Storied football programs?

[vet93]

When you think of a certain area of the state, what are some of the 3A teams in that area that you think of as perennial football powers? These are teams that year in and year out seem to epitomize football in that area. These are the teams that you would mention if you were compiling a history of storied programs for a particular area. Here goes mine:

East Texas: Daingerfield, Commerce

South Texas: Sinton, Cuero, Sealy

Metroplex: Celina and Pilot Point (made their fame in 2A but don't want to leave them out), Southlake Carrol (moved on to bigger and better things), certainly Everman is building a reputation.

North Texas/Panhandle: Childress, Vernon, Perryton, Muleshoe

West Texas: Breckenridge, Ballinger, Denver City Crane (moved down of late), Sonora (moved down also)

[Gobbla2001]

North Texas: Childress

West Texas: Would have to be Breck...

East: Dangerfield

South: I'll have to give someone besides Cuero... Port Isabel... And they're going to be adding some chapters to their story soon...

[big daddy russ]

In the Panhandle/North Texas I guess I'd have to go with Pilot Point. The Bearcats have been real good for a real long time.

In West Texas I'm going to go with Breckenridge. Don't they have more playoff appearances than any other 3A team in the state?

East Texas I'd give Daingerfield the edge over Jasper, Commerce, Newton and new power Atlanta.

In Central Texas... I'd have to give it to Cameron.

As far as South Texas goes... I can't think of anyone with more tradition than Cuero. Port I and Sinton are both great, but neither has that State Title. Hondo also has an awesome tradition, but they haven't been playing at quite the level of the teams of their heyday back in the 40's, 50's and 60's. But Hondo would be the closest, in my mind, to having as much tradition as Cuero.

<small>[ May 19, 2003, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: big daddy russ ]</small>

[Gobbla2001]

Ahh big daddy russ, thanks for bringing up the CenTex... Cameron for sure..

[vet93]

I knew that there would be alot that I have forgotten. I should have included a Centex category. I had forgotten about PI and Cameron. Also Sweetwater out west has been good since W.T. Stapler was there in the mid eighties. I don't know if they had much before then. They garnered most of their fame in 4A until the last couple of years. I also forgot about Hondo. I think that they have more playoff appearences than Breck. I know that there are even more that haven't been mentioned yet.

[TarponFanInNorthTexas]

Not only will I go by regions, I'll even go a step further and add as many classifications as I can.

West Texas/Panhandle
5A Odessa Permian (Gotta love the Mojo Magic)
4A Stephenville (Always good, but not sure to consider them WEST Texas, or Metroplex??)
3A Childress
2A Sonora (at least I think they're 2A now)

Metroplex
5A Dallas Carter
5A Southlake Carroll (did most of the damage in their 3A years, though)
4A Highland Park
3A Celina and Pilot Point (majority of their fame came during their 2A years)

East Texas
5A Tyler John Tyler
3A Daingerfield

Centex
5A Austin Westlake
3A Cameron

Houston Area
5A Houston Yates
4A La Marque
4A Bay City
3A Sealy

South Texas
5A Converse Judson
4A Corpus Christi Calallen
4A Gregory Portland
3A Cuero
3A Sinton
3A Hondo

Rio Grande Valley
5A Harlingen
4A Edcouch Elsa
3A Port Isabel

[DRuMLiNeSPYKe2004]

Hondo??? eek! HONDO??? eek! You are seriously picking hondo as a power in south texas??? I'm sorry but to me, thats laughable. :D yes they do have SOME talent, but whatever talent they do have, is at least minimal. I'm not saying bandera because next year is going to be a rebuilding year for us with new coaches and smaller bodied players, but i certainly wouldnt say hondo. thats REALLY picking an underdog and i admire your courage for being so bold... :D wink

<small>[ May 19, 2003, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: DRuMLiNeSPYKe2004 ]</small>

[sinton66]

Drumline, the topic is storied programs. Hondo used to be pretty good way back when. TFINT, in South Texas, you forgot 2A Refugio(1 state championship in 3A).

[TarponFanInNorthTexas]

sinton66:
Drumline, the topic is storied programs. Hondo used to be pretty good way back when. TFINT, in South Texas, you forgot 2A Refugio(1 state championship in 3A).You're right, I completely forgot about Refugio in 2A, my bad. Also, I failed to mention Van Vleck........i'd love to see if anyone here on the downlow knows anything about Van Vleck.

[DRuMLiNeSPYKe2004]

yeah thats true... forgot what the topic name is but okay... yeah like way back in the day hondo was good. the last time my dad can name when hondo was pretty decent was the 50s, 60, and 70s. they USED to have good records and stuff, but not anymore. so yeah you're right 66.

[Gobbla2001]

Know some History, Hondo is a storied program...

[BULLDOGFAN]

I know some history and exactly when was Hondo a powerhouse? Medina Valley, Judson, Churchhill...yes but Hondo?

[Gobbla2001]

you're an idiot... here's a list of Hondo's playoff appearances:

1921,32,34,37,39,41,42,45,46,51,52,54,55,56,59,62, 63,65,66,68,69,71,73,74,75,77,78,80,81,82,83,84,86 ,90,94,96,98,99,2000,01,02...

[DRuMLiNeSPYKe2004]

okay lets not get all up in arms about hondo... so we know they have a past of going to playoffs. but there are a lot of factors as to why they went into playoffs. you just simply gotta ask yourself what makes a team go into playoffs? is it the district, the team itself, the talent, i mean the list goes on and on. How far did they get into the playoffs, what was their record over all, and so on and so forth. there are so many deciding factors its not even funny. so we're agreed that hondo HAS had an extensive storied past *but the future isnt looking so bright... :D *

[Gobbla2001]

Nope, those are not looked at as factors... The fact of the matter is they busted their butts to get where they wanted to be and they got there, nothing else matters... Jealousy is envy...

[big daddy russ]

You know, Hondo has quite a tradition and quite a few Regional Titles (from back in the days when that was as far as you could go). Their district used to be a tough one, but the landscape of high school football has changed a lot in the past 50 years. Back then, most of the power belonged in West Texas, but it has since shifted more to the East. Still, they still win that district just about every year. Here's a little playoff history.

State Championship Appearances
1956

Semifinal Appearances
1956, 71

Quarterfinal Appearances
1952, 54, 56, 69, 71, 81, 83, 99

Regional Titles (from the pre-modern era)
1932, 34, 42, 45

Another team I stumbled upon while looking up these guys was Universal City Randolph. I don't know anything about them, but it seems like they used to have a nice little program. It looked like they were the ones that usually took out Hondo when the Owls fell in the first round of the playoffs. If anyone out there knows about that team, fill us in.
But anyways, I was wrong about Breckenridge having the most playoff appearances in the state. They have 36 while Hondo actually leads the way. The Owls have 41.

<small>[ May 20, 2003, 12:45 AM: Message edited by: big daddy russ ]</small>

[big daddy russ]

And TFINT, that's a good call. Here are my picks...

West Texas/Panhandle
5A Odessa Permian (although they're sort of a young program... founded in what, the 60's?..., they have such a tradition that they had a national bestseller written about their team... barely, just barely, edges out Abilene)
4A Brownwood (can't go against the "4A Team of the 20th Century")
3A Breckenridge
2A Sonora (pushed by Goldthwaite)

Metroplex
5A Southlake Carroll (pushed by Sunset)
4A Highland Park
3A Pilot Point (barely edges out Celina)
2A Lone Oak

East Texas
5A Tyler John Tyler (pushed by A&M Consolidated)
4A West Orange-Stark (pushed by Marshall, Port Neches-Groves)
3A Daingerfield (extremely hard to leave out Jasper here... but the quarter landed on heads, so Daingerfield it is wink )
2A Groveton (pushed by Corrigan-Camden)

Centex
5A Austin Westlake
4A Ennis (are they considered Centex? Or are they more D/FW or East TX?)
3A Cameron
2A Rosebud-Lott (pushed by Mart)

Houston Area
5A Houston Yates
4A La Marque, Bay City, Texas City... can't choose one between the three
3A Sealy
2A Hull-Daisetta (a little far out, but close enough)

South Texas
5A Converse Judson (pushed by C.C. Miller, formerly known as Corpus Christi High, and SA Roosevelt)
4A Gregory-Portland (Calallen's done a lot recently, but before Danaher got there in '84 they weren't much to talk about)
3A Cuero (Hondo and Sinton come closest, but no cigar)
2A Refugio (Van Vleck and Rosebud-Lott were also considered)

Rio Grande Valley ***Don't know enough about the Valley aside from the fact that Port Isabel dominates 3A... I'll stick with TFINT's picks here
5A Harlingen
4A Edcouch Elsa
3A Port Isabel

<small>[ May 20, 2003, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: big daddy russ ]</small>

[rholl]

I love seeing Stephenville listed as "storied program". I remember them being on the losing end of something like a 63-0 thrashing back...well lets just say back then!!! Not trying to say they don't qualify...maybe thats more of a testament to the coach that went in there and turned things around!!

[Matthew328]

I don't think Stephenville qualifies as storied. either....now the past 13 years or so they have been as good as it gets....but pre 1989 they were pretty mediocre..in fact before 1989 Stephenville's last trip to the playoffs was 1952! Also this is just my opinion but I think Stephenville's best days are behind them...they haven't made it out of the 2nd round in a few years and I see that trend continuing...

[vet93]

Sometimes is is hard to define a storied program. Some teams have had recent success like Stephenville other teams success was back in the "glory" days like Denver City. Still others have never experienced a state championship and yet have consistently won year in and year out for the past 80 years. And then there are the one (or two) hit wonders who have a year or two of dominance (even championships) and then fall back into a pattern of mediocrity. I feel a storied program does not necessarily have to have alot of championships per se. I think that you have to think of teams on a sliding scale. I think that you can be defined a storied program if you have had great success and championships over a 15 to 20 year period. If you have success but no championships over this period then I think that it would be hard to consider that school. However, if you have had great success but no championships over a 50 year period or longer then I think that you could still be considered a storied football program. What are your thoughts?

[BULLDOGFAN]

Guess your right Gobbla2001 Hondo's 3 appearances past quaterfinals and nothing in 30 years really makes them a powerhouse. I stand corrected. I suppose winning district every year is something big to some people.

[Matthew328]

That is a good question someone define storied...LOL I guess there are the few obvious ones...Brownwood, Permian, Plano, Cuero etc....then you have other schools that have a tradition of making the playoffs year in and year out but don't have 7 or 8 state tittles....then you have schools that have won some titles but haven't been dominant for 20 or 30 years....Stephenville, Celina, Everman, Ennis (actually where does Ennis fall? LOL They were great in the 1970's, bad in the 1980's and early 1990's and got good again..LOL)

[Gobbla2001]

41 playoff appearances spanning from 1921 up to now... That averages out to a playoff appearance atleast every other year... IF that's not 'storied' then what in the hell is? If you can come up with some good reasons, which you won't, then I might consider considering your replies... But scroll down this subject and see how many people put down Hondo, there just has to be something 'you' don't know...

And M328...

I'd give it to Ennis, in my mother's year-book Ennis was #1 in the State when Cuero knocked them out in the semi's in '70... Then they beat us at state in '75... They had good records all-around that time and then picked it up again in the '90's... I'd say that's semi-storied...

Brownwood though? Hell yah, the pioneers of 3A... That's who we lost our first state game to...

[PPHSfan]

sto·ried [ stáwreed ]
adjective

1. interesting or celebrated: interesting, famous, or celebrated in stories and books ( literary ) the storied outlaw Robin Hood

[PPHSfan]

My top five in Texas regardless of classification or geographic location.

1.Brownwood

2.Permian

3.Celina

4.Pilot Point

5.Southlake Carroll

[rholl]

I don't think making the playoffs makes you a good team these days! If the district you play in is weak....then obviously it wouldn't take much to at least make the playoffs in most years.

[sinton66]

PPHSfan:
sto·ried [ stáwreed ]
adjective

1. interesting or celebrated: interesting, famous, or celebrated in stories and books ( literary ) the storied outlaw Robin HoodSomebody wrote so much, they got this page real wide. I had to move the page over so far I couldn't see the names anymore. When I got to this one, I'd have won a bet that this was you ! :D :D :D

[Chris Hart]

How about West Orange-Stark? They have been really good since I can remember. I think they have to be considered.

[vet93]

I think that Hondo has to be considered a storied program. I understand the argument that things may not look that good now, but their history certainly speaks for itself. For a team to maintain that level of excellence for that long of a period has to be admired. People will always make the argument that they may not have had the same competition as other teams. While this argument may or may not be true, it doesn't really diminish the accomplishment of Hondo over the years. Why were other schools in the area not equally successful over that same period of time if the competition was so low? If you say that you could take another team from some other part of the state and be more successful, then that creates an artificial situation that has no bearing on reality. I could say that if you took Southlake Carroll during the early nineties and put them in Hondo's district (or anyone else's) at any time then SLC would dominate. While that statement may be true it doesn't take into consideration the unique population and demographics that created the SLC monster of those years. I don't think that you could create that set of circumstances in Hondo's area. This is why I think that it is wrong to define greatness on whether a team has won multiple championships. It is certainly one criteria but not the only criteria.

[TarponFanInNorthTexas]

big daddy russ:
Rio Grande Valley ***Don't know enough about the Valley aside from the fact that Port Isabel dominates 3A... I'll stick with TFINT's picks here
5A Harlingen
4A Edcouch Elsa
3A Port IsabelThe Harlingen Cardinals have dominated the RGV 5A ranks for the past 20+ years.

Edcouch Elsa's Yellowjackets, have dominated the 4A ranks for 20+ years with 3 state quarterfinal appearances (89, 90, and 97). They have also become to be known as "La Maquina Amarilla" or "The Yellow Machine".....it's gotten to the point that if you just say "La Maquina" they'll know who you're talking about.

And last but not least, Port Isabel has dominated the 3A ranks for nearly the past 30 years, with 2 state semi-finals appearances in 1981 and 1994, and several state quarterfinal appearances (1980, 1990 are the ones I remember) It is the home of the famed "Sea Wall Defense" that is widely known throughout the area.