Film & TV
June 11, 2021
‘12 Mighty Orphans’ Is the Cornball Texas Football Movie We Need Right Now
The film, based on a true Fort Worth story and starring Dallas native Luke Wilson, is a welcome post-pandemic balm.
High School Football
Sports
May 4, 2021
From a Private Harris County High School, Three Players Appear to Be NFL-Bound
From 1983 to 2020, Houston’s Episcopal High School produced just two NFL players. In 2021, Jaylen Waddle, Walker Little, and Marvin Wilson are all on their way to NFL careers.
The Culture
December 22, 2020
‘Texas 6’ Offers a Glimpse at the State’s Smallest Football Dynasty
The new docuseries follows tiny Strawn High School's six-player football team in its quest for a three-peat.
Sports
October 2, 2020
How High School Quarterbacks Prepared for the Strangest Season in Football History
They faced a shortened season filled with cancellations and uncertainty. It didn’t stop some of the state’s top athletes from finding new ways to keep working.
Sports
October 8, 2019
More Than a Game
One month after a man from Plano drove to El Paso and murdered 22 people, a high school football game between the two communities became a chance to heal.
Sports
September 20, 2019
Art Briles Is Coaching High School Football in Texas. What’s His Endgame?
It’s unclear whether the disgraced coach will return to the national stage, but he has a foot back in the door at Mount Vernon.
Sports
August 16, 2019
Following Protests, the Plano Senior High vs. El Paso Eastwood Football Game Is Back On
Citing abstract fears, Plano ISD canceled a game against a school in the devastated community.
Sports
May 28, 2019
Watch the Moment Mount Vernon Learned Art Briles Would Be Its Next Head Coach
Inside the May 24 school board meeting.
Sports
November 4, 2016
Phil Danaher Becomes Texas’s All-time Winningest High School Football Coach
The Corpus Christi Calallen High School coach just notched his 427th victory.
Sports
May 16, 2016
It’s Time To Stop Spending Tens of Millions of Dollars On High School Football Stadiums
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t stop spending money.
Sports
September 9, 2015
On John Jay High School Football And The ‘Friday Night Lights’ Mythology
Over the weekend, a referee was targeted and tackled by high school players. Does Texas have a football problem?
Sports
August 27, 2015
Allen’s Eagle Stadium Is Set To Officially Reopen On Friday
The most expensive high school football stadium in the world will get a triumphant return after its embarrassing closure in 2014.
Friday Night Lights
November 7, 2014
Why You Should Root For Booker High School’s Football Team to Win the State Championship
Unless you’re an opponent, of course.
The Culture
October 21, 2014
Harvester Good
For the past 26 years, the Pampa High Fighting Harvesters have counted on their equipment manager not only to fold their uniforms but also to keep their spirits high. Because in Pampa, there is no Friday night without Trent Loter.
Sports
October 21, 2013
Texas’s Losingest High School Football Team Determined to Win
Scarborough High School, in Houston, has suffered through a 44-game losing streak dating back to September 2009. The team's seniors could graduate without seeing victory. But the Spartans still rush the field every Friday night, hoping their luck will turn around.
Sports
October 4, 2013
“Spinal Cord Injuries Are No Longer a Hidden Topic”
Twelve years after a high school football injury left him paralyzed, San Marcos's Chris Canales and his father, Eddie, help out others in similar situations with their organization, Gridiron Heroes.
Sports
August 30, 2013
Getting Back to Normal
The West High School football team opened their 2013 football season Thursday night, another step for the town in moving past the devastating fertilizer plant explosion.
Sports
January 21, 2013
Texas: It’s Where College Football Players Come From
An ESPN analysis of "recruiting migration" trends among Top 20 college football teams found one thing never changes: Texas had the most players in both 1940 and 2010.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Stop Writing About “FNL” and Romney
UPDATE: Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger and FNL TV producer Peter Berg have both joined the fray over Mitt Romney and "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts...Can't Lose."
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
Who Gets the “Friday Night Lights” Vote?
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have both attempted to claim coach Eric Taylor's "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts..." rallying cry as their own—and FNL author Buzz Bissinger has picked a side.
January 21, 2013
Cheerleaders Must Stop Displaying Religious Posters at Football Games
Bible verses on banners spark controversy in a small East Texas town.
Sports
January 21, 2013
Carthage to Boast Largest High School Stadium Jumbotron
Carthage ISD is putting the finishing touches on a $750,000 scoreboard for its high school stadium, complete with a record-setting 1,200-square-foot video screen.
Sports
January 21, 2013
What People Are Saying About Allen’s $59.6 Million High School Football Stadium
Is this the Jerry World of high school football? The Eagles open the 18,000-seat facility in style August 31, when Southlake Carroll comes to visit.
The Culture
January 21, 2013
Austin Becomes Dillon Once Again
Friday Night Lights cast members and producers come home for the ATX Television Festival, with a panel and an Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow screening.
The Culture
January 21, 2013
Friday Night Lights’ Peter Berg Does Not Like Craig James
And Details also gets more details on the upcoming FNL movie from the director.
Sports
January 21, 2013
Buzz Bissinger Pens Surprise Sequel to “Friday Night Lights”
After Friday Night Lights, an e-book published today by Byliner, focuses on Bissinger's relationship with star-crossed Odessa Permian star James “Boobie” Miles.
Feature
January 20, 2013
Glory Days
Texas high school football may be in decline, but filmmakers still want to play.
Sports
January 20, 2013
Still Life
A violent tackle in a high school football game paralyzed John McClamrock for life. His mother made sure it was a life worth living.
Sports
January 20, 2013
Honor Thy Father
In suburban Fort Worth the frail psyche of a football prodigy collided with the crazed ambition of his dad, who himself had been a high school football star way back when. The consequences were deadly.
Sports
January 15, 2013
Texas: It’s Where College Football Players Come From
An ESPN analysis of "recruiting migration" trends among Top 20 college football teams found one thing never changes: Texas had the most players in both 1940 and 2010.
Sports
January 1, 2013
Friday Night Tykes
I. The Hawks Preteen football players are usually described by other preteen football players with one of three words: “nice,” “funny,” or, the highest possible compliment, “awesome.” Celdon Manning, a running back with the Allen Hawks, is the rare athlete who makes his teammates reach for the Scholastic Children’s Thesaurus.
January 27, 2012
The Texas Town That Canceled Football
The school district serving Premont, a rural South Texas town, has suspended sports to save itself.
Sports
December 19, 2011
Cowboys Stadium “Runaway Cart” Victim Speaks
Meet Lubbock's Chris Due, the “first pin” to be struck by the wild cart.
Sports
December 15, 2011
Dwaine Caraway Wants to Investigate UIL Referees
The Dallas councilman and former interim mayor tries to make a municipal case out of controversial call in the Skyline-Southlake Carroll football game.
Sports
July 31, 2011
The Rookie
Two and a half years ago, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum asked me to organize an exhibit about high school football. Did I mention I'm not a curator?
Business
February 1, 2008
Dave Stephenson
If you think high school sports are too slick, too big-time, or too professional, just wait. When this Ohio transplant has his way—and he will—they’re going to get slicker, bigger, and much more pro. Stephenson, the former president of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, founded Titus Sports Marketing in 2003. The
Arts & Entertainment
January 1, 1986
Friday Night Ringers
Why do the towns that have oil also have the best football players?
Sports
December 1, 1976
Friday Night Heroes
In some towns, high school football is still a way of life.