2015 East Texas Football Playoffs

HOUSTON -- Friends and family leaned down the walls at NRG Stadium in Houston to greet their once and current state champions. It was one of the best scenes you could imagine. A place where love, belief, support and accomplishment all met...

Today's the day. Waskom will face Franklin at 8 p.m. in the Class 3A Division II state championship to close the East Texas football season.

WASKOM -- Fourteen and 15-year-olds will never get tired of seeing news crews arrive on their campus. That's just a fact. It's another opportunity for them to find themselves on the 10 o'clock news if they pause the broadcast at just the right time and search the frame. Or, in this case, at least get into the fringe of a photograph. One wants more.

MINERAL WELLS -- Waskom kept its season alive with 14-play, 85-yard championship drive.  Running back Chan Amie’s second rushing touchdown of the night from a yard out with 1:06 left lifted Waskom to a 28-24 win against Idalou at Mineral Wells' Ram Stadium in the Class 3A Division II state semifinals.

GRAND PRAIRIE -- Jeremiah Crawford threw for 239 yards in Friday's Class 3A Division I state semifinals playoff game against Brock. That's not the number you want to see out of Mineola. Its offensive production was inversed. Brock dominated time of possession, ran at will, stopped the Yellowjackets' opposing prolific running game and advanced to the Class 3A Division I state championship game with

Mineola pulled away from AT&T Stadium disappointed about the outcome of the 2014 Class 3A Division I state championship game between it and Cameron Yoe. At the same time, with essential players all over the field in that game being sophomores, there probably was some comfort that only the first window of opportunity had shut.

CLASS 3A DIVISION I SEMIFINAL Brock Eagles (14-0) vs. Mineola Yellowjackets (14-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday Gopher-Warrior Bowl, Grand Prairie Coaches Brock: Chad Worrell Mineola: Joe Drennon Last week Brock: def. Shallowater, 38-10 Mineola: def. Sunnyvale, 45-28 Next week Winner faces winner between Cameron Yoe and Mathis, 3A Division I state championship game, 5 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 17) at Houston's

Any coach will tell you it takes a lot to sustain a winning program. The victories don't pile up as cleanly in reality as they do in Saturday's sports section. What on earth then does it take to pull a program -- even a program with athletic potential -- away from the pack? Waskom's Whitney Keeling knows a thing or two about the initial process and now the perpetual process. The once lowly Wildcat

CLASS 3A DIVISION II SEMIFINAL Idalou Wildcats (13-0) vs. Waskom Wildcats (14-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday Ram Stadium, Mineral Wells Coaches Idalou: Jeff Lofton Waskom: Whitney Keeling Last week Celina: def. Henrietta, 27-7 Waskom: def. West Rusk, 57-28 Next week Winner faces winner between East Bernard and Franklin, 3A Division II state championship game, 8 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 17) at Houston's NRG S

  ROYSE CITY -- The best thing about Mineola quarterback Jeremiah Crawford and running back Chantz Perkins is that nothing seems impossible. It's fathomable they can go 99 yards with the ball in their hands. It's likely they'll break off multiple 50-yard runs per game. It's becoming more probable they can steer their team toward a second-chance date with destiny. Crawford ran for 319 yards and fou