JOY AND PAIN
Just three points separated Barbers Hill and the playoffs.
The Eagles fell to Porter 10-7 and were eliminated with the loss.
Then, there’s the more joyous end of the spectrum.
All Travis needed to do was beat Kempner to lock up a postseason berth out of District 20-6A. The Tigers did so in a 51-13 win. Travis will be in the Class 6A Region III Division II bracket.
Texas City is another team that clinched a playoff spot in the last week. The Stingarees beat Elkins 39-21. Last year, Texas City missed the playoffs off a point differential tiebreaker.
End of road for pair of area head coaches
A few area head coaches roamed the sidelines for the last time this week. Clear Creek’s Darrell Warden ended a 27-year run as a Clear Creek ISD employee, spending 13 of those as the Wildcats’ coach.
Conroe coach Robert Walker announced his retirement. He was 15-34 in five seasons at Conroe but logged 22 years as a head coach, boasting a 138-103-1 overall record at Sabine Pass, Overton, Anahuac, Killeen Ellison and San Antonio East Central before Conroe.
Dawson’s Eric Wells announced earlier this year he would be leaving the coaching profession for an administration role with Pearland ISD. He gets to keep coaching for at least one more week with the Eagles in the playoffs.
Clear Springs among district champions
Clear Springs topped Clear Lake 35-27 to win the District 246A title outright.
Needless to say, quarterback Garrett Rooker and receiver Peyton Sawyer showed up. They connected twice on scores, and Rooker added a rushing score.
That makes it nine consecutive playoff berths, with back-to-back district titles, for the Chargers.
New Caney scored one of the biggest shockers of the night with a 63-38 win over Crosby to gain a share of the District 21-5A title.
Deer Park won its first district title since 2011 after a win over Pasadena Memorial on Thursday. Angleton also won its first outright district title since 2011 after a win over Calhoun.
The Woodlands won a fifth consecutive district title after Friday’s win over College Park.
District 17-5A crown to be decided in finale
Perhaps the biggest game of the week is in Cypress, where Langham Creek and Cy-Fair meet Saturday to decide the District 17-6A title. It’s a pair of 8-0 teams that figure to be trendy Region III picks in the playoffs.
Neither is a stranger to success. Cy-Fair won district titles in 2011 and 2013. Langham Creek claimed titles in 2012 and 2014.
St. Pius X renames stadium for Kubiak
Gary Kubiak, head coach of the Texans from 2006-13 and a legend in Texas high school sports, was honored by his alma mater, St. Pius X, on Friday as he became the namesake of the school’s football stadium.
Kubiak Stadium became the official name of the football facility during a ceremony that celebrated Kubiak and his wife, Rhonda, his high school sweetheart and a former St. Pius X cheerleader, before a game against St. Thomas.
Kubiak’s No. 9 jersey was also retired during the ceremony. The former Texans coach was an AllAmerican quarterback all four of his seasons at St. Pius from 1975-78 and he led the Panthers to a state championship in three consecutive years. A 1979 graduate, Kubiak was named to the all-state football, basketball, baseball and track teams. In football, he set a state record for most career passing yards with 6,190, which has fallen since then.
In 1999, Kubiak became the first player from a private school to be inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.
Kubiak is a four-time Super Bowl champ — three as an assistant coach and one as head coach.