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If there was a high school in Houston which one would travel all the way to Dallas to play Allen HS in their 18,000 Stadium on a Friday Night?
None. There is no reason/allure for any school in Houston to travel to Dallas for a regular season football game.
It’s bad enough the Texas UIL unfairly plays all the state title games in Jerry World, creating a disadvantage for more than half the State’s high school programs.
Anyway Texas high school football is rigged in the sense that the school districts with money will always compete for championships. Ever notice that the same schools always make it to the state tournament? It’s not as bad as college where the same old teams play every year (Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State), but it’s almost as bad and predictable... Katy, Pearland, Allen, Highland Park, Austin Westlake, Aledo... every few years a school like Northshore or Duncanville will break-through.
The rich one horse school districts pay more for a coach, build top facilities and uses that to attract talent. In some cases, they know their rosters years ahead and everyone is running the same system from LL on up. Their not as talented as a whole but may have one or two difference makers surrounded by folks who know their roles.
In a city district, you don’t who’ll show up until the first day of school, Coach is underpaid with small staff, etc. those coaches can’t get the jobs in Southlake, etc.
The mega suburbs built too many schools and diluted the talent base even though they have facilities.
And now you have one horse districts that are close to Dallas ISD recruiting those kids away so they can stay strong. Duncanville, Cedar Hilll and Desoto have drained that district
In Houston, Galena Park ISD basically has sold out to North Shore despite having another high school. They won’t break NS up to keep a football team competitive and they also draw talent from quite away.
Katy is the one school people will move into but they’re probably the only Katy ISD school with total buy in from top to bottom but that’s expected. Morton Ranch is close by but has had little success. Makes you wonder.
When the city schools were competitive it made Texas HS FB more interesting- it’s basically like watching the same video every year
None. There is no reason/allure for any school in Houston to travel to Dallas for a regular season football game.
It’s bad enough the Texas UIL unfairly plays all the state title games in Jerry World, creating a disadvantage for more than half the State’s high school programs.
Anyway Texas high school football is rigged in the sense that the school districts with money will always compete for championships. Ever notice that the same schools always make it to the state tournament? It’s not as bad as college where the same old teams play every year (Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State), but it’s almost as bad and predictable... Katy, Pearland, Allen, Highland Park, Austin Westlake, Aledo... every few years a school like Northshore or Duncanville will break-through.
Pearland hasnt been back to state in 9 years. Ever since Dawson opened up and now the the new nearby Shadow Creek in the Alvin ISD, they come up short in the playoffs. Everything is correct about the rest. Katy, Allen , Westlake , Southlake Carroll and Highland Park (as long as they stay in 5A D1) and Aledo in 5A Division 2 are perennial contenders year out.
North Shore and Duncanville had been the top 2 teams as of recent and both were in the 6A Division 1 title game in 2018 and 2019(North Shore winning both games) though and are not necessary thought of as state contenders year out but solid programs especially in North Shores case. Duncanville doesn't have as much historical success as the former but these programs are only trending up.
The rich one horse school districts pay more for a coach, build top facilities and uses that to attract talent. In some cases, they know their rosters years ahead and everyone is running the same system from LL on up. Their not as talented as a whole but may have one or two difference makers surrounded by folks who know their roles.
In a city district, you don’t who’ll show up until the first day of school, Coach is underpaid with small staff, etc. those coaches can’t get the jobs in Southlake, etc.
The mega suburbs built too many schools and diluted the talent base even though they have facilities.
And now you have one horse districts that are close to Dallas ISD recruiting those kids away so they can stay strong. Duncanville, Cedar Hilll and Desoto have drained that district
In Houston, Galena Park ISD basically has sold out to North Shore despite having another high school. They won’t break NS up to keep a football team competitive and they also draw talent from quite away.
Katy is the one school people will move into but they’re probably the only Katy ISD school with total buy in from top to bottom but that’s expected. Morton Ranch is close by but has had little success. Makes you wonder.
When the city schools were competitive it made Texas HS FB more interesting- it’s basically like watching the same video every year
Morton Ranch was basically doomed from the start as far as having a good program. Theyre in the same boat as Cy-Lakes up the road in Cy-Fair ISD. Morton opened about 4 years before Lakes but they cant seem to be consistent. Its the same for the rest of the HS in that area. Tompkins beat out Katy for the District Title last season and has established themselves as their rival for now. I remember when Cinco Ranch was a legit rival and probably the last district foe to beat Katy but they've fell off the past decade.
DeSoto, Cedar Hill and now Duncanville has been sucking DISD dry since the 90s. Skyline cant even compete any longer when 5 years ago they had the only solid football program in the district.
Galena Park ISDs boundaries are weird which contribute to North Shore having a bigger school. There are Houston ISD schools closer to North Shore than Galena Park High. Pasadena High is 5 mins from Galena Park. North Shore is 20 mins away.
The rich one horse school districts pay more for a coach, build top facilities and uses that to attract talent. In some cases, they know their rosters years ahead and everyone is running the same system from LL on up. Their not as talented as a whole but may have one or two difference makers surrounded by folks who know their roles.
In a city district, you don’t who’ll show up until the first day of school, Coach is underpaid with small staff, etc. those coaches can’t get the jobs in Southlake, etc.
The mega suburbs built too many schools and diluted the talent base even though they have facilities.
And now you have one horse districts that are close to Dallas ISD recruiting those kids away so they can stay strong. Duncanville, Cedar Hilll and Desoto have drained that district
In Houston, Galena Park ISD basically has sold out to North Shore despite having another high school. They won’t break NS up to keep a football team competitive and they also draw talent from quite away.
Katy is the one school people will move into but they’re probably the only Katy ISD school with total buy in from top to bottom but that’s expected. Morton Ranch is close by but has had little success. Makes you wonder.
When the city schools were competitive it made Texas HS FB more interesting- it’s basically like watching the same video every year
And this is why I got tired of the THSFB scene, at least at the large metro school classes >4A. It's like the NBA with super teams and a legion of have-nots. You know who's going to be there at the end.
Anyway, North Shore will be happy to travel to whatever monster mega-stadium pops up next.
I just saw Clear Creek ISD's new-ish Challenger stadium for the first time last weekend for my cousin's graduation. 15-20 years ago, that would've been talked about like Allen's. Now that's pretty standard for large suburban district football venues.
Tompkins had special players - can they do it consistently and with a new high school opening it may be over already
North Shore has folks crossing borders to get there - no secret. Plus they have a favorable attendance zone also.
Shadow Creek killed Dawson and Manvel before they even started. Shadow Creek borders Ft. Bend and HISD and it’s easy to get to driving wise as I heard of a few folks who’ve crossed lines to get there. But anything new on the south side athletes will run to overnight.
Tompkins had special players - can they do it consistently and with a new high school opening it may be over already
North Shore has folks crossing borders to get there - no secret. Plus they have a favorable attendance zone also.
Shadow Creek killed Dawson and Manvel before they even started. Shadow Creek borders Ft. Bend and HISD and it’s easy to get to driving wise as I heard of a few folks who’ve crossed lines to get there. But anything new on the south side athletes will run to overnight.
The new HS in Iowa Colony is next
All facts here. No secret about how North Shore and Katy are able to get athletes to cross lines from other districts but you don't hear too much about high profile transfers coming in these programs(obviously Katy had a RB a few years ago come in from a State Championship squad in South Carolina but Out of State transfers are all legal by UIL.) What usually happens is kids will move in to these attendance zones in middle school. I know for a fact is the case with both schools. Deondrick Glass, former star Katy RB who is looking to transfer out of Oklahoma St. was actually from Converse area of NE San Antonio and would've went to Judson( the powerhouse before Katy's rise ) but his parents moved him to Katy area in 7th grade.
At least Shadow Creek was able to get a 5A DI title, because Iowa Colony will shift around the zones again.
Manvel was a solid program whether they were in 5A (title game appearances in the old 4a and new 5a) or in 6A going deep in the playoffs before losing out to Katy. Shadow Creek changed that overnight but they were one of the top programs in the city for over a decade.
I hear you about parents and kids wanting to run to the new and shiny schools like its automatic success, but that's not always the case and it leaves the other schools to suffer.
I may or may not have heard chatter years ago about how middle school kids who were set to go to Katy Taylor HS were all of a sudden living in a different apartment and attending Katy HS when ninth grade rolled around.
I may or may not have heard chatter years ago about how middle school kids who were set to go to Katy Taylor HS were all of a sudden living in a different apartment and attending Katy HS when ninth grade rolled around.
Lots and lots of that. The rule is you can't transfer for athletic purposes, but they can't stop you from playing because you went to live with another family member.
When I was working HSFB beat in Galveston County, there was one kid from Texas City who got into a spat with his coaches, and apparently told them he was transferring to La Marque (when La Marque football still mattered) because he didn't want to play for them. This resulted in a protracted hearing and appeal process that ended up in his not getting to play his senior year at LM.
Had he kept his intentions to himself, TC wouldn't have been able to stop him from playing. Guess it had a good ending, though, since he went on to Mizzou and then played in the NFL for a couple years.
And this is why I got tired of the THSFB scene, at least at the large metro school classes >4A. It's like the NBA with super teams and a legion of have-nots. You know who's going to be there at the end.
Anyway, North Shore will be happy to travel to whatever monster mega-stadium pops up next.
I just saw Clear Creek ISD's new-ish Challenger stadium for the first time last weekend for my cousin's graduation. 15-20 years ago, that would've been talked about like Allen's. Now that's pretty standard for large suburban district football venues.
I agree with this. I follow small school football like 3A and 4A. I also sometimes follow 2A Newton because they are from my hometown area. But yeah, the smaller school games still have the charm while the larger school games feel like a big commercial.
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