The Run of Directional Champions

Heard a story on the radio this morning about college teams that have a directional name in their title. The point of the talk being that they were usually teams that were not NCAA powerhouses, i.e, South Florida, Central Michigan, etc.

I began to wonder if that rule applied to Texas High School football, and the answer is yes and no. It took 57 years for the first "directional" team to win a state championship (East Bernard, 27-10 over Seagraves in class 1A in 1977).

From 1977 to 2001 there were eight more titles won by directional teams, but none from 1996-2001. Since 2002 however, at least one directional team has won a title each year. Of course a team named Southlake Carroll has skewed that the number quite a bit.

In addition, there has only been one state championship that involved two directional teams; Eastland vs. East Bernard in 1982, while there have only been three seasons in which two directional teams won titles in the same year; 1982, 2003 and 2006.

As a side note, a team with a double-directional name, of which there are only a handful, has never won a state title.

Directional State Champions
1982
5A - Beaumont West Brook 21, Hurst Bell 10
2A - Eastland 28, East Bernard 6
1986
4A - West Orange-Stark 21, McKinney 9
1987
4A - West Orange-Stark 17, Rockwall 7
1988
3A - Southlake Carroll 42, Navasota 8
1992
3A - Southlake Carroll 48, Coldspring 0
1993
3A - Southlake Carroll 14, Cuero 6
1996
5A Division II - Westlake (Austin) 55, Abilene Cooper 15
2002
5A Division II - Southlake Carroll 45, Smithson Valley 14
2003
5A Division I - Galena Pk North Shore 23, Conroe The Woodlands 7
4A Division I - North Crowley 20, Bay City 6
2004
5A Division II - Southlake Carroll 27, Smithson Valley 24
2005
5A Division II - Southlake Carroll 34, Katy 20
2006
5A Division I - Southlake Carroll 43, Austin Westlake 29
6-Man Div. II - Vernon Northside 60, Jayton 41

Double-Directional Teams
Fort Worth Southwest
Justin Northwest
San Antonio East Central
San Antonio Southwest
South San Antonio West Campus (may close after this year)