Kilgore, Paris do battle tonight
PARIS – The second season for high school football across the state of Texas began last night for some. For others, such as Kilgore and Paris, it starts here at Wildcat Stadium, home of the 7-4A Division I runner-up, tonight at 7:30.
Kilgore (5-4) and Paris (5-5) meet for only the 14th time and the first since a 2012 third-round playoff game in Forney.
See the game on the NFHS Network’s streaming service, but be warned: the service was glitching badly for some last night during the Carthage-Quinlan Ford game. The NFHS Network is a subscription service, and they’re the UIL’s outlet of choice once the postseason begins.
Here’s the link to the Kilgore-Paris game: NFHS Network: 2026 UIL Football Playoffs Kilgore High School vs. Paris High School – 11/13/2026 | Live & On Demand
The Ragin’ Red Broadcasting crew of Doug Smith, Don Hedrick, Jason Smith, and Alan Clark will be on as usual on KDOK Radio, both on the airwaves (105.3-FM) and online, here: KDOK RADIO – Chalk Hill Communications. Simply click that link, then click on the Kilgore helmet to go to the broadcast page.
After an 0-2 start to its season, Kilgore recovered to beat Henderson and secure third place in the rough-and-tumble District 8-4A DI race a week ago behind unbeaten and second-ranked Lindale (10-0) and runner-up Pine Tree (7-3).
Paris, tonight’s opponent, gets a home game for finishing second behind Sulphur Springs (7-3) in district play.
In other games involving Kilgore’s 8-4A DI opponents and 7-4A teams, Henderson (5-5) visits Sulphur Springs (7-3) at Gerald Prim Stadium in Sulphur Springs; Pine Tree (7-3) entertains third-place Caddo Mills (7-3) at Pirate Stadium in Longview; and Lindale (10-0) hosts Kaufman (5-5) at Eagle Stadium in Lindale.
No do-overs or second chances, just win or go home.
Over the next six weeks each classification will whittle its teams down to the final two leading up to the UIL State Championships at AT&T Stadium in Arlington the third week in December.
“I think we’ve had as good a week as I would have hoped for to this point,” said Kilgore football coach and athletic director Clint Fuller on Wednesday afternoon.
“I thought our entire team played well complimentary football; offense, defense and special teams against Henderson. With that said, our focus is us getting better as a team. We’ve played well the last two weeks. Now, can we take another step.”
The Bulldogs’ opponent, Paris, runs a passing offense (the spread) featuring a third-year starter at quarterback in Tyler Heath (6-1, 180, Sr.), who has thrown for almost 3,000 yards (2,890) completing 174-of-301 passes for 33 touchdowns.
“He has over 2,000 passing yards and a really good group of receivers. He’s also very dangerous making plays with his feet. We’ll need to defend the entire field,” Fuller added
After suffering four losses to start the season, the Wildcats turned their season around winning five of their last six games with the exception being a 69-49 loss to Sulphur Springs on Oct. 16.
Heath has an array of talented receivers led by athlete Jakabrian Record (5-10, 185), WR Fabian Brown (6-0, 170), WR Marquis Shelton (5-11, 170). Record has 42 receptions for 794 yards and eight touchdowns, Brown 33 catches for 712 yards and 10 scores, and Shelton (20-246, 3).
Other receivers to watch for are Kentrell Patterson (19-336, 3), RB/WR Jaylen Dangerfield (13-224, 3) and Giovanni Johnson (13-196, 1).
Heath, the quarterback, is the leading rusher with 80 carries for 470 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s followed by Dangerfield (69-345, 3) and Johnson (69-332, 6).
Against Henderson, inside linebacker Levi Garrett led in tackles with 16 to go with three hurries. Following Garrett, a junior, against the Lions were safety Brenton Mumphrey, defensive tackle Crisean Smith, and inside linebacker Blade Chitwood.
Chitwood continues to lead (for the season) with 119 stops, 10 versus Henderson to go with two sacks and two interceptions. Smith had a dozen tackles against the Lions and has 90 for the season as well as three sacks and a tackle for loss, while Mumphrey’s 13 last week give him 82 for the season along with three sacks and a tackle for loss.
The Wildcats leaders on defense are Record, a safety, along with outside linebackers Tannon Hohenberger and Jeremiah Robinson (6-3, 225, Jr.).
For Kilgore offensively, quarterback Braddox Johnson’s 10-of-14 passing performance for two touchdowns against Henderson brings his numbers to 110-of-170 attempts for 1,418 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Like Heath, he has a core of talented receivers led by Tyler Johnigan (30-548, 9), De’Andre Thurmond (17-285, 7), T.K. White (17-148, 1), Maddox Wright (12-102) and Rayshaun Williams (11-83).
Wright and Williams lead the rushing attack for the Ragin’ Red combining for 2,011 yards. Averaging 9.2 yards per carry, Wright has 1,118 on 121 carries with a dozen touchdowns and Williams, the schools all-time leading rusher, has 893 yards on 125 carries for an average of 7.1 per carry with 13 touchdowns.
Kilgore leads this series 7-6, after a 41-14 win in the 2012 playoffs played in Forney. The teams had not played since a 1997 contest, which Kilgore won 42-0. The year Paris won its state championship (1988), the Wildcats beat Kilgore 28-7 in the third round of the playoffs.
