marque in back-to-back weeks while scoring 46.5 points per game. Week 3’s 28-19 win over Jefferson was also impressive, given that Jefferson came into the game averaging over nine yards per play. Defensive coordinator Casey Frost’s scheme is icing out the state’s hottest offenses. 

Gunter also added a nice out-of-state win to its resume, beating a Sulphur (OK) team that has gone 25-3 over the past two seasons.

5. Wall Hawks (No.3 in Class 3A DI, 4-0)

Week 1: Canyon West Plains, W 42-35
Week 2: @ La Joya, W 55-14
Week 3: @ Jim Ned, W 49-13
Week 4: Ozona, W 51-6

After winning its first state championship in program history, Wall had plenty of questions to answer after returning three starters on each side of the ball and jumping to Class 3A DI. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football even rated them as the eighth most likely state championship team to repeat. But Coach Craig Slaughter’s team looks like it hasn’t skipped a beat thus far.

In Week 1, Wall beat Canyon West Plains, a Class 4A DII team that went 12-2 last year, after new starting quarterback Gunner King threw for 415 yards and four touchdowns. The next week, Wall went on the road to play a Class 6A team, La Joya, and won 55-14. OK, Wall has a more storied program than La Joya, but that’s still impressive given La Joya’s student body is 2,200 strong compared to Wall’s 370. The Hawks also had clean and convincing wins against Jim Ned and Ozona.