By Kevin Lonnquist
NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
Good or bad, no matter how your favorite high school football team fared this fall, the feeling of going out on Friday Night to absorb and appreciate Texas High School Football never gets old.
For those of us who love this sport, the sadness came at about 11:00 p.m. this past Saturday when the final state championship game concluded. That was the Class 6A Division II matchup at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. DeSoto topped Houston C.E. King, 55-27.
Now, we wait until late April of 2026 when the spring football season begins. That will be followed by coaching school in late July and then the start of fall camp in early August.
Sometimes, the winter can be colder beyond just temperature outside.
From the NTX Varsity Sports crew, we hope you enjoyed this site’s maiden voyage of covering the sites, sounds and written words of the season. Many miles were logged. Many stories were told.
Now that we have learned our strengths and areas where we need to take it to the next level, we can lean into the football adage coaches do. You make your greatest strides from Week 1 to Week 2.
As we reach Christmas this week, this is the opportune time to review some of the notable moments. Those are the games, players and coaches.
Game of the Year I – Aledo 15, Denton Ryan 14, Oct. 3, Collins Complex, Denton: Down 14-2 late in the third quarter, the No. 1 Bearcats appeared sunk. But they rallied with a touchdown late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 14-9. Then they made a stop on Ryan’s side of the field early in the fourth quarter and scored the go-ahead touchdown midway through the period to take the lead. The Bearcats defense followed with two stops to ice the win. In the sequel in the 5A Division I Regional title game, the Bearcats easily won, 43-17.
Game of the Year II – Paradise 21, Peaster 15, Oct. 17, Paradise: Down 15-13 with four minutes to play, the Panther defense came up with a scoop and score touchdown and then added a 2-point conversion to regain the lead. Then the defense came up with a stop to preserve the win. However, in the sequel in the Class 3A Division I Region I title game, the Greyhounds scored in the final seconds to pull out a 17-14 victory.
Coach of the Year – Shawn Sparks, Boyd: This was a slam dunk choice. Consider that Boyd had been down on its luck for the previous four seasons. Yellow Jackets’ football won a total of nine games and only two in the previous two seasons. But Sparks brought a fresh vision coupled with passion and hope. In return the Jackets put together a 5-6 season and qualified for their first trip to the postseason since 2020. Now, there is excitement in that part of Wise County.
Player of the Year – Kaine Hill, QB Springtown: This is going to be an important offseason the Pojo 2027 signal caller. If he’s going to show college football programs that he’s the real deal, he needs to show it in the offseason along with whatever he does in camps. Of course, those programs who are tracking him already know what they saw in the fall. Hill threw for 2,650 yards and 34 touchdowns. He completed 66 percent of his passes. Hill also rushed for another 606 yards and 13 scores. While Hill was complimented by plenty of talent, he was the engine that made the Pines offense go.
Team of the Year – All Saints: How could it no be the Saints? They successfully repeated at TAPPS 5A Division II state champions. They went undefeated at 14-0 for the second consecutive season. It is believed this is the first time this has ever happened in TAPPS history. All Saints will take a 28-game winning streak into 2026. What made this accomplishment impressive is All Saints did this with two different quarterbacks. Gavin Parkhurst did the honors in 2024. Aledo transfer Gavin Beard directed this program to the title in 2025. Maybe the key for 2026 is to land a quarterback whose first name is Gavin. Hmmm.
Finally, it’s time to square the books from picking all the state championship games from last week. Yours truly finished 6-4 and was a touchdown worth of points away from going 8-2.
The two tough losses were losing the Class 3A Division II game. Picked Newton over Wall. Wall won, 25-24.
Then you will recall in the Class 6A Division I selection, I mentioned I really wanted to pick Galena Park North Shore over Duncanville and couldn’t pull the trigger. The lesson is to go with your first selection. North Shore won, 10-7.
But the pick that mixed confidence and relief was the 4A Division I title game where I picked Stephenville over Kilgore. The Yellow Jackets delivered 10-0. Now, Stephenville is 7-0 lifetime in state title games.
Here is the final record:
Last week: 6-4
2025 Total: 33-10
Just a note that this space will continue throughout the winter and spring seasons as well into the summer. There are too many good stories ready to be unearthed and be told.
Until then, Merry Christmas!
