Father Son Combinations in Texas High School Football Are Common

Father son combinations in high school football are enjoying lots of success in the playoffs these days. At Graham High School, Case and his father Brad McCoy are headed the Class 3A semifinals this weekend. Brad is the head coach while Case is the brother of Quarterback Colt McCoy at Texas

Riley and Todd Dodge won the 2006 state championship at Southlake Carroll. They're still together today at the University of North Texas. Graham Harrell was a sophomore at Ennis when he helped his father, Sam win a state championship.

This week, the combination of J.W. and John Walsh at Denton Guyer will try to beat Longview in a rematch of last year's state semifinal game. J.W. is the Quarterback and his knowledge of the game started at a very early age.

"When you’re younger, you have the resource of your dad and the resource of coming up here and see the things that most kids who are in elementary school would not see at that time," says J.W.

The combination of father and son as the Coach and Quarterback is certainly not new to high school football and it's a combination that has worked well at other schools. It's a combination that seems to working well at Denton Guyer.

"At home when I have a question, it's easy just to walk downstairs and ask a question," J.W. says.

"He's worked hard enough physically to do all the running and the passing," says John his father and Head Coach. "What impresses me as a coach and as a dad is his leadership ability. He makes sure he puts the burden on himself and he puts himself first in front of the team and accepts responsibility good or bad and that's what I'm proud of."

"He's been lucky to be around quality programs. He's been lucky to be around quality quarterbacks. He's been around the Freeman boys, Jarret Lee at LSU, so he has an expectation for himself to be at that level those guys were and win a lot of football games for the football team and just growing up having the expectation. It's funny watching him, with all the attention he gets is that he just expects that's what is supposed to happen," his father says.

"He has the potential to be the best," says Taylor Bible, a Defensive Tackle for Denton Guyer. "People always ask do you think J.W. is going to be like Colt McCoy or Matt Stafford. To my knowledge, J.W. is going to be the first J.W."

And that's all any teammate could ask of their quarterback

Pilot Point Dealing With Death Before Championship game

The Pilot Point football team is playing in the Class 2A state championship game no saturday, but they didn't practice on Monday. Their afternoon was spent instead at a funeral supporting two brothers on their team who lost their dad.

"Obviously it's been on everyone's mind but at the same time," says Head Coach Blake Feldt. "I think our kids have done a fantastic job of handling this situation. As a matter of fact, our kids never cease to amaze me in some of the things they've done this year."

The two brothers who lost their father are running back Jarman Jackson who now holds the school record in rushing, and safety Willie Davis. Their father, Henry Melvin Davis died of cancer eight days ago. Now the team is providing support for their teammates while getting ready for their biggest game of the year.

"We've got to do the best we can and move past this and use this to something to really pull the team together and focus and get get it done for Jarman and Willie, says Offensive Lineman Cam Feldt.

we haven't been there in a long time but we've got a purpose to be playing for now, and the whole team," says Quarterback Seth Tilley. "They know we're dedicating this season to Jarman's and Willie's dad. So we're going to win it for him. We're going to play our hearts out no matter what."

This week is all about playing for a state championship, but their not just playing for themselves. They're also trying to win it for Henry Melvin Davis. They added his initials to the back of their helmet. Before he died, he told his sons to go win a state championship.

"His words were win it for me, says Wide Receiver Justin Chambers. "Jarman has been saying every week this is for my daddy, this is for my daddy. We're hoping to do it for his daddy."

Pilot Point hasn't won a state championship since 1981, but if there was ever a reason to win a game, the time is now.