ARLINGTON – Nothing encapsulates the phrase “everything is bigger in Texas” than four days at the UIL State football championships in Arlington at AT&T Stadium. From the giant inflatables that serve as the red carpet for the combatants, to the bands providing the soundtrack to the action, to the crowds representing 24 unique communities, this event serves as a reminder to the world of a simple universal truth: Texas high school football is king, baby. Go argue with your momma.

If an alien, let’s call him John, landed at the DFW Airport and was required to learn about the Lone Star State before returning home, take John to Jerry World. Just make sure to holler at Matt Wilson at the Arlington Sports Commission beforehand so he can assist the newest honorary Texan find a Texas tuxedo of cowboy boots, jeans, sports jacket, and cowboy hat. 

John would get a crash course on nearly every corner of the biggest state in the continental United States. Where else could one congregate with residents of Albany and Gunter and Port Neches-Groves and South Oak Cliff in one building over a 96-hour span?

Each community is uniquely Texan. From the West Texas fields of Westbrook to the old port city of El Maton Tidehaven to the Hill Country of Smithson Valley to the east Houston neighborhoods of Galena Park North Shore. From six-man Benjamin with an enrollment of 44 in a town of 199 people to the Class 6A Division I champion in south Dallas’ Duncanville, which boasts an enrollment of 4,577.

All descend upon in Arlington to celebrate football in a giant cathedral built by the hubris of an oil and gas baron. There ain’t anything more Texan than that.

John would’ve learned about Gordon, founded in 1880 and home of the state’s first coal mine, when the Longhorns knocked off Westbrook for the Class 1A Division I championship on Wednesday. He would’ve played witness to the Terry Bussey Show later that night when the five-star from a town with fewer than 1,000 people scored six total touchdowns, including a 97-yard touchdown pass and a 94-yard touchdown run, to give Timpson its first state title. And that arguably wasn’t even the best performance of the day. That distinction belonged to Benjamin’s Grayson Rigdon and his 10-touchdown effort in an 82-34 win in Texas’ smallest division.

Thursday morning, John would return for the second of four consecutive triple-headers to watch Albany win a state title with a kicker wearing No. 70 because he also starts on the offensive and defensive line. He’d watch in awe as Malakoff, named after a Russian fort famous for helping in the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, solved Franklin’s Slot-T puzzle to claim the Class 3A Division I title in front of 10,299 spectators. The two towns have a combined population of 3,742. There are six bigger divisions in Texas high school football.

John would end his Thursday night watching two teams separated by 393 miles as north Texas goliath Gunter beat a gulf coast David from Tidehaven, a community of Elmaton in unincorporated Matagorda County. Elmaton translates to “the killer” and was bestowed on the community by the Missouri-Pacific Railroad Company.  

John, sleepy-eyed and wondering if he’s still dreaming, is back at AT&T on Friday for an 11 a.m. kickoff between Anna, a town that grew from 1,225 people in 2000 to 16,899 by 2020, and Tyler Chapel Hill. Even head coach Seth Parr had never heard of Anna, which is located northwest of Dallas, before he moved his family from West Texas and instituted an Air Raid offense that resulted in a state championship in year three.

The midday game was a banger as Gilmer outlasted Bellville in front of former head coach Jeff Traylor, now extending his legacy into the college game The nightcap ended with Aledo claiming its 11th state championship since 2009 to remind the state why the community located west of Fort Worth is known as “Titletown”. College coaches from UTSA, SMU, Baylor, and SFA were seen on the sidelines throughout the day Friday.

The energy on Saturday carries John through the fog.

The biggest classifications in Texas arrive for a showcase of pageantry and talent. The bands are bigger. The crowds are louder. The college prospects are in abundance. He's essentially witnessing future college football games at this point. South Dallas planned to take over the day with South Oak Cliff kicking things off in game one against Port Neches-Groves for the Class 5A Division II state championship. District mates, and SOC neighbors, Duncanville and DeSoto, played for separate 6A championships to end the festivities.

The Indians of PNG kicked four field goals to dance past the hometown Golden Bears and rain on Dallas’ potential three-way parade. Once inhibited by the coastal-dwelling tribes of Karankawa and Atakapa Native Americans, Port Neches is now home to the Class 5A Division II champions. It was the first state title for PNG since 1975. They were led there by second-year head coach Jeff Joseph, son of legendary Katy head man, Gary Joseph. Football and family – that’s what Texas does. The only thing that was missing was some brisket and a can of Dr Pepper bought from H-E-B.

John witnessed history during the afternoon contest between Duncanville and North Shore. The two teams have played for the state’s largest-classification title – 6A Division I – in five of the last six seasons. This time, North Shore was led by first-year head coach Willie Gaston, who took over for Jon Kay.

Gaston and Duncanville's Reginald Samples became the first two Black head coaches to face each other in a state title game in Texas high school history. Only 10 Black head coaches have won state championships, and three of them – Samples, South Oak Cliff’s Jason Todd, and DeSoto’s Claude Mathis – coached on Saturday at AT&T.  

Mathis’ DeSoto team blew out Humble Summer Creek in the UIL State finale to win the program’s second straight Class 6A Division II crown. The Eagles leave AT&T as the linear Texas high school football championship belt thanks to a district win over the Class 6A Division I champs earlier in the season. 

The record attendance for a UIL State championship game was set in 2013 when Kyler Murray’s Allen squad knocked off Pearland, 63-18, in front of 54,347 fans. The numbers didn’t reach those heights in 2023, but that doesn’t mean our friend John was alone in Jerry World. Over 200,000 people bought tickets and attended at least one of the 12 games. The crowd on Saturday afternoon grew to over 40,000 for Duncanville’s win over North Shore. 

If John thought this was normal earthling behavior for high school football across the country, he’d be sorely mistaken. The nine Florida state championships in 2022 drew a combined 38,306 spectators across two sites. Three bowl games to cap the California high school season, including one with Mater Dei, drew a total of 8,233 people. More people than that (8,955) attended the two six-man games on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium.

These numbers even blow some college bowl games out of the water. The 2022 FCS championship game between South Dakota State and North Dakota State drew 18,023. The Class 5A Division I game here in Arlington announced 22,184 as the attendance. That is the fourth largest division in the state.

Football is the recognized religion of the Great State. Heck, we call the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football summer magazine the “Bible of High School Football” for a reason. Texans know how to turn everything to 11, and that’s especially true on the gridiron.