SABINE! | The Cardinals are the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week!

The very first Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week of the 2026 school year: Sabine High School football.

You read that right.

The Cardinals had lost 18 straight games headed into Friday night’s home game against Elysian Fields, a streak that dated back to the 2024 season, continued through last year, and included the first game of this season, a loss to Shelbyville in which the Cards didn’t score.

But they scored this past Friday night. They scored and kept on scoring, a 42-16 win over the Yellowjackets.

The victory not only snapped that awful, ugly streak, but was also the first in the tenure of head coach Tim Russell, who accepted the position earlier this year.

Princeton Jones not only announced his own arrival as a key factor this season – Jones finished with over 200 yards rushing – but served notice that things were different when he scored the first touchdown of the game, and then Syler Pierce followed with the two-point conversion.

Pierce caught a pass from Griffin DeHoyos for a 32-yard touchdown, and the rout was on.

Among the other highlights: Aden Swanson had a fumble recovery and late in the game, an interception; DeHoyos scored on runs of 21, 20 and 3 yards; Terry Vanden had a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown, but that was called back on a penalty.

Jones finished with 216 yards and two scores.

Now, Sabine plays in one of the state’s toughest districts – not just toughest 3A districts, but toughest districts, period. They’ve got non-district games remaining: they’ll play at Mineola this Friday night, at Redwater on Sept. 18; and host New Diana on Sept. 25.

District play begins Oct. 8 at home against Gladewater.

All that matters right now, though, is that it’s a new start at Sabine, and there’s every reason to believe it can continue.

Congratulations to coach Russell, his staff, the Sabine Cardinals players and to their fans on a great win over Elysian Fields, and on being named the Goudarzi & Young / ETB Team of the Week!

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Congratulations again to the Sabine High School Cardinals football program!