CARTHAGE, TROUP STILL AT THE TOP | ‘Dawgs, Tigers top their respective polls; Kilgore slips out / Presented by CLOWER MEATS (click for the story of OILFIELD SAUSAGE!)
There weren’t a lot of changes in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football state high school football poll for the 15 programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area at this early point of the season, after most teams have played three games.
Carthage, the two-time defending state champion in Class 4A, Division II (classifications are based on enrollment, and division II classifications are the smaller), had an open date last weekend and coach Scott Surratt’s Bulldogs maintained their lock on the No. 1 ranking in 4A-DII.
Troup, ranked No. 1 in 3A-DII for the last two polls, was indeed ranked there again when the polls were released earlier today. Coach Sam Wells’ Tigers blasted Grace Community, 70-21.
Kilgore, who has played only two games due to an early-season open date, lost to Pleasant Grove in the season opener, had an open date on Sept. 4, and then lost a closer-than-it-sounds 64-50 game at Gilmer on Friday night. The Bulldogs had been ranked as high as fourth in 4A-DI in the preseason poll, slipped to seventh after the loss at PG in Texarkana, and now after the loss to Gilmer, Kilgore is currently unranked. Coach Clint Fuller has guided the Bulldogs to the 4A-DI state title game the last two seasons.
So Carthage and Troup are the only current members of the ETBlitz.com coverage area who are ranked in the DCTF poll, the oldest, most respected poll of high school football programs in the state, which is why ETBlitz.com recognizes it as the REAL state poll.
The other programs in our coverage area are Henderson and Pine Tree (who both compete in 4A-DI, along with Kilgore); Gilmer (which completes in 4A-DII), Gladewater, Sabine, White Oak and Tatum (all in 3A-DI), Arp and West Rusk (in 3A-DII), Beckville (2A-DI), Overton (2A-DII), and Leverett’s Chapel (in 1A-DI / six-man).
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s state rankings are a tradition, and we have another famous tradition we like to talk about, too: Clower Meats.
Located near the intersection of Highway 31 and 42 in Kilgore, Clower Meats has been serving East Texans the very best steaks, ham, jerky and more since Truman and Bobbie Clower founded it in 1969! The Clower family believes in quality above all. (For the story of Oilfield Sausage, scroll down after the state rankings!)
And now, the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football state rankings released Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.
CLASS 6A STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Waxahachie | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Denton Guyer, 44-30 | Mansfield Lake Ridge |
| 2. Galena Park N. Shore | 3-0 | 2 | Beat South Oak Cliff, 23-21 | Crosby |
| 3. North Crowley | 3-0 | 3 | Beat Humble Summer Creek, 41-20 | Duncanville |
| 4. Allen | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Southlake Carroll, 56-35 | Prosper |
| 5. San Antonio Johnson | 2-0 | 6 | Beat Odessa, 37-0 | Open date |
| 6. Katy | 3-0 | 7 | Beat Katy Tompkins, 45-21 | Katy Jordan |
| 7. Fort Bend Ridge Point | 3-0 | 8 | Beat Bridgeland, 56-35 | Houston Strake |
| 8. Cypress Ranch | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Aldine Nimitz, 52-7 | Open date |
| 9. Sheldon C.E. King | 2-1 | 11 | Beat The Woodlands/C. Park, 58-7 | Humble Kingwood |
| 10. Coppell | 2-1 | 12 | Beat Keller Timber Creek, 68-7 | Richardson |
| 11. Denton Guyer | 2-1 | 5 | Lost to Waxahachie, 44-30 | Open date |
| 12. Lake Travis | 1-0 | 13 | Canceled Cibolo Steele | San Antonio Cornerstone |
| 13. Alvin Shadow Creek | 1-1 | 14 | Open date | Brazoswood |
| 14. Lewisville | 3-0 | 20 | Beat Denton Ryan, 49-7 | Open date |
| 15. Humble Atascocita | 2-1 | 21 | Beat Dickinson, 21-7 | Humble |
| 16. Longview | 2-1 | 10 | Lost to Ruston (La.), 36-22 | North Forney |
| 17. Pearland | 3-0 | 22 | Beat Pasadena Dobie, 49-10 | Pearland Dawson |
| 18. Prosper | 3-0 | 23 | Beat Austin Westlake, 49-40 | Allen |
| 19. Willis | 3-0 | 19 | Beat Spring Westfield, 12-7 | Open date |
| 20. Austin Westlake | 2-1 | 15 | Lost to Prosper, 49-40 | Open date |
| 21. Cy-Fair | 3-0 | NR | Beat Cypress Springs, 45-24 | Open date |
| 22. Manvel | 3-0 | NR | Beat Pasadena Memorial, 75-0 | Open date |
| 23. Duncanville | 1-2 | 16 | Lost to DeSoto, 21-20 | North Crowley |
| 24. Humble Summer Creek | 1-2 | 17 | Lost to North Crowley, 41-20 | Channelview |
| 25. Cibolo Steele | 1-1 | 25 | Canceled with Lake Travis | San Antonio Wagner |
CLASS 5A, DIVISION I STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Smithson Valley | 2-0 | 1 | Beat Austin McCallum, 63-7 | Manor |
| 2. Frisco Lone Star | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Cedar Hill, 56-27 | Open date |
| 3. Richmond Randle | 2-0 | 3 | Open date | Victoria East |
| 4. Port Arthur-Memorial | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Lufkin, 29-7 | Galveston Ball |
| 5. Angleton | 3-0 | 5 | Beat Fort Bend Dulles, 80-0 | South Houston |
| 6. Boerne Champion | 3-0 | 6 | Beat Bastrop Cedar Creek, 55-0 | Kyle Lehman |
| 7. DeSoto | 1-2 | NR | Beat Duncanville, 21-20 | Burleson Centennial |
| 8. Pflugerville Weiss | 2-1 | 8 | Beat Leander Glenn, 48-0 | College Station |
| 9. Richland | 3-0 | 10 | Beat W. Settlement Brewer, 51-32 | Colleyville |
| 10. Highland Park | 1-2 | NR | Beat Tyler, 28-21 | Argyle |
CLASS 5A, DIVISION II STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. South Oak Cliff | 0-2 | 1 | Lost to Galena Park-N. Shore, 23-21 | Dallas Hillcrest |
| 2. Anna | 3-0 | 3 | Beat Frisco Panther Creek, 42-27 | Frisco Emerson |
| 3. Boerne | 3-0 | 2 | Beat San Antonio Davenport, 30-21 | Somerset |
| 4. Alamo Heights | 3-0 | 4 | Beat San Antonio Southwest, 42-7 | Buda Johnson |
| 5. Argyle | 2-1 | 5 | Beat Somerset (Nev.), 70-21 | Highland Park |
| 6. Brenham | 3-0 | 8 | Beat Richmond Tomas, 58-7 | Port Neches-Groves |
| 7. Mansfield Timberview | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Richardson, 60-7 | Burleson |
| 8. Fort Bend Crawford | 3-0 | 10 | Beat Port Neches-Groves, 28-23 | Nederland |
| 9. Lovejoy | 3-0 | NR | Beat Midlothian, 51-24 | Fort Worth All-Saints |
| 10. Gregory Portland | 3-0 | NR | Beat Corpus Christi Calallen, 47-7 | C. Christi Vet. Memorial |
CLASS 4A, DIVISION I STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stephenville | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Lubbock Cooper, 48-7 | Abilene Wylie |
| 2. Lindale | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Van, 49-46 | Chapel Hill |
| 3. Decatur | 3-0 | 3 | Beat Memorial, 71-64 | Open date |
| 4. San Antonio Davenport | 2-1 | 4 | Lost to Boerne, 30-21 | Open date |
| 5. La Vernia | 2-1 | 5 | Beat Austin LBJ, 28-7 | Geronimo Navarro |
| 6. Bay City | 2-1 | 6 | Beat Houston Furr, 62-0 | West Orange-Stark |
| 7. Canyon West Plains | 2-1 | 9 | Beat Seminole, 54-24 | Gilmer |
| 8. Springtown | 1-2 | 10 | Beat Brownwood, 54-6 | Open date |
| 9. El Campo | 3-0 | NR | Beat Yoakum, 7-6 | Sweeny |
| 10. Kerrville Tivy | 3-0 | NR | Beat SA Churchill, 77-41 | Open date |
CLASS 4A, DIVISION II STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Carthage | 2-0 | 1 | Open date | Houston Legacy |
| 2. West Orange-Stark | 2-0 | 2 | Beat Bridge City, 42-0 | Bay City |
| 3. Waco La Vega | 2-0 | 3 | Beat Chapel Hill, 40-14 | Waco University |
| 4. Pleasant Grove | 2-0 | 4 | Beat Liberty-Eylau, 29-15 | Paris |
| 5. Cuero | 2-0 | 5 | Beat Sinton, 38-31 | Port Lavaca Calhoun |
| 6. Lubbock Liberty | 2-0 | 6 | Beat Midland Greenwood, 56-25 | Canyon West Plains |
| 7. Brock | 1-1 | 7 | Beat Midland Christian, 52-10 | Open date |
| 8. Wimberley | 1-0 | 8 | Beat N. Braunfels Long Creek, 56-29 | Lampasas |
| 9. Sunnyvale | 2-0 | 9 | Beat Ferris, 52-34 | Van Alstyne |
| 10. Graham | 2-0 | 10 | Beat Paradise, 32-21 | Brownwood |
CLASS 3A, DIVISION I STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Columbus | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Needville, 48-21 | Bellville |
| 2. Gunter | 2-0 | 2 | Beat Jefferson, 28-19 | Sulphur |
| 3. Wall | 3-0 | 5 | Beat Jim Ned, 49-13 | Ozona |
| 4. Malakoff | 3-0 | 6 | Beat Grandview, ,40-7 | Center |
| 5. Paradise | 2-1 | 3 | Beat Graham, 32-21 | FW Christian |
| 6. Sinton | 2-1 | 4 | Lost to Cuero, 38-31 | C. Christi Calallen |
| 7. Shallowater | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Canadian, 31-28 | Monahans |
| 8. Whitesboro | 3-0 | NR | Beat Bridgeport, 51-0 | Sanger |
| 9. Yoakum | 1-1 | 8 | Lost to El Campo, 7-6 | Columbia |
| 10. Franklin | 0-2 | 10 | Open date | Robinson |
CLASS 3A, DIVISION II STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Troup | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Grace Community, 70-21 | Rusk |
| 2. Idalou | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Levelland, 59-36 | Fort Stocktons |
| 3. Newton | 1-1 | 3 | Open date | DeRidder |
| 4. East Bernard | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Ganado, 35-33 | Houston 2nd Baptist |
| 5. Jacksboro | 3-0 | 8 | Beat Peaster, 28-13 | Bowie |
| 6. Canadian | 2-1 | 5 | Lost to Shallowater, 31-28 | Canyon |
| 7. Jefferson | 2-1 | 6 | Lost to Gunter, 28-19 | Liberty-Eylau |
| 8. Poth | 2-1 | 7 | Lost to Shiner, 14-7 | Goliad |
| 9. Tidehaven | 1-2 | 10 | Beat Palacioss, 55-7 | Hallettsville |
| 10. Lexington | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Caldwell, 53-25 | Giddings |
CLASS 2A, DIVISION I STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shiner | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Poth, 14-7 | Boling |
| 2. Ganado | 2-1 | 1 | Lost to East Bernard, 35-33 | Wallis Brazos |
| 3. Joaquin | 3-0 | 3 | Open date | Grand Saline |
| 4. Mason | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Granger, 66=20 | Junction |
| 5. Axtell | 3-0 | 5 | Beat Kerens, 50-6 | Open date |
| 6. Muenster | 3-0 | 6 | Beat Windthorst, 33-28 | Collinsville |
| 7. Post | 3-0 | 7 | Beat Lamesa, 49-6 | Slaton |
| 8. Cisco | 2-1 | 8 | Beat Breckenridge, 42-6 | Stamford |
| 9. Rosebud-Lott | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Somerville, 52-7 | Bosqueville |
| 10. Kenedy | 3-0 | 10 | Beat Karnes City, 54-6 | Bishop |
CLASS 2A, DIVISION II STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bremond | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Hearne, 42-18 | Open date |
| 2. Gruver | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Ama. Highland Park, 61-6 | Amarillo River |
| 3. Ropes | 2-0 | 3 | Beat Texico, N.M., 50-8 | Panhandle |
| 4. Collinsville | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Bells, 34-14 | Muenster |
| 5. Stratford | 2-1 | 5 | Beat Hugoton (Kan.), 20-8 | Spearman |
| 6. Wink | 3-0 | 8 | Beat Odessa Compass, 42-13 | New Horne |
| 7. Wellington | 3-0 | 9 | Beat Sunray, 46-12 | Lubbock Trin. Christian |
| 8. Windthorst | 2-1 | 7 | Lost to Muenster, 33-28 | Henrietta |
| 9. Goldthwaite | 3-0 | 10 | Beat San Saba, 35-17 | De Leon |
| 10. Albany | 2-1 | 6 | Lost to De Leon, 42-7 | Coleman |
CLASS 1A, DIVISION I STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Union Hill | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Jonesboro, 70-14 | East Texas Home School |
| 2. Jayton | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Paducah, 64-42 | Whitharral |
| 3. Gordon | 3-0 | 3 | Beat Strawn, 46-28 | Bluff Dale |
| 4. Aquilla | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Avalon, 64-6 | Kopperl |
| 5. Borden County | 3-0 | 5 | Beat Benjamin, 66-16 | Rankin |
| 6. Whiteface | 3-0 | 6 | Beat El Paso Leadership, 79-0 | Westbrook |
| 7. Water Valley | 3-0 | 8 | Beat Sands, 89-47 | Klondike |
| 8. Rankin | 2-1 | 9 | Beat Westbrook, 59-32 | Borden County |
| 9. Medina | 3-0 | NR | Beat Leander F. Classical, 62-14 | Marble Falls F. Academy |
| 10. Chester | 3-0 | NR | Beat Oakwood, 89-42 | Pasadena First Baptist |
CLASS 1A (SIX-MAN), DIVISION II STATE RANKINGS
| Ranking / Team | Record | Last ranking | Last week’s result | This week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Cherokee | 3-0 | 1 | Beat Iredell, 76-50 | Cranfills Gap |
| 2. Motley County | 3-0 | 2 | Beat Springlake Earth, 56-6 | Knox City |
| 3. Richland Springs | 3-0 | 4 | Beat Gorman, 56-8 | May |
| 4. Zephyr | 3-0 | 6 | Beat Bluff Dale, 59-20 | Menard |
| 5. Benjamin | 2-1 | 3 | Lost to Borden County, 66-16 | Moran |
| 6. Strawn | 2-1 | 5 | Lost to Gordon, 46-28 | EPLAE |
| 7. Balmorhea | 2-0 | 8 | Beat Marfa, 52-6 | Dell City |
| 8. Mount Calm | 3-0 | NR | Beat Cranfills Gap, 66-0 | Covington |
| 9. McLean | 2-1 | 7 | Beat Logan (NM), 69-37 | Boys Ranch |
| 10. Paducah | 0-1 | 9 | Lost to Jayton, 64-22 | Roby |
The story of Clower Meats’ “Oilfield Sausage”
This was told here on ETBlitz.com once before, when we introduced Clower Meats as an advertising partner a few years ago.
But it definitely deserves to be told again.
What’s the deal with the Oilfield Sausage and how’d it become so established?
Well, because it’s good, first off.
That’s because of what Truman and Bobbie Clower did many years ago, back in the mid 1970s. Mr. Clower, who had envisioned the establishment of a meat market that would become what Clower Meat Market is today, laid the foundation.
He and Bobbie went to an auction in Kilgore, the story goes, and Truman bought a tabletop smokehouse that would only allow eight to 10 pounds of sausage to fit inside. They went ahead and made the purchase, a smokehouse similar to a rotisserie, spinning and slowly cooking the sausage.
Here’s the key, though: the recipe.
Truman grounded his own pork and then created a s special seasoning – a seasoning now branded as Clower Meat Market Seasoning – and hand-stuffed the sausage into the long links himself. In all, about nine hours of preparation and cooking time went into making the sausage, and Truman’s first batch was so good, the couple decided to start sampling it to different service companies in the area, almost all involved in the oilfield industry in one way or another.
Guess what happened? When the service employees traveled – elsewhere in East Texas, West Texas or wherever else – they took the sausage with them and shared it with others, and before long, Truman and Bobbie got a phone call – a gentleman wanted to buy some of that “good sausage.”
The Clowers’ firstborn son, who only knew his father’s new business made breakfast pan sausage, prepped the package for pickup. The man was a bit perturbed on arrival.
“This isn’t the sausage I wanted,” he told the family. “I wanted the one I had in the oilfield!”
It was then Truman realized that his special smoked sausage had traveled far and wide from his tabletop smoker in Kilgore, and, more to the point, that a lot of the oilfield workers had given it a name: “Oilfield Sausage.”
The Clowers officially began selling not only their breakfast sausage, but the “Oilfield Sausage,” too, and off they went.
And while competitors have came and went – over 20 meat markets in the Kilgore area since the Clowers began their business – it’s Clower Meat Market that still remains, a bedrock of quality meat and service that continues today.
Get this: the family is also constantly experimenting with different ingredients to make “Oilfield Sausage” even better. They have found, though, that nothing compares to the original recipe. Now, if you go to Clower Meat Market and ask for that popular “Oilfield Sausage,” you have three options: the original, and its great taste, but also jalapeno cheese and a seasonal special, jalapeno pineapple.
Clower Meat Market is open weekdays at the store in Kilgore at 2705 State Highway 42 North from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon – and thank goodness, right?
If you’d like to visit Clower Meats on Facebook, their page is simply Clower Meat Market. You can e-mail them at clowermeatmarket@gmail.com, or give them a call at (903) 984-3771.
For the VERY best in meats in East Texas, and for their own very special “Oilfield Sausage” products, look no farther than Clower Meats!
