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1972 San Antonio Lee versus Wichita Falls High in Texas Stadium. Lee won 28-27 on the pitching arm of Tommy Kramer to Richard Osborne...both went on to college and met up playing for the Minnesota Vikings. Wichita Falls High two years ago held the Texas record for most state championships and the high school program with the most wins. I think Southlake Carroll may have tied it or surpassed it as of last year.

Stephenville, Brownwood, Odessa Permian, Abilene Cooper, LaMarque, and Lake Travis are some others but I've left out dozens of other excellent HS Texas programs that are legendary.

There are a lot of match-ups in Texas H.S. football that have reached legendary status.

I keep hearing about a semi-final game that was played in the midst of a raging blizzard, between Vernon and Phillips. Epic game that ended up in a zero-zero tie, Phillips advancing on gross yardage (by something like a bare 3 yds, as I recall).

Then, Phillips went on to win the state title.

At one time, I was given to understand by a reputable source that the unofficial total of money bet on high school football in Texas exceeded the amount bet on either college or pro football. A rancher betting a grand that the Dumas Demons would beat the spread vs the Dalhart Wolves was not unheard of.

Odds are that some of those guys sitting around the coffee shop in "The Last Picture Show's" Anarene (Archer City) on Saturday morning had lost some serious bread on the last game of the season vs Antelope (Olney).

There was even a rivalry in Central Texas (Clifton & Meridian?) that got banned because, every time the two teams met, the game ended with a knock-down, drag-out fight between the two towns. This around 1992-or-so, as I recall.

Texas high school football: Nothing like it.

I went to school and played football in Oklahoma. It was serious....but nothing like Texas.