Previewing Houston High School Football: 6A
As you might expect, any discussion on state championship contenders begins with 23-6A. This district produced 2 state finalists last year in North Shore and Summer Creek, plus an Atascocita team that’s always knocking on the door. North Shore is built on experienced talent that have been on the field for quite some time. Kaleb Bailey has been the Mustangs starting signal caller since he was a freshman. Bailey spent last year testing out his injured knee and though he may not have run as much as he has done in the past, expect him to use his legs a lot more this fall. And even if he doesn’t….well he still has D’Andre Hardeman in the backfield and new weapon, Quanell Farrakhan at wide receiver after Quanell transferred in from The Woodlands. Defensively, North Shore is stacked with possibly the best player in the state, Devin Sanchez, at cornerback and Charles Ross at linebacker. Atascocita may be the second best team in the area for Division 1 and will probably face North Shore twice again this year. The Eagles running attack will be on display with Cardae (Car-day) Mack and Tory Blaylock. Summer Creek got hit with graduation, but expect a long run again behind Blake Thomas at quarterback and Chad Woodfork on the defensive line. Katy will be a huge threat again out of 19-6A with their traditional monster offensive line and Tremayne Hill toting the rock. But that Katy ISD district is always a juggernaut. Katy Jordan could have a serious breakout year with Andrew Marsh at receiver and Chad Gasper in the backfield. Another favorite from Division 1 is Spring Westfield. The Mustangs promoted within once Matt Meekins stepped down as head coach and they bring back a stacked defense led by safety Joseph Albright. Westfield has gone at least 3 rounds deep in the post season for 8 straight years. Talking about more impressive streaks, you got to talk Ridge Point. Rick LaFavers’ Panthers have won 9 of the last 10 district titles in the Fort Bend ISD district and with 3,000 yard passer, Austin Carlisle returning, who’s to stop them again. Willis went undefeated in the regular season last year and for those of you who thought the graduation of D J Lagway was going to slow them down….think again. They will have competition in 13-6A with The Woodlands and Conroe so that district could go down to the wire. Bridgeland has two of the most dominant offensive lineman in the state on the same line, so they will be able to keep their quarterback’s jersey clean. Meanwhile, at Shadow Creek, Brad Butler retired, but Tyrone Green takes over a Sharks team that has a plethora of athletes. His worry right now is to get right in the trenches before district play starts. Lamar had a remarkable year in 2023 as they went 12-1, but many of their skilled position players have moved on to college. Cy-Fair went a couple rounds deep last year, but they need to replace Trey Owens at quarterback, while Fulshear moves up from 5A and are actually the favorite to win a district title in 20-6A. Klein Collins will continue their dominance on defense with Trent Spence at linebacker. Cy Springs have two wide recievers, Rashod and Jamon Richardson, who will make them a favorite in 16-6A. And over in Pearland, B J Gotte (Got) has the Oilers ready to go deep in the post season, while Dawson will also be a team to watch in 6A 🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀 Subscribe to Houston Inside High School Sports to stay up to date on everything high school sports related in the Greater Houston Area! https://www.youtube.com/@HoustonInsideHighSchoolSports https://twitter.com/ihss_houston https://www.tiktok.com/@ihsshouston https://www.instagram.com/ihsshouston/ https://www.facebook.com/HoustonInsideHighSchoolSports/ https://www.threads.net/@ihsshouston Visit our website: https://hou.insidehighschoolsports.tv/ #ihss #txhsfb