High School Football

Possibly Coming to a Texas High-School Football Field Near You: Only One Full-Contact Practice Per Week

Last Thursday, State Representative Eddie Lucio III, a Democrat from Brownsville, filed House Bill 887. If enacted, the law would limit middle-school and high-school football programs to one full-contact practice per week. "Like most people, I'm influenced by the stories I read and the news I see. ... More >>

Notre Dame Football Recruit "Catfishes" Himself In Lie About A Campus Visit

Sometimes the sports gods have a sense of humor. For example, a player named Nomar Garciaparra (and the multiple "ar" sounds in his name) landing in Boston, with the natives' ridiculous accent, is funny to me. Sometimes the sports gods are cruel. Refer to the entire sports history of the city of Cl ... More >>

Kountze High School: Keep Jesus on the Football Field, Where He Belongs!

If there's one thing we learned from the Bible, it's that Jesus loved high school football. Remember Galatians 2:34? "And yea, Christ the Savior sayeth unto the Jerusalem Central Serpents, 'We are Bethlehem West, we couldn't be prouder, and if thou didn't hear us, we shall shout a little louder!'"? ... More >>

We're Goin' Streakin!! High School Football Streaker Narrowly Escapes Castration (w/ VIDEO)

I've reached the point with television shows where I rarely watch them in first run anymore. I find it much easier to satiate my TV thirst if I sit down and plow through an entire series on Netflix or DVD over the course of a few weeks. It's what I did with The Wire, it's what I intend to do with Br ... More >>

Carthage, Texas, Hometown of Bernie, Now Gets Fanciest High School Football Scoreboard in the World

Score another coup for the newly famous East Texas town of Carthage: the town Richard Linklater, Jack Black and Sonny Carl Davis put on the map for its eccentric views on punishing murderers now has scoreboard on the entire state -- nay, the whole entire world of high school athletics. Literally. W ... More >>

The 10 Silliest Headlines In Rap News This Week

You are a human and you have eyeballs and you also have the Internet, so you've likely read some things. That's sort of what this is, except sort of not too. We went through a ton of headlines of hip-hop "stories" from the past week, picked out the ten most egregious one, pasted them below, then ad ... More >>

Youth Concussion Crisis: Big Changes Coming to Kids' Football

On Wednesday, Pop Warner, the nation's largest youth football organization, announced some rule changes that could significantly alter how the overall game is played. During Pop Warner practices, players are no longer permitted to line up more than three yards apart during blocking and tackling dri ... More >>

Deontay Greenberry: A Texans-Related Grain Of Salt For College Football National Signing Day

There was a time not too long ago when the last-minute defection of wide receiver Deontay Greenberry from my alma mater Notre Dame to the University of Houston would have sent me into a mental funk that would have taken me a week from which to recover. After all, Greenberry is a dynamic "four star ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

The Final Play

After traumatic knee injury, Case Keenum has one more season to prove his talents.

High School Recruitnik -- The Silent Predator

You fail, social media stalkers of high school athletes​Well, today is the day. The day where entitled 17-year-old kids everywhere say hello to the free world by putting five hats of various universities in front of them, faking that they will grab one (completely offending that school which ... More >>

Magnolia High School Gets Its Own Driving Range! -- Five Suggestions

Possibly works for Magnolia High​"For the longest time, we just had a few individuals in our golf program. Our previous coach did a nice job of building up the program, but now we are trying to take it to the next level." -- Magnolia High School golf coach Jim Bob Jackson You hear about a lot ... More >>

Yates High: 1985 State Champs and 'Team of the Decade' Celebrates 25-Year Anniversary

Photo by Chasen MarshallYates High '85: the debate continues over whether it was the greatest Texas team ever.Twenty-five years ago, Houston was home to, arguably, the greatest high school football team ever to take the field in Texas. During that season, Yates High was unstoppable on offense and im ... More >>

Resurrecting Phi Slama Jama

Can UH resurrect its basketball glory days?

High School Football In Full Swing; Katy The Team To Beat In Region

Photo by Chasen MarshallOne of many Katy High TDs on opening night​Click here for a slideshow from the Katy/North Shore game Friday night. The east stands were alive and doused in red, with chants of "Ka-ty! Ka-ty! Ka-ty!" before the team had even taken the field. The number of dancers and cheerl ... More >>

A Rock & Roll Time Capsule From Friday Night Lights Country

myspace.com/sweetmikeycThat's right, that's former Elvis Presley guitar-picker Scotty Moore on the far left.​ As Lonesome, Onry and Mean noted yesterday, even in an age when no one supposedly buys, listens to or reviews albums anymore - three words: Record Store Day - too many albums pour into our ... More >>

Third Ward High

The 2010 Yates championship team proved nobody does it better.

If Katy Actually Faced Cinco Ranch In The Playoffs, Who Would Win?

Photo by Paul Knight​Here at Hair Balls, we seem to talk a lot about Katy High School football, even though we try not to. When the high school playoffs started this year, we really wanted to cheer for Galveston Ball, and we thought The Woodlands and Hightower High School would surely go deep in t ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Why Does Everyone Hate Katy So Much?

Photos by Paul Knight​Standing in the rain on Saturday afternoon, watching Katy High School play Atascocita in a playoff game, Hair Balls remembered something we read on the Washington Post NFL blog this past week. This question, about the Dallas Cowboys, was asked: "Why are the Cowboys So Hated? ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Another Hurricane Beating For Galveston

Photos by Paul Knight​After the high school football playoff schedule was released last week, Hair Balls was ready to jump on the Galveston Ball High bandwagon and follow the team on what we hoped would be a miracle playoff run. Ball had already exceeded expectations by making the playoffs, c ... More >>

As The HS Football Playoffs Begin, Here Are The Three Best Games Of The Past 15 Years

High school football playoffs start this weekend, and Hair Balls is excited.The Woodlands and Hightower High School finished undefeated and, from what we saw this season, look like they'll be tough to beat. Katy High School, whose only loss came in the team's opening game against The Woodlands, won ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: The Difference Between High School Football In Texas And Pennsylvania

Photos by Paul Knight​Hair Balls traveled to a high school football game this weekend with a native Pennsylvanian to see how high school football in that state matches up against high school football in Texas. We went to Rosenberg to watch a Saturday night match up between the B.F. Terry Ran ... More >>

Memorial High School Keeps It Classy, Plus, Lessons We Learned from the T-Shirt Fiasco

Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

Friday Night Lights, Houston-Style: Hightower-Dulles, And Ranking The Best

Photos by Paul Knight / Click here for a full slideshow​Hair Balls watched a game about a month ago between two old HISD rivals, and we noticed that the stands were a little empty and the game play was a little soft. We found an old Madison coach, Richard Blair, who told us that he thought H ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Six-Man Football Isn't Just For Tiny Towns

​Since Hair Balls started covering high school football, we've been itching to check out a six-man game, because after all, the supposedly big-time games in recent weeks have been somewhat of a letdown. But on Friday night, we found a true football mecca: the Rosehill Christian School. Along a tre ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: What Ever Happened To The Yates-Madison Rivalry?

Photo by Paul Knight​Hair Balls traveled to HISD's Barnett Stadium on Friday to check out the James Madison Marlins play the Jake Yates Lions, a refreshing change of pace from last week's Battle of the Super Suburbs. Madison and Yates are apparently old rivals, and we went to the game with high ex ... More >>

High School Football Classic 2009

Web exclusive

The Thing About Frito Pies

Photos by J.C. ReidHaute cuisine? For people who did not grow up in Texas, and for the occasional Texan who did not spend time in public school lunch rooms or patronize the concession stands at Friday night high school football games, a Frito pie is a dish containing three ingredients: Fritos corn ... More >>

Madison High's Ray Seals Honored By NFL, As Vince Young Finally Does Something Right This Year

Seals and VYRay Seals, head coach at Madison High, has been chosen the 2008 National Football League High School Coach of the Year. Two of his former players, Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans and Moran Norris of the Detroit Lions, nominated Seals for the award.  In his essay, Norris called S ... More >>

A Little Sororal Love for Broward's BCS Live Blog

Our old pal Michael J. Mooney, who helped us out with our October feature about the Katy High School football team, posted up at Dolphins Stadium last night to live blog the game for our sister paper, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Here's the recap, which includes frequent references to the Uni ... More >>

Countdown To Championship Saturday: Hightower

The Hightower High School football program fielded its first varsity team in 2000, but in just nine seasons, the school has graduated some great players -- two have played in the NFL -- and made the playoffs seven times.     This year, however, is the first time the team has adva ... More >>

No Pressure. It's Just Texas High School Football.

Katy High School was going to play against a Florida team on national TV. Now all it had to do was find a way to win again.

Let The Bidding For Galveston's HS Football Stars Begin!!

The Five Biggest Choke Jobs in Houston Sports History

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: John McClain, Coach Fran and Mike Sherman

Lights On or Off?

The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football

Making the Call

Broadcasting high school games, ESPN-style

Drummer Love

These Kids Go to the Best Public High School in Houston

This week: Our first- through fifth-place finishers

Letters

What Price Glory?

In an era when booster dollars give high school football teams a high-tech edge, scratching out a winning season gets tougher and tougher

Hell of a Catch

Friday Night Lights goes deep -- a rare route for football movies

Best Landmark

Tee Time

Lee High School dropped football, deciding golf was a better sport for its kids, no matter how poor or new to this country they might be

Best Texan

Aaron Glenn

Best Place to Turn Back the Hands of Time

James Coney Island

No Sissies Allowed

They'll run. They'll catch. They'll tackle. Women's professional football ramps up (again) in Houston.

Winning in the Worst Way

Rock Knapp transformed little Northwest Academy from gridiron patsy to playoff powerhouse. So why are some parents calling for his head?

Final Down

The Trophy Son's family not only loses in court, but will have to pay the school system's legal costs

Taking Care of the Boys

High school QB Kyle Heine broke his neck on the field. How well was he treated?