THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS! | Previews of all four of tonight’s playoff games: Carthage-Ford, Overton-Evadale, Gladewater-Malakoff & Tatum-Winnsboro
EDITOR’S NOTE: Here are brief previews for each of Thursday night’s University Interscholastic League (UIL) high school playoff games. We’ll have coverage of these games tonight and on Friday morning, and we’ll also add previews for each of the Friday night games here on ETBlitz.com, as well.
ETBlitz.com is proud to partner with East Texas Lumber and East Texas Hardware, our playoff sponsor for the 2026 season.
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Class 2A, Division II bi-district / first round playoff
Overton (9-1) vs. Evadale (6-4)
Diboll’s Lumberjack Stadium, Thursday night, 7 p.m.
Overton will be the home team. The stadium is located at 1000 Lumberjack Drive, Diboll.
Tickets are $5 each for adults and $5 each for students. District, Texas High School Coaches Association and senior passes all accepted.
Streaming broadcast: NFHS NETWORK 2026 UIL Football Playoffs Overton High School vs. Evadale High School – 11/12/2026 | Live & On Demand.
The Overton-Evadale winner will meet either Detroit (5-4) or Era (7-3) in the second, or area, round next week.
Overton: The immediate most interesting fact here is that Overton has been responsible for ending Evadale’s football season for two of the last three years. The Mustangs eliminated Evadale from the playoffs in the first round back in 2023, 40-9, and then again in 2024 by a much more convincing margin (68-0). That was the last meeting between the programs. Overton is led by coach Scotty Laymance, in his fourth season at the helm of the Mustangs. He came to Overton as offensive coordinator back in 2022, then was promoted to head coach. Since then, all the Mustangs really seem to have done is win. Overton has a 37-11 record since Laymance became coach, including this season, where their only loss was to longtime rival Carlisle in a non-district game back on Sept. 11. The Mustangs have won seven straight games, and also clinched their district’s championship outright (solo) for the first time since 1995. The Mustangs have an all-time playoff record of 26-23 and have now made the playoffs in four straight seasons.
Evadale: Evadale finished the regular season with a 6-4 record, having lost its last game of the regular season. The Rebels, coached by Jay Buckner, went 3-3 in district. They’re scoring on average 20.8 points a game and allowing 29.2 a game. Quarterback Brett Buckner is the coach’s son and has thrown for 1,164 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. His leading receiver is Gavin Maxfield, with 36 catches for 240 yards and four scores. Grant Stone has 21 catches for 378 yards and three scores. As a team, the Rebels have ran for 883 yards and 16 touchdowns. Defensively, Hayden Eickenhorst leads the way with 63 tackles.
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Class 3A, Division I bi-district / first round playoff
Tatum (7-3) vs. Winnsboro (9-1)
Meredith Memorial Stadium, Mineola, Thursday night, 7 p.m.
Tatum will be the visiting team. The stadium is located at 1044 W. Loop 564, Mineola.
Tickets are $6 for students and $6 for adult, and district, Texas High School Coaches Association, and senior passes accepted.
Streaming broadcast: 2026 UIL Football Playoffs Tatum High School vs. Winnsboro High School – 11/12/2026 | Live & On Demand
The Tatum-Winnsboro winner will meet either Whitney (9-1) or Life Oak Cliff (8-2) in the second, or area, round next week.
Tatum: Coached by Whitney Keeling, in his fifth season, a decorated coach who won a state championship as an assistant at his alma mater, Kilgore, in 2004, and then led the Waskom High football program to state titles, as well. The Eagles have a 7-3 record this season, having finished 3-2 (third) in District 8-3A, Division I. That’s the best single season record for the Eagles under Keeling. Tatum has not played any neutral site games this year, but is 4-1 on the road. The Eagles have averaged scoring just under 31 points a game, and are allowing just under 20 a game. Tatum missed the playoffs a year ago. They played Winnsboro to open the season prior to the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In 2024, the game was postponed for hours due to a lightning storm, then the teams played a half, with Tatum winning that half, 29-14. Winnsboro won last year’s meeting, the season opener, in Winnsboro, 55-28. Tatum enters the playoff game against Winnsboro having lost the regular season finale to Liberty-Eylau, 12-7. Before that, Tatum had won three straight. The Eagles, with two state football championships in their school history (2005 and 2006), have a 49-38 playoff record, meaning a win over Winnsboro would be their 50th.
Winnsboro: The Red Raiders are 9-1 this season, their only loss a 35-7 setback to Malakoff (10-0) on Oct. 16. Coach Joshua Blake Finney’s Winnsboro squad has won three straight games since then. Winnsboro averaged 40 points a game and allowed on average 16 a game. The Raiders went to the second round of the playoffs last year, losing to Whitney by a touchdown (45-38). The school has never won a state title in football, and has a 17-26-1 record in the playoffs.
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Class 3A, Division I bi-district / first round playoff
Gladewater (4-6) vs. Malakoff (10-0)
CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium, Tyler, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Gladewater will be the visiting team. The stadium is located at 609 Fair Drive, Tyler.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, and district, THSCA, and senior passes will be accepted. Rose Stadium has a strict clear bag policy.
Streaming broadcast: 2026 UIL Football Playoffs – Gladewater Broadcast Gladewater vs Malakoff – 11/12/2026 | Live & On Demand.
The Gladewater-Malakoff winner will meet either Mexia (6-4) or Pilot Point (7-3) in the second, or area, round next week.
Gladewater: The Bears are coached by Jermaine Lewis, who took the reins of the program before the start of last season, and “all” the Bears did last year was go 10-2, and 6-0 in district play to win the district title. Things have been a little harder this year, but they did return to the playoffs. The Bears are 4-6, but they get a tough draw in unbeaten Malakoff. Gladewater beat White Oak on Oct. 23, but lost its last two games of the season (to Liberty-Eylau and to Atlanta). The Bears are scoring about 27 points a game and allowing about 24 a game. Gladewater has had a lot of playoff runs, and has a 42-31-2 record in the postseason. They’re in the playoffs for the ninth straight year.
Malakoff: The Tigers are coached by Jamie Driskell and have been greatly successful during his entire tenure, dating back to 2009. They won the state championship back in 2023, and have a 38-23 all-time playoff record. In fact, since 20013, Malakoff has double-digit wins in each of those seasons except 2017, 2021, and 2025. They’re scoring 50 points a game and allowing about 10. The last meeting between the Bears and Tigers was that 2023 season when Malakoff would go on to win the state title. They beat Gladewater that regular season.
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Class 4A, Division II bi-district / first round playoff
Carthage (8-1) vs. Quinlan Ford (6-4)
Lindale Eagle Stadium, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Carthage will be the home team. The stadium is located at 200 Stadium Drive, Lindale.
Tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for students, but they’re available online only here: Bi-District Playoffs Carthage vs. Quinlan | lindaleisd Box Office.
Streaming broadcast: NFHSNetwork: 2026 UIL Football Playoffs Carthage High School vs. Ford High School – 11/12/2026 | Live & On Demand. Also, listen to the broadcast on the radio on KGAS 104.3-FM.
The Carthage-Quinlan Ford winner will meet either Glen Rose (7-3) or Ponder (5-5) in the second, or area, round next week.
Carthage: What on earth can be said about the Carthage High School Bulldogs football program that hasn’t already been said? Eleven state championships won since 2008, all under head coach Scott Surratt, the Texas high school version of Nick Saban. Surratt guided the Bulldogs to a three-peat (three straight state titles) from 2008-2010, a repeat (2016-17), another repeat (2019-20) a title in 2022, and then yet another repeat in 2024-25. Yes, the ‘Dawgs are looking for their third straight state championship, which would be their 12th overall. Carthage football has a 103-30-1 playoff record, and their football program has never had a winless season. They did drop a regular season game this year, though, at Gilmer, and head into the 4A-Division II playoffs as the second-place team from District 8-4A, Division II. The Bulldogs have averaged about 47 points per game, and are allowing on average about 19 a game. They closed the regular season with a 42-0 win over Center. As best our staff here at ETBlitz.com can tell, Carthage and Quinlan Ford have never met in football; tonight’s playoff game will be their first ever meeting.
Quinlan Ford: The Panthers are coached by Todd Wallace. They finished the regular season with a 6-4 record, routing North Lamar, 52-6, to complete the regular season and break a two-game losing streak. Ford has averaged about 36 points a game and has allowed about 27 points a game this season. Ford is five years removed from the best season in school history, a 12-1 finish in 2021.