State Championship Weekend Recap 2024
The end of the year is always a popular time for reflection on the year that was, and perhaps for comparison to years’ past as well. One year ago, the Houston area went 0-3 at the state championships. North Shore and Summer Creek got rocked, while Bellville lost a thriller.
This season, only two teams made it to state and both are “new blood” as we like to say. Columbus and Randle were each first-timers at state, and they both won. Though some (paging our own Professor Diggs, from our IHSS DFW chapter) wouldn’t consider this season much of a success for Houston area, I believe those people are wrong.
Columbus dominates its way to its first-ever state championship
Columbus has existed as a school since 1894. The school has won a handful of state championships in other sports, dating back to Boys Golf in 1961. Though there is a long, proud tradition of football in Columbus, this was the Cardinals first appearance in a state championship game.
The Cardinals didn’t have to sweat much. Grayson Rigdon ran in a touchdown less three minutes into the game. Malakoff answered right back before Rigdon ran in another touchdown, marking three consecutive scores to open the game. Columbus got the first stop of the game moments later, and Adam Schobel proceeded to find Braylon Fisher for a touchdown as the clock hit triple zeros to end the first quarter. The route was on from there, as Columbus cruised to a 48-14 victory.
Rigdon terrorized class 1A – where he never lost a game – for three years before transferring to Columbus this season, which provided the Cardinals offense with an extra dimension. The Wyoming signee was dominant once again in the state championship game, running 18 times for 124 yards and four touchdowns. He caps his career with 31 touchdowns in the state championship game, a state record, and he became the first-ever Texas high school player to four-peat as a state champion.
Adding Rigdon to an offense that already featured four-star TCU signee Adam Schobel was a recipe for a nearly unstoppable offense. Schobel finished 15-of-21 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 11 carries for 57 yards and another score to win state title game Offensive MVP honors.
Schobel is famous family name in Columbus. Coach Matt Schobel played at Columbus in the 90s before heading to TCU and the NFL, and he is the father of Adam and sophomore Jack Schobel, who had two tackles in the game. Defensive MVP John Schobel, also a TCU signee, is Matt’s nephew. It’s fitting that the first state championship football team in Columbus history has the Schobel family fingerprints all over it.
Randle wins a thriller against a budding dynasty for its first state championship
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Columbus, Randle High School has played just three football seasons. Also unlike Columbus, Randle’s state championship game came down to the final play whereas the Cardinals scored more points in the first quarter than Malakoff did in the entire game.
The peripherals would indicate South Oak Cliff probably should have won this game. Randle returned two kickoffs for a touchdown (including the opening kickoff of the game) and also recovered a muffed punt deep in Golden Bear territory that set up another easy score. South Oak Cliff outgained Randle 461-211, though SOC also ran 22 more plays.
Of course, who knows what the Randle offensive drives look like if those three SOC special teams miscues don’t set up three easy scores. It would be tough to assume all three of those drives would end in a touchdown, especially in a game where Randle completed just six passes. It needed every bit of offense and special teams scoring it could get, as SOC missed a field goal as time expired for Randle to hold onto a 38-35 win.
After the game, coach Brian Randle said the team motto all year was “we bully bullies” in response to a question regarding how Randle persevered against a SOC team that played better offensively and had plenty of experience playing on this stage. SOC is a bully of the highest order in class 5A – it’s hard to play in four-straight state title games without bullying the competition – yet Randle was able to out-bully the Golden Bears in what was a really physical game.
“We matched energy,” Randle said. “That’s something we talk about a lot, we’re going to match the energy (of our opponent). We’re not going to allow (our opponents) to push us around, that’s not going to happen.”
Landen Williams-Callis, after two-straight weeks of being relatively bottled up, was the proverbial bus driver for the Randle offense in the biggest game of the season. His 23 carries went for 106 yards and a touchdown. Keilan Sweeny ran five times for 32 yards and a touchdown, and he added 28 yards passing and another touchdown as well.
Mason Mixon caught the lone touchdown pass, while starting quarterback Tyler Skrabanek was just 4-of-9 for 49 yards and an interception. South Oak Cliff has coined its defense the “death row defense” for years, and it lived largely lived up to the billing. Even so, Randle dominating the special teams phase was enough to earn a state championship.
The 2024 season was a special and unique one. It’s just the second time in seven years that North Shore didn’t make a state championship appearance. We got to watch two Houston areas teams compete for and win their first state championship. Players like John Hebert set records and teams like Cy Woods had the best season in school history.
Every season brings new storylines and excitement. It’s also our first look at players who could dominate for years to come (Paris Melvin and, to a lesser extent because he was special last season as well, Landen Williams-Callis, or the quarterback version of Cardae Mack, come to mind) and our last look at familiar names who have dominated the area for years (like Kaleb Bailey, Joseph Stewart, Austin Carlisle, Jonah Williams and so many more).
I’ll miss covering the household names of the past few seasons, while looking forward to once again seeing the great athletes who will be juniors and seniors next year, and learning the names of breakout freshmen and sophomores. After all, we’re just 247 days away from opening night for the 2025 football season.