The 2024 TXHSFB season was the year of New Blood.

Of the 12 state champions crowned, only four had won a title in the previous 15 years. What are the chances these party crashers stay awhile?

We ranked every team's chances to repeat in 2025.

1. Gordon Longhorns (Class 1A DI)

Gordon head coach Mike Reed led Rule to state championship appearances in 2006 and 2007 and Throckmorton to three consecutive title berths from 2010-12. This December, he clinched another back-to-back run with Gordon and had a message for everyone in attendance … and those not.

“They are the greatest group that I’ve coached,” Reed said after Gordon’s 70-24 win over Whiteface. “They would beat any other team I’ve coached. And every kid I’ve coached will holler at me after this and say, ‘Ah, but Coach.’ Yes, we would.”

The 2024 Gordon Longhorns ran 15.7 offensive plays per game and had the best statistical defense in UIL six-man history, with 7.2 points allowed per game. The group’s core returns next year with a three-peat bid to cap their high school careers, and you won’t find us betting against them. Coach’s kid Stryker Reed and Defensive MVP Ry Reed (no relation) grab the headlines, but Brayden Walters emerged in the title game as the third head of the dragon with a three-touchdown performance.

2. Carthage Bulldogs (Class 4A DII)

There’s a good chance Carthage head coach Scott Surratt won’t have enough fingers to fit his state championship rings on after this season. He has more state titles (10) than playoff losses (eight) in his career.  

The repeat bid begins with Co-District MVPs Jett Surratt and KJ Edwards back as the faces of Surratt’s legendary offense. Jett displayed mastery of his father’s scheme in his first two years starting after studying it all his life, while Edwards took home Offensive MVP honors in the state championship with 188 yards and two TDs. Fellow running back Benny Smith (133 carries, 1,262 yards and 19 TDs) gives Carthage one of the state’s best backfields.

The Bulldogs must replace three all-district performers on the defensive line, but outside linebackers Carson Crawford and DaQuives Beck strike fear in opponents’ hearts. Beck holds 20 offers and earned Defensive MVP in the title game with 10 tackles and 3.5 TFL, while Crawford was state championship weekend’s breakout star with four tackles for loss and two sacks.

3. Celina Bobcats (Class 4A DI)

Celina’s ninth state championship looked a lot different than the majority they won in the 1990s and 2000s. 

“In the past, we might’ve been able to run the football, but we couldn’t throw as well or didn’t have the receivers we needed,” Celina head coach Bill Elliott said after the 55-21 win over Kilgore. “This year, we had such a combination of all of that. It makes it hard for a defense to adjust and stop us at what we’re doing.”

Quarterback Bowe Bentley is one of the hottest names in Texas High School Football after as close to a perfect performance as you’ll see. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 265 yards and five touchdowns. He would’ve had more touchdowns than incompletions if an out route in the end zone wasn’t dropped. Bentley will operate without three first-team all-district offensive linemen but has the mobility to ease any possible growing pains. 

Linebacker Luke Biagini also returns after winning Defensive MVP, as does the district’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year, defensive tackle Cameron Lucas.

4. Jayton Jaybirds (Class 1A DII)

Jayton’s state championship in 2024 ended a 39-year drought, but it could be in for a much shorter wait between titles. 

Defensive MVP Colt Gentry had the game’s first three touchdowns: a fumble recovery in the end zone, a 73-yard fumble return and a 16-yard touchdown catch. Sean Stanaland threw for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 7-of-8 passing, while Bodie Ham had two touchdowns. All three return as seniors next year.

“When the lights are the brightest, we’re always at our best,” Stanaland said after the 54-8 mercy-rule victory over Oakwood.

5. Muenster Hornets (Class 2A DII)

The lasting image of Muenster’s 2024 season is quarterback Casen Carney pointing to his ring finger after scoring the game-winning touchdown of an instant classic 36-29 win over Shiner. While Carney compiled 318 of the Hornets’ 352 total yards that night, he was far from a one-man show. Most of his supporting cast returns in 2025. Two all-district running backs - Nolan Peel and Legend Bounds - share the backfield with Carney again, while two first-team all-district offensive linemen (Kyle Leidel and Rhett Waterscheid) protect them. Rising junior Maverick Bayer was a revelation at wide receiver as a sophomore.

Garrett Hess headlines a bevy of returning starters on defense after leading Muenster in the state title game with 63 receiving yards and eight tackles. The defensive line should be dominant with first-team all-district defensive end Simon Johnson and Peel back.

Note: There is a demarcating line between spots 5 and 6, a transition from teams that should be favored to repeat to teams that we'd be shocked if they did repeat.

6. Richmond Randle Lions (Class 5A DII)

Could Richmond Randle win a second state title in its fourth season as a varsity program? The young program will lean again on a running back who’s made growing up on the Varsity age look easy - rising junior Landen Williams-Callis. The 2027 prospect with over 40 offers earned District MVP last year as a sophomore and got Offensive MVP in the state title game with 101 rushing yards and a score.

While the defense loses Chace Sims on the defensive line (Texas A&M), it retains Defensive MVP Ryan Mallory at outside linebacker. Mallory will assume the de facto leadership role in that position group after the Lions lost two first team all-district inside linebackers. 

Head coach Brian Randle turning the football program into a state power at the school named after his father is quickly becoming one of the state's best stories.

7. Ganado Indians (Class 2A DI)

Ganado won its first state championship in program history in the best game of the state championship week with a 30-28 triple overtime win over Stamford. The storybook season might have a Chapter 2 if the Indians find a way to replace quarterback/defensive back Bryce Ullman (220 total yards, 3 touchdowns; 8 tackles) and athlete Cain Hayden (2 interceptions, 2 touchdown catches).

Incoming junior Logan Bures is a playmaker in all three phases as evidenced by his 173 all-purpose yards and nine tackles. He’s a safety blanket for a new quarterback thrown into the fire. District Defensive MVP Landon Hicks and first-team defensive back Austen Pena both earned first-team honors at wide receiver, as well.

Ganado head coach Josh Ervin, 30, isn’t next up - he’s right now.

8. Smithson Valley Rangers (Class 5A DI)

Smithson Valley head coach Larry Hill won his long-awaited first state title in his fifth appearance in 2024. Could he make it two in a row this upcoming season? Quarterback/linebacker Cade Spradling and star running back Brad Sowersby have graduated, but the defense is loaded with returning starters.

District Defensive MVP Hudson Woods (66 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 13 sacks) and first-team all-district defensive tackle Justin Roberts wreak havoc in the opposing backfield. Rising junior linebacker Caleb Peagler is coming off a 131-tackle season, and cornerback Hunter Haug had seven pass breakups and three interceptions.

The offense needs to find new skill players, but whomever steps up will be protected behind the District’s Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year Aiden Verette.

9. Columbus Cardinals (Class 3A DI)

Columbus had the most dominant performance of state championship week in a 48-14 romp that ended Malakoff’s state-best winning streak. It was the perfect curtain call for Mr. Texas Football winner Adam Schobel and his cousin John, who won Defensive MVP with 10 tackles and three sacks. Now it’s up to Adam’s father, Matt, to coach the encore.

The Cardinals must replace Adam and 2,000-yard running back Grayson Rigdon, but the heir apparents will have every opportunity for similar success behind an offensive line returning all five starters and wide receiver Braylon Fisher (TCU offer). 

Linebackers Rylan Carruthers (165 tackles, 11 TFL) and Brody Vinklarek (171 tackles, 12 TFL) make up one of the state’s best tandems. Cooper Osbourne was a first-team all-district selection at both tight end and defensive end.

10. Vandegrift Vipers (Class 6A DII)

Vandegrift head coach Drew Sanders won his first state title with the program he started in 2010 and cemented it as one of the Austin area’s perennial powers. It’ll be an uphill battle to go back-to-back, however, after losing the majority of a defensive unit that held Southlake Carroll to just 17 points. Unanimous District Defensive MVP nose guard Ian Witt and Arizona State defensive end signee Daeshon Morgan made life easier on everyone, and three first-team all-district defensive backs have graduated.

But it’d be foolish to completely count out now-senior quarterback Miles Teodecki after a surgical 14-of-17 for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the state title game. He and the District’s Offensive Lineman of the Year, Carter Mannon, return. But the Vipers need to find a replacement for running back Brendan Fournier, whose 160 rushing yards and a touchdown provided the perfect complement to Teodecki.

11. North Crowley Panthers (Class 6A DI)

Ray Gates has proven he’ll have North Crowley in state championship contention in a loaded class 6A, but the Panthers lost too much to be favorites to repeat.

Nine recruits from the most successful senior class in North Crowley history signed to play Division I college football, headlined by MaxPreps’ National High School Football Player of the Year Quentin Gibson and four-year starting quarterback Chris Jimerson Jr. North Crowley also has to replace offensive coordinator Eli Reinhart, the mastermind behind a 50-point showing in the state title against Austin Westlake.

12. Gunter TIgers (Class 3A DII)

Not including Gunter, there have been 20 three-peats in 11-man TXHSFB history. Only three of them have won a fourth. To join that immortal club, Gunter needs to replace District MVP Colin Peacock (Baylor), Offensive Player of the Year Brock Boddie, Defensive Player of the Year Hayden Farrell, Offensive Lineman of the Year Luke Bullard, Utility Player of the Year Preston Tarpley and all-state edge rusher Major Thornhill.

Of the 18 players selected for a District Superlative or First Team, only outside linebacker Braeden McDaniel returns.