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 schedules in Texas high school football in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the adjustments made by the UIL to the 2020 Texas high school football season sent schedules into the woodchipper, with coaches scrambling to fill suddenly wide-open slates at the last minute. And with all the changes, cancellations and forfeits, it's easy to feel like the 2020 season was a blur.

But when the dust settled, it became apparent that even with rejiggered schedules, some teams ran an absolute gauntlet. Nobody knew that better than Fort Bend Hightower and Hallettsville.

The Hurricanes and the Brahmas played the toughest schedules in all of UIL Texas high school football in 2020, as measured by opponent winning percentage. For Fort Bend Marshall, it was a matter of a truncated season — they played just seven regular season games before getting hot in the playoffs — and an outrageous run of difficult opponents, as six of their ten opponents won 8+ games (Manvel twice, Spring Westfield, Richmond Foster, Katy Paetow and Port Arthur Memorial). Hallettsville had a more "traditional" brutal schedule: a crushing non-district which included a pair of state champions in Shiner and Jim Ned, plus a very good Vanderbilt Industrial squad; a menacing distrrict that includes powers Columbus and Yoakum; and a deep playoff run that saw them tangle with Llano and Jim Ned.

Stephenville ranks third, as the Yellow Jackets pulled off a pretty remarkable feat — facing three 11-win teams in non-district play (Salado, Melissa and Dumas), not to mention very solid Sweetwater and Lampasas squads. Add in district showdowns with Waco La Vega and Midlothian Heritage, and a playoff pairing with eventual state champion Argyle, and you see the perilous road.

Six-man squads make up Nos. 4, 6 and 8 on this list in 1A Division I runner-up Borden County, 1A Division II state champion Sterling City, and unlucky Eden, whose schedule featured eight of ten opponents that finished with a winning record.

5A Division II state champion Aledo traveled a treacherous path en route to its record 10th title, including a non-district tussle with 6A Division II runner-up Cedar Hill and three consecutive 11+-win teams to finish the playoff run. Coach Michael Wall's Willis Wildkats didn't exactly get an easy draw, headlined by back-to-back non-district losses to Huntsville and Galena Park North Shore. Celina's no stranger to a dangerous schedule, and 2020 was no different, as the Bobcats faced eight teams that won 8+ games. And Klein Collins may have only played nine games, but they were unusally stout, including losses to Galena Park North Shore, Tomball Memorial and Bridgeland in the first round of the playoffs.

Willis played 6A's toughest schedule; Fort Bend Hightower boasted 5A's most grueling path; Stephenville ruled the SOS roost in 4A; Hallettsville was tops in 3A difficulty; 2A's toughest slate belonged to Garrison, whose opponents went a combined 98-48 (.671); and Borden County played six-man football's most brutal schedule.