Day 2 of Texas high school football state championships: Zebras come up short
Day two of the UIL Texas high school football state championships is done.
See a roundup of results from the action at AT&T Stadium in Arlington:
Grandview overwhelmed by Yoakum’s ground attack
No. 10 Yoakum entered the Class 3A Division I state championship Thursday looking for its first state championship.
Unranked Grandview, on the other hand, was aiming for its third state title in its first appearance in six seasons. From the start, it was evident that Yoakum had an upper hand. The Bulldogs, behind a consistent, productive rushing attack, seized a strong 45-29 victory to win the state title in front of 10,236 fans.
“It was a magical season, regardless of the outcome,” Grandview coach Ryan Ebner said. “These guys should feel like winners because they did some things that nobody thought they could do. I’m just extremely proud of this group.”
Yoakum (14-2) scored 24 unanswered points to start the game behind 313 first half rushing yards on 23 attempts, averaging 13.6 per carry. The Bulldogs, already having a sizable lead, finished with 396 rushing yards in the contest on 43 attempts.
At the end of the second half, Grandview (13-3) was able to limit the damage with a 1-yard TD rush from athlete Bleu Hubbard.
The Bulldogs seized back the momentum in the third quarter as Colby Jendrzey recovered a Grandview fumble on an errant snap, then they capitalized with a 25-yard touchdown from senior wide receiver X’Zavier Barnett to take a 31-7 lead.
Next, Grandview gave up an 62-yard punt return but Yoakum fumbled it right back to the Zebras. Grandview, however, couldn’t maintain possession as Yoakum’s Isaiah Lopez intercepted a pass, and Barnett capitalized with a 4-yard scoring scamper.
Facing a 31-point deficit, the Zebras were able to cut into the Yoakum lead. Grandview’s Brady Slinkard notched a 6-yard TD reception and, after an onside kick recovery, Slinkard added his second score, a 5-yarder, to cut the lead to 17 points; a 2-point attempt to make it a two-score game was unsuccessful.
Yoakum drained the clock on its next drive, which culminated in a 4-yard TD from Barnett. With the score, he tied the UIL state Class 3A record with five TDs. He finished with 202 total yards and averaged 11.4 yards per carry en route to winning the game’s Offensive Most Valuable Player award.
Senior linebacker Colby Jandrezy earned Defensive Most Valuable Player honors, finishing with 15 tackles and a pass break up that resulted in an interception.
With the game well out of hand in the final minute, Slinkard added an 11 yard TD reception, finishing with 22 yards and three TDs. Hubbard led the Zebra offense, rushing for 71 yards and tallying 76 as a receiver.
PHOTOS: Grandiew falls to Yoakum
Wall holds off Newton in thriller for first title
Tradition-rich Newton, a five time state champion, was making it eighth state title appearance and fourth since 2014. Wall was in its second title game and the first since 2013.
Despite the history, from the start it looked like Wall was the championship game veteran, but the Hawks had to hold on for a nail-biting 25-24 win for their first state title in the Class 3A Division II championship Thursday before 9,721 in attendance.
No. 2 Wall (16-0) couldn’t have played better in the first half while No. 4 Newton (14-2) couldn’t get out of its own way with penalties and miscues. The Hawks took a 25-8 lead into the intermission on the strength of two Landon York to Reid Roberston scoring passes of 47 and 5 yards.
Robertson came away with the game’s Offensive Most Valuable Player award with 5 receptions for 102 yards and set up Wall’s first score by tossing a 43-yard completion to Kellan Oliver.
A blocked punt by Wall’s Gavin Sisson, the Defensive MVP, was returned 28 yards for a score by Dylan Sellers. In addition to the blocked punt, Sisson had 13 tackles, 10 solo, with a half sack and 2.5 tackles for losses.
But Newton came back after the break.
The Eagles took almost 6 minutes off the clock driving 98 yards in 16 plays to cut the lead to 25-16 with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Cavland Hunter darted in from the 2 and also ran in the conversion.
Wall got a huge turnover with 36 seconds left in the third quarter at the Newton 39, but wound up missing on a 38-yard field goal. Newton then drove to the Wall 24, but lost the ball on downs there with 6:14 left in the game.
Braylen Patterson gave the Eagles life late, intercepting a Wall pass and returning it 38 yards to the Hawks’ 41 with 3:26 remaining. Facing a fourth and 16 from the 37, Deldrick Samuel hit Kendray Porter with a scoring pass and Porter ran in the conversion to pull to within 25-24 with 1:43 left.
Newton had three chances to recover the ensuing onside kick that seemed to bound around forever before Wall’s Jacob Braden secured it allowing the Hawks to run out the clock.
Muenster repeats, downing Shiner again
Muenster completed back-to-back state title campaigns, both against Shiner, as the Hornets downed the Comanches 28-0 to take the Class 2A Division II championship on Thursday morning before 7,397 looking on.
A couple of gaffes early by Shiner (15-1), ranked No. 1 in the state in the final 2A DII state poll by Dave Campbell’s, helped No. 2 Muenster (14-2) jump out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Brody Baggs recovered a fumble for the Hornets on Shiner’s second snap from scrimmage which led to a 4-yard scoring run by Muenster quarterback Casen Carney.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Comanches were called for an invalid fair catch and had to start from their own 15. Following a punt by Shiner, Muenster drove 83 yards in 7 plays with Carney tossing a 10-yard scoring pass to tight end Garrett Hess.
It was all Muenster from that point. Carney, the Offensive Most Valuable Player, and Hess connected twice more for scores from 34 and 12 yards.
Carney went 9 of 10 passing for 162 yards and rushed 16 times for 79 yards. Hess tied a Class 2A championship game record with 3 receiving TDs and finished with 4 catches for 107 yards.
The Muenster defense only allowed 164 total yards led by Defensive MVP Rhett Walterscheid, a linebacker, who had 8 tackles, 6 solo, with 1 sack and 2 quarterback hits. Of his 6 tackles, 4.5 of them were behind the line of scrimmage.
Muenster was making its third trip to the state championship game defeating Shiner 36-29 in the 2A DII title game a year ago and also won state in 2017. Shiner has now reached the title game eight times with wins in 2004, 2020 and 2021.
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM.
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