Welcome to TXHSFB Inside the Numbers — where Dave Campbell's Texas Football take the data that makes up Texas high school football, and try to figure out what it means looking back and looking forward. Today: the toughest Texas high school football schedules in 2019.

By nature, coaches don't like excuses. If something happens, there is an expectation to own up to the consequences, to address shortcomings and to use the lessons to improve. That's one of the core principles behind coaching, and Texas high school football coaches — being leaders of young men — are particularly dedicated subscribers to this.

On counterbalance, though: there is the stark reality that teams have little control over the schedule they must face in a given year. So while Liberty-Eylau coach Klint King is unlikely to point to this article as an explanation behind his Leopards' winless season, it may serve instructive.

Of the 1,209 UIL Texas high school football teams, nobody faced a schedule quite like the Liberty-Eylau Leopards, whose opponents rang up an unthinkable 90-31 record on the year — a .743 winning percentage, the highest in the state in 2019. Part of it is their brutal district alignment, as the Leopards played eventual 4A Division II state champion Plesatn Grove (15-1) and regional finalist Gilmer (10-4) in District 6-4A DII play. But the non-district schedule was arguably even tougher, as Liberty-Eylau faced eventual 4A Division I state champion Carthage (16-0), 4A DI regional finalist Argyle (13-1) and 4A Division I state finalist Waco La Vega (14-2) before district play began. A small note: Liberty-Eylau opened the season against Arkansas High — its Texarkana bunkmate from across the border — and while out-of-state opponents are not included in this study, the addition of the Razorbacks (7-4) would knock the Leopards' opponent winning percentage down to .734, which would still be the highest in Texas.

Not far behind Liberty-Eylau stands another 4A Division II squad in Perryton, whose opponents went a combined 104-38 (.732) on the year. And while district foe Lubbock Estacado (12-1) didn't help things for the Rangers, it was the pre- and post-district play that put coach Steven Coursey's squad on this dubious list. Non-district matchups with Dumas (13-1), Canadian (14-1), Bushland (12-1), Pampa (9-3) and Stratford (13-2), plus a playoff game with Midland Greenwood (14-1) made the Rangers' 2-9 season particularly perilous in hindsight.

Goliad follows closely behind, with an opponent record of 94-35 (.728), and it had an even mix of treacherous foes in district and non-district play. Before entering District 14-3A DI play, the Tigers faced a state champion in Refugio (16-0), a state semifinalist in Columbus (12-3) and three regional semifinalists in George West (12-1), Rockport-Fulton (9-4) and Shiner (12-1). And it wasn't much easier in district play, as coach Bobby Nicholson's squad had to deal with Vanderbilt Industrial (11-2), Hallettsville (10-3) and Edna (8-4).

Perhaps the most impressive entry on this list comes in the form of the 6A Division I state champion Galena Park North Shore, which won the title despite facing the 4th-toughest schedule in all of Texas high school football. Of course the Mustangs faced state runner-up Duncanville (15-1) and state semifinalist Lake Travis (13-2), but that's only part of the story. Whether it was two meetings with Katy (12-1), a non-district matchup with state semifinalist Spring Westfield (13-2) or a district showdown with defending 6A DII champion Beaumont West Brook (9-3), the Mustangs ran through a gauntlet to win another title. Consider this: of the Mustangs' 16 games, 10 of them came against teams that won at least eight games. 

The six-man ranks comprise four of the next eight toughest schedules, with Strawn (.719), Aquilla (.707), McLean (.700) and Rankin (.700) walked particularly fearsome roads in Class 1A. The 8-5 mark for Sundown (.716) is even more impressive considering the Roughnecks played six 10-win teams. The first year for coach Jeff Riordan at Tyler Chapel Hill (.708) was a trial by fire highlighted by games against both 4A state champs in Carthage and Pleasant Grove. Gatesville (.707) had a similar 4A Division I experience thanks to six opponents that played at least three rounds deep in the playoffs. And then there's Katy (.700), which always seems to face a tough schedule but was made even tougher with two matchups with North Shore, a non-district game with Humble Atascocita (12-2) and the rise of district foes like Katy Tompkins (11-2), Katy Mayde Creek (9-3) and Katy Taylor (9-6).

The toughest schedule in 6A belonged to Galena Park North Shore; in 5A, it was Richmond Foster, whose opponents went a combined 101-50 (.668); down in 4A, Liberty-Eylau faced the toughest road; in 3A, the dubious honor belonged to Goliad; in 2A, it was Sundown; and in 1A, Strawn was the most battle-tested.

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