Three teams were going for a three-peat in this year’s UIL State Championships, the Westbrook Wildcats, the Franklin Lions, and the South Oak Cliff Golden Bears.
Westbrook Wildcats
Head Coach Homer Matlock had his Wildcats looking to win their third-straight state title. The Wildcats had been 35-7 over the past three seasons and were coming off a 13-1 year and a Six-Man DI title. They dropped their season opener to Knox City, but then dominated the rest of their season. They scored over 60 points six times, including a 110-65 win over Borden County.
In the state title game, they faced the undefeated Gordon Longhorns, and came up short, 20-70.
Franklin Lions
The Lions have established themselves as the dominant football program in 3A Division 1. Over the last two seasons, they had been 32-0. The Lions started the season right where they left off, winning 7 games to push their win-streak to 39 games. They lost in week 8 to Lorena, 49-52, but revenged that loss in the playoff regional finals, 49-27.
Franklin faced the Malakoff Tigers in the state championship. In a close defensive battle, the Lions fell to the Tigers, 7-14.
South Oak Cliff Golden Bears
Head Coach Jason Todd has built one of the best football programs in Texas and led the Golden Bears to their first two state title appearances in 2021 and 2022, wining both. The Bears had a dominant season. They finished 6-0 in District 6-5A DII play and dropped just two games to 6A D1 and 6A DII state champions, DeSoto and Duncanville.
SOC faced the Port Neches-Groves Indians in the title game, a team they beat for the title last year. In one of the best games of the year, SOC lost, 17-20.
While all three programs came up short in their bid to three-peat, all three will be favorites to get back to the state title game next year and attempt to win 3 out of 4 state championships.
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