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Your school’s best football team that did not win a state title


nacdragon07

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55 minutes ago, Raiderfan7000 said:

I know what you’re saying. I didn’t mean that as a jab. I still remember being dumbfounded at the score . Then again that was a good team but I figured the mavs would’ve played better. Still one of the most incredible Marshall teams despite  the finish.

Like I said in another post.....  HP beats us 10 out of 10 times in 2005.  They were the best team in Texas in any class that season IMHO. 

They played perfectly and we played about as poorly as one can image.

We were (14-2) and that one game is the one people remember most from 2005.  And that’s a pity. There were some incredible memories that season. 

The thrilling victory over Pflugerville Connally in the semis.  The blowout of Jack Yates. The win over Klien Oak.  Not to mention the District showdowns with Kilgore and Jacksonville, who were beasts.  

Great memories.    

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2 hours ago, VonG said:

I totally disagree with Highland Park being the best team in all of Texas in 2005. They beat Stephenville by 3 and should have lost to Texas High in the 1st round at Rose Stadium. 

To each his own. 
But HP’s PPG that season we’re insane in 2005 IIRC.  
Their offense was incredible. 
Do we even need to discuss who their QB was?
And Stephenville was no slouch. 

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11 hours ago, LoboFan07 said:

I don't even know where you would start for Longview.

I think 2009 has to be at the top of the list. That team should've beaten Lake Travis that day in Waco. I have no doubt in my mind that we were the better team.

2010 has to be #2 for me. Steele was the exact type of team we knew how to stop. If not for a blocked punt (or blowing that huge lead mind you) against Guyer, I also fully believe we win State.

1975 would be my 3rd pick.

1997 team would be my 4th pick.

I'd put our 2004 team ahead of the 1986 team for 5th. That 04 team was ridiculously talented, while 86 team suffered a couple losses in the regular season.

I mean, seriously, we could have a top 10 list of Longview teams that didn't win state that could've, would've and should've.

My top 10 for Lobo teams that could've won state (with every thing factored in)

1) 2009
2) 2010
3) 1975
4) 1997
5) 2004
6) 1986
7) 2011
8. 2017
9) 2013
10) 2002

Honorary mention to 2015, though George Ranch's performance over LR (even with a hurt Duffey) somewhat lessens that just a bit.

I cannot stress this enough...and this team always gets lost in these conversations...

But 2012 Longview.

I can say with confidence Longview has a big shot at winning it all that year had we stayed healthy.

You had Bivins at QB, fresh off breaking the schools passing record in 2011. A speedster at RB in Tory White, who owns the longest TD run in Lobo history. Dorian Leonard (Texas) and Justin Spady leading the WR pack, and Spady was probably better than Leonard. Colin Jeter at TE who did well at LSU, played in the NFL and now plays in the XFL. Your typical good John King OL.

That defense was just as exciting. Everyone on that DL went to the next level....Zaycoven Henderson making it all the way to the NFL for a bit. Damarkus Lathan behind them at LB...the best Lobo LB I've seen if it isnt Tyshawn Taylor. The safety trio of Stephan Maxey, Corey Bartley and Travin Howard (now plays for the Rams). Bartley also one of the best Longview safeties I've seen....Maxey had major FBS talent as well, just didnt produce away from the field. The best player of that 2014 class IMO that included Howard, Henderson and Leonard. Had Nakia Brown at CB who played Arena football for a bit, maybe the best PR in school history.

Man I wish that team would've stayed healthy.

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4 hours ago, Raiderfan7000 said:

I know what you’re saying. I didn’t mean that as a jab. I still remember being dumbfounded at the score . Then again that was a good team but I figured the mavs would’ve played better. Still one of the most incredible Marshall teams despite  the finish.

We went into that game thinking Matt Stafford was going to kill us, but this tiny little running back of theirs had at least 4 runs of 50+ yards on us.  I am pretty sure I left during the 3rd quarter bc some HP fans I was sitting near were being pretty nasty towards us.  And the score was already nasty.  Instead of making a scene, I left.

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7 hours ago, KirtFalcon said:

2001 Garrison team that came within an eyelash of beating the metroplex all-star Celina team that won 4 straight state championships .... Almost everyone on Garrison's team was playing both ways and special teams competing against a Celina team that had over 90 kids suited up with only a handful of players playing both ways ..... Garrison was ahead late in the 4th quarter and finally wore down.  Celina 41 Garrison 35 ....

By far one of the best and most emotional games I have ever watched in person! I wish I could find the video of that game and watch it again! 

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7 hours ago, VonG said:

I totally disagree with Highland Park being the best team in all of Texas in 2005. They beat Stephenville by 3 and should have lost to Texas High in the 1st round at Rose Stadium. 

HP was good. But yeah...I dont see them beating Lufkin, Katy, Trinity...Longview, Smithson Valley...I remember NS and Westfield also being farely strong that year. Few others.

And they certainly werent beating a certain Texas juggernaut at that time by the name of Southlake Carroll. No one was.

HP was damn good though.

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For Joaquin, there are 4 that stand out, so I’ll do them chronologically. 
The ‘05 team was probably the most complete of the Gandy era. They had the bad draw of getting Big Sandy in the first round due to BS finishing 2nd in their district after forfeiting a win over Maud. 
The ‘07 team was good, but I didn’t think they had all the tools of the ‘05 team. We got a much more favorable playoff draw that year due to the added division in Class A. We ran into Alto in regional finals, and no one in Class A was beating Alto that year. 
The ‘09 team got the closest, and they were really, really good, especially on defense. We also benefited from a favorable draw, not facing a team that finished higher than third in their district until we met Goldthwaite in semifinals. Hearing the words “Ennis, Texas” still makes me feel cold. That brings us to the ‘19 team. I think this team was probably better than the other three, and definitely the best of the Lawson era. I’m not saying any of these teams SHOULD have won state. In ‘07 and ‘09 we were dominated by the eventual state champions, and in ‘05 by a runner-up. Here in 2020, a team from our region hasn’t made it to the finals in 9 years, so I won’t try to debate that one either. I do like the direction our program is headed. 

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7 hours ago, GTown12 said:

By far one of the best and most emotional games I have ever watched in person! I wish I could find the video of that game and watch it again! 

There was a DVD made of the game and sold.  I went to the game in Waco, but didn't find out about the DVD until it was too late to get one.  Still trying to find someone with a copy that I could make a copy from ...

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To copy what LoboFan07 said,  I don't know where to start with Corsicana.

To me, I'd have to go with the 1986 team, even though we only played 12 games. We were ranked #1 in the state, won every game by 2 touchdowns or more. We had everything. Lost to McKinney in the 2nd round, 24-22. they beat us the previous year in 1985, 9-7. McKinney went on to state only to lose to West Orange Stark. But there were other Corsicana teams that could have won state.

(1982)- This team went to state and lost to Fort Bend Willowridge, 22-17. Remember Thurman Thomas?? Enough said.

(1984)- Corsicana lost to Denison, 49-21 in the quarterfinals. The HC was a former Corsicana assistant. Denison went on to win state.

(1991)- Corsicana lost to A&M Consolidated, 14-12. A&M went on to win state.

(1994)- Corsicana lost to Stephenville 28-6 in the state semifinals. They were really talented. By far the biggest HS team I had seen in my life.

(1997)- Corsicana lost to Texas City, 37-34 in the title game. We were down, 30-13 and rallied to take the lead with 3:14 left. We were that close. I nearly died after that game. LOL. Longview fans might remember that game because it was right after ya'll played Katy.

(2000)- Corsicana lost to Denton Ryan in the regional final. They scored on a quarterback sneak as time expired. Some people said he didn't get in. Ryan went on to lose to Bay City in title game.

(2004)- Corsicana lost to Dallas Lincoln, 28-21 in the 3rd round. Lincoln goes on to state only to lose to Kilgore.

(2011) Corsicana lost to Aledo, 68-28 in the state semifinals. Jake Bishop, Johnathan Gray, Hail Mary at the end of 2nd quarter, and then scored on 2nd half kickoff. Of course, Aledo went on to win state.

If some or all of these teams I mentioned had good fortune, we'd be talked about how Corsicana is one of the all time great programs. I know we are in the Top 10 in most wins, but we don't have enough state titles to show for it (1963 and 1968).

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12 hours ago, WOhorns said:

Shout out to those LH Panthers!!

Our loss to the LH Panthers was in 2007.

No one other than maybe the team itself thought Gilmer would even make it to state that year, much less win it.

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2 hours ago, trueblue82 said:

For Joaquin, there are 4 that stand out, so I’ll do them chronologically. 
The ‘05 team was probably the most complete of the Gandy era. They had the bad draw of getting Big Sandy in the first round due to BS finishing 2nd in their district after forfeiting a win over Maud. 
The ‘07 team was good, but I didn’t think they had all the tools of the ‘05 team. We got a much more favorable playoff draw that year due to the added division in Class A. We ran into Alto in regional finals, and no one in Class A was beating Alto that year. 
The ‘09 team got the closest, and they were really, really good, especially on defense. We also benefited from a favorable draw, not facing a team that finished higher than third in their district until we met Goldthwaite in semifinals. Hearing the words “Ennis, Texas” still makes me feel cold. That brings us to the ‘19 team. I think this team was probably better than the other three, and definitely the best of the Lawson era. I’m not saying any of these teams SHOULD have won state. In ‘07 and ‘09 we were dominated by the eventual state champions, and in ‘05 by a runner-up. Here in 2020, a team from our region hasn’t made it to the finals in 9 years, so I won’t try to debate that one either. I do like the direction our program is headed. 

The 05 team was pretty good I played at Overton,  and wanted that win badly. I dont know why we schedule them for homecoming. We knew everything Joaquim was going to do. But we had a Freshman fumble 2 or 3 kickoffs and couldn't recover. Im actually good friends with Eric Permenter.

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16 hours ago, VonG said:

I totally disagree with Highland Park being the best team in all of Texas in 2005. They beat Stephenville by 3 and should have lost to Texas High in the 1st round at Rose Stadium. 

Did a little digging...because I recall there being a lot of talk about who was the best team in 05 because so many DFW teams dominated the  state championships.

HP averaged 48.1 PPG that season.  

Matthew Stafford at the helm.

Was just curious to see Max Preps ranked the teams in Texas that season:

1.  SLC
2.  HP
3.  E Trinity
4.  Plano
5.  Celina
6.  Lufkin
7.  Katy
8.  Copperas Cove
9.  Smithson Valley
10. Longview
11.  Hebron

All conjecture really. 

End of the day....we got whipped by a much better team.  But it was a fantastic ride along the way.

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2 hours ago, DawgNation2015 said:

I’ll agree on 1991 and would put the 2012 Dawgs at second.

1992 got to be in there somewhere too.  Ranked #1 in old school 4A (no D1 or D2). Lost one district game to kilgore, went 9-1 and missed the playoffs.  2012 was a heartbreaker.  Semifinal loss to el campo.

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2 minutes ago, DAWG91 said:

1992 got to be in there somewhere too.  Ranked #1 in old school 4A (no D1 or D2). Lost one district game to kilgore, went 9-1 and missed the playoffs.  2012 was a heartbreaker.  Semifinal loss to el campo.

Wow 9-1 and didn’t get in. Now you can go 3-7 1-9 or 2-8 and get in. 

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17 minutes ago, nacdragon07 said:

Wow 9-1 and didn’t get in. Now you can go 3-7 1-9 or 2-8 and get in. 

Use to happen on the regular back in the day of only district champions making the playoffs.

Esp back when Texas High, Marshall, Longview, JT were all together in district together.

You could just about count on a team from that district sitting at home with a 9-1 record more often than not.

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14 hours ago, ANTI said:

I cannot stress this enough...and this team always gets lost in these conversations...

But 2012 Longview.

I can say with confidence Longview has a big shot at winning it all that year had we stayed healthy.

You had Bivins at QB, fresh off breaking the schools passing record in 2011. A speedster at RB in Tory White, who owns the longest TD run in Lobo history. Dorian Leonard (Texas) and Justin Spady leading the WR pack, and Spady was probably better than Leonard. Colin Jeter at TE who did well at LSU, played in the NFL and now plays in the XFL. Your typical good John King OL.

That defense was just as exciting. Everyone on that DL went to the next level....Zaycoven Henderson making it all the way to the NFL for a bit. Damarkus Lathan behind them at LB...the best Lobo LB I've seen if it isnt Tyshawn Taylor. The safety trio of Stephan Maxey, Corey Bartley and Travin Howard (now plays for the Rams). Bartley also one of the best Longview safeties I've seen....Maxey had major FBS talent as well, just didnt produce away from the field. The best player of that 2014 class IMO that included Howard, Henderson and Leonard. Had Nakia Brown at CB who played Arena football for a bit, maybe the best PR in school history.

Man I wish that team would've stayed healthy.

You're right. That 2012 team would've been pretty special if they had stayed healthy (ignoring the fact that Coppell absolutely hammered us in that first half before Bivins getting injured).

Minus this past season, that was one of the best defenses I've seen under King. Holding that Mesquite team as many times as they did, with what? 9 turnovers by our offense that night? Just crazy. That game easily could've been 56-0 if not worse.

But as you said, extremely talented...just so, so many injuries.

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2 hours ago, HJR7 said:

The 05 team was pretty good I played at Overton,  and wanted that win badly. I dont know why we schedule them for homecoming. We knew everything Joaquim was going to do. But we had a Freshman fumble 2 or 3 kickoffs and couldn't recover. Im actually good friends with Eric Permenter.

Yeah that double wing offense was a nightmare to stop once they got some momentum going. It beat some really good teams. 

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Guest Tiger03lb

This is my order:

2016 L to Yoakum in semi final. One fumble change the course of that game in the 3rd, never came back from it. Really talented group of receivers and qb on that team.

 

2018 L to GV in state game. Really good game until the last few minutes of the game. Really good D that year that got over looked all year and got Carr back in the final few games. 

 

2019 L to Pottsboro in 3rd round. Had a trio of backs that were able to hurt any defense, probably one of the best backfields in 3A imo, probably would've been even better if Carr had played last year. 

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3 hours ago, Tiger03lb said:

This is my order:

2016 L to Yoakum in semi final. One fumble change the course of that game in the 3rd, never came back from it. Really talented group of receivers and qb on that team.

 

2018 L to GV in state game. Really good game until the last few minutes of the game. Really good D that year that got over looked all year and got Carr back in the final few games. 

 

2019 L to Pottsboro in 3rd round. Had a trio of backs that were able to hurt any defense, probably one of the best backfields in 3A imo, probably would've been even better if Carr had played last year. 

I saw both 2016 and 2018 in person, and I would agree with you.  That 2016 team had a very nice assortment of talent.  

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11 hours ago, Mavchamp said:

Use to happen on the regular back in the day of only district champions making the playoffs.

Esp back when Texas High, Marshall, Longview, JT were all together in district together.

You could just about count on a team from that district sitting at home with a 9-1 record more often than not.

Yep, that’s one change that’s been a huge positive is getting more than one team per district into the playoffs

I personally think four is too many. Three teams getting in would be good for me. 
 

1992 Carthage got RIPPED OFF not making the playoffs that year. 

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