THEY MADE THE LIST | Kilgore, C-Hill makes Campbell’s list of must-see district games in ’24
The calendar hasn’t turned to August yet. Heck, folks are still on vacation.
But it feels like high school football is right at the doorstep, getting ready to knock, doesn’t it?
It does to us, too. And it does to the folks at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, who are always coming up with lists.
Their latest? A list of the must-see high school district games, no matter what classification, across the state this season.
Greg Tepper wrote the article, new this week here (The 25 Must-See TXHSFB District Games in 2024 ), and you can just guess what two schools locally are involved.
That would be Kilgore – of course – and Chapel Hill, the District 9-4A Division I rivalry that wasn’t much of a rivalry for quite a while. After all, if one school wins most of the time, is it really a rivalry?
Tepper points that out in his story, which lists the top 25 district games fans should look forward to this year, and Kilgore-Chapel Hill checks in at number six (I know, I know – I can’t think of five others I’d rather see, either).
At any rate, here’s his comments on the game.
“Out in East Texas, it’s hard to tell part of the Kilgore-Chapel Hill story without telling the whole thing. Here’s the shortest version possible: for ten years, Kilgore absolutely smashed Chapel Hill, winning 12 meetings in a row, capped by a 21-point drubbing in district play in October, 2021. But that’s when something changed: Chael Hill, fueled by a sensational freshman class, stunned Kilgore in a rematch in the 2021 regional semifinals, and since then, it’s been Chapel Hill on the front foot, winning four of the last five meetings (including knocking Kilgore out of the playoffs in three consecutive seasons). So, yeah, October 11 is a big game. Kilgore’s got one of 4A’s best playmakers in Jayden Sanders; Chapel Hill’s history-making freshman class from 2021 in now seniors, led by QB Demetrius Brisbon and RB Rickey Stewart. The storylines write themselves.”
We’d probably add to the story that beating Kilgore has been Chapel Hill’s Super Bowl the last few years: after topping Kilgore, Chapel Hill has exited the playoffs in less-than-glorious fashion.
But we’ll see how things play out this year.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football is available where magazines are sold, and online anytime at texasfootball.com, although some content does require a subscription.