2016 Football Preview

There's certainly no love lost when Highway 79 rivals Henderson and Carthage get together. For years, it's been among East Texas' most intense rivalries. The long-standing feud is renewed once again on Sept. 30 when the Lions travel to Carthage in District 9-4A Division I action...

It's funny to think a team that started the season 1-5 could have clawed all the way back to win a state championship. Yet Arp got closer and closer to an 11-5 record with a ring last season. The Tigers had a Waskom problem, however. The Wildcats handed Arp its final loss ahead of a six-game winning streak and then circled back in the playoffs for another win en route to a second consecutive Class

Being part of the John Tyler football team goes beyond enjoying a passionate fan base, a real connection to current NFLers and college football players that still care about the program and winning consistently. It takes grit to survive in this program.

The past two years were fun ones for Lufkin fans. Their classic rivalries within East Texas actually meant something once the Panthers got demoted from Class 6A to Class 5A. But there were drawbacks as well. District road games against Corsicana and Ennis were brutal and most other league contests' distance weren't that much better than traveling to the northwest part of the Greater Houston Area i

Carthage has established itself as one of the state's premier powers at the Class 4A level over the last decade. Since 2007, the Bulldogs are an impressive 105-25 (.808) with four state championships to their name. Following an uncharacteristic second-round exit in the playoffs in 2014, Carthage roared back to reach the state semifinal round for the sixth time in the last eight years...

An East Texas presence in the state's largest classification will be on full display in District 11-6A this season as John Tyler and Longview make the jump up from 5A. How that will affect the league race remains to be seen. John Tyler returns some awfully talented playmakers, while Longview will be busy trying to vill several voids left by graduation...

Lufkin almost always gets ranked when writers explore high school football culture around the nation. If the town doesn't get ranked, it's a bad oversight. Panthers fans fill the home side of their 11,000-seat Abe Martin Stadium and spill over into designated seating on the away side. Whether it's getting riled up about a bad call or bad execution, the assuredly deserving offenders get to hear it

The oldest rivalry in East Texas is renewed when Longview travels to Marshall on Sept. 2 for their 106th meeting. The Mavericks stunned the Lobos by defeating Longview for the first time since 2000 last season, and earned a piece of the district championship in the process...

The Gilmer Buckeyes have been one of the state's most dominant programs over the past several seasons. Since 2003, Gilmer has compiled a record of 167-17 (.908), and won three state championships. Gilmer enters the 2016 season having won 31 of its last 32 games, coming off a state title in 2014 and an appearance in the semifinals a season go...

With Longview out of the picture and in Class 6A now, it appears as if District 16-5A will be a two-horse between Marshall and Texas High, which each grabbed a piece of the league title in 2015. Marshall returns 12 starters from last year's 11-2 regional semifinalist squad, while Texas High brings back one of the top quarterback in the region in senior Cade Pearson, who is committed to North Texas