Texas
Texas (UIL) high school football 5A, 4A state championship scoreboard, recaps (12/20/2024)
Day 3 of the Texas (UIL) high school football state championships awarded three more state titles Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Just under 45,000 people watched parts of three games, seeing historic wins happen, in some aspects, in all three games.
Read below for recaps and final scores of each of the state finals Friday.
Carthage 28, Waco La Vega 14
ARLINGTON — Carthage secured a pair of milestones in the Class 4A Division II championship game.
The Bulldogs pulled away in the second half to beat Waco La Vega, 28-14, in front of 13,194 fans Friday morning at AT&T Stadium.
The championship is the 10th for the Bulldogs — all under Coach Scott Surratt since 2008 — and moves the East Texas school into second-place all-time on the UIL leaderboard.
Only Aledo, with 12, has more titles than the Bulldogs. Two of the two have come against La Vega — winning 42-27 in 2009.
Carthage was previously tied for second with Katy before a second-half surge helped them fend off the Pirates.
“You don’t get lucky 10 times and what I mean by that, not to toot my own horn, I’m talking about the administration,” Surratt said. “You got to have great administration because a lot of the time, administration changes in and out and you see guys win two or three and all of the sudden it goes away. And then my coaches are unbelievable coaches. They let me hire great people and we pay them well for them to stay in Carthage and you know we haven’t had a lot of turnover. We have great players. I don’t deny that, but you still got to play this game. A lot of people have great players.”
The victory was also No. 100 in the school history, improving the Bulldogs to 100-30-1.
Carthage held a 14-7 lead at halftime, and then after neither team scored in the third, the Bulldogs (15-1) scored twice in the fourth to seal the win. Quarterback Jett Surratt threw a pair of touchdowns to Junior Henderson — 25 yards and 19 yards — to seal the win.
Jett Surratt didn’t have his best game passing — going 8-for-23 — but threw for 112 yards and the two fourth-quarter scores.
Kelwin ‘KJ’ Edwards had 18 carries for 188 yards and two first-half touchdowns. He had a 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and then broke open an 86-yard touchdown in the second quarter that broke a 7-7 tie to give the Bulldogs lead for the final time. Edwards was named the Offensive MVP of the game.
The Carthage defense was stout all game and gave up only 208 yards of total offense — and 79 of that came in the final 2:11 of the contest.
Linebacker Daquives Beck was named the Defensive MVP of the game for Carthage with 10 tackles, 3 1/2 TFL and one sack. The Bulldogs had seven sacks from five different players.
La Vega scored on a 4-yard run by backup quarterback Jayven Hernandez on the final play of the game. The Pirates (12-4) kicked the extra point with 0:00 on the board and then the celebration for the Bulldogs started.
Carthage wins 10th Texas high school football championship by beating La Vega: Live updates recap
“Our defense was out there just playing lights out; so we’re proud of those guys and proud of everybody. I could care less about the stat sheet here like always … but if it just had state championship on it, it would be great.”
Celina 55, Kilgore 21
Just hours after Carthage moved out of a tie for second place into second place by itself for the most state titles in UIL history, Celina moved into a tie for third place with its 9th state title.
Celina is now tied with Katy and one behind Carthage.
The state title is the first for Bill Elliott, the head coach for the Bobcats since 2012. He is the third head coach in school history to win a title, following Butch Ford — who he replaced — and G.A. Moore, who he played for in high school at Pilot Point.
“It just means so much (winning No. 9),” Elliott said. “Growing up playing for G.A. Moore or ‘Coach Moore’ in high school and then coaching with them [Moore and Ford] for all those years and winning state championships like we did under both of them. It just feels satisfying to actually get one while I was a head coach. It really didn’t matter to me because that is not my identity but it does feel good to have that.”
The Bobcats overcame an early deficit to roll to a 55-21 win over Kilgore in the second game at AT&T Stadium behind a banner day from quarterback Bowe Bentley.
The junior was named the Offensive MVP of the finals thanks to going 9-for-14 passing with 265 yards and 5 touchdowns — which tied the state record for Class 4A. Celina finished with 456 yards of total offense and it was the seventh time with 50 or more points in a game in 2024.
“Coach Elliott always says, ‘Who’s going to be the hammer? And who’s going to be the nail?’” Celina offensive lineman Tyler Moody said. “We’re usually the hammer this year, I would say.”
For a while, which one the Bobcats (16-0) would be was up in the air. Celina scored twice in the first quarter and led 13-7 after a blocked PAT.
Kilgore (13-3) scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Kayson Brooks to Javen Towns. The good PAT by Eddie Jimenez gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 14-13.
The next seven scores were by Celina to turn a deficit into a 55-14 lead.
Bentley connected with Colton Rodriguez for touchdowns of 50 and 63 yards and hit Wyatt Villareal for a 21-yard score to tie the record. Kicker Braden Johnson made a pair of field goals, Harrison Williams ran for a 7-yard score and defensive back Luke Biagini returned an interception 27 yards for a score. The junior was named the Defensive MVP of the game, adding 9 tackles and 1/2 sack.
Celina throttles Kilgore, wins 9th Texas high school football championship: Live updates recap
Richmond Randle 38, Dallas South Oak Cliff 35
On paper, the Class 5A Division II title game was a David vs. Goliath showdown with South Oak Cliff in the finals for the fourth year in a row vs. Dr. Thomas E. Randle High School — a third-year program making its debut in the UIL finals.
The upstart Lions pulled the upset with a 38-35 win in the late game Friday in front of 15,032 fans.
Randle head coach Brian Randle — coaching for a school named after his father — liked the position his Lions were, entering with a 15-0 mark.
“To get here four years in a row, that’s a big deal and those guys are great coaches,” said Randle, who was an assistant at Katy Mayde Creek before taking the team before the first varsity season in 2023. “They do an outstanding job and our biggest thing was not to flinch. We have a saying and we put it on the board. We bully bullies, right? Last year, when we played [Fort Bend] Marshall in the playoffs in the first round, we were the underdog and we talked about it. No one gave us a chance and that’s a good thing. It’s easy to rally behind if we are the underdog.”
The second half featured four lead changes and the Lions (16-0) saw a 10-point halftime lead disappear quickly.
South Oak Cliff (13-3) got a pair of long touchdown runs to take a 28-24 lead. Mikail Trotter had a 75-yard touchdown and Damond ‘Debo’ Williams had an 85-yard score on the next drive.
The Golden Bears were up 28-21 less than 3 minutes into the second half.
The Lions regained the lead late in the third on a 21-yard run by Keilan Sweeny, a running back/wide receiver/quarterback weapon for Randle. He rolled out to his right pumped faked before just running toward the end zone, scoring with 1:09 left.
Randle was up 31-28 going into the fourth but the Golden Bears took the lead again. Quarterback Carter Kopecky scored on a 22-yard keeper for the third lead change of the half.
The lead for the Golden Bears lasted 10 seconds.
Sean Smith got the kickoff and ran it back for a 72-yard score, making it 38-35. It was the second special teams score for the Lions. The game started with an 82-yard kickoff return by Sincere Timpson.
“We actually went and corrected some things but on the second one, you know, one person that made a mistake one time you correct that mistake and the next time, another kid makes a mistake but that will happen when dealing with kids,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “But you gotta give it to them, that was great execution.”
South Oak Cliff had a chance to tie the game late but a 46-yard field goal was wide left at the buzzer. Earlier in the drive, a 42-yard touchdown run by Williams was taken off the board for holding and took away what would’ve been a possible game-winning score.
Landen Williams-Callis, ranked No. 2 in the 2027 class by 247Sports, was named the Offensive MVP with 23 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown for Randle.
Williams-Callis, a 5-star recruit, said the first thing he would do after the postgame press conference was to call and brag to his cousin about winning his first state title.
Back in 2007, his cousin Jacquizz Rodgers led Lamar Consolidated to the 4A Division I title in 2007 over a Copperas Cove squad led by Robert Griffin III. Rodgers went to Oregon State, earning All-American honors, before an eight-year career in the NFL.
Richmond Randle wins 1st Texas high school football championship: Live updates recap
DALLAS — Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into classrooms.
The 9-8 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a boost to backers of similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana. Opponents have argued that hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms proselytizes to students and amounts to religious indoctrination by the government.
In a lengthy majority opinion, the conservative-leaning appeals court in New Orleans rejected those arguments in Texas, saying the requirement does not step on the rights of parents or students.
“No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin,” the ruling says.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that challenged the Texas law on behalf of parents said in a statement that they anticipate appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” they said in the statement.
The mandate is one of several fronts in Texas that opponents have fought over religion in classrooms. In 2024, the state approved optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools, and a proposal set for a vote in June would add Bible stories to required reading lists in Texas classrooms.
The decision over the Ten Commandments law reverses a lower federal court ruling that had blocked about a dozen Texas school districts — including some of the state’s largest — from putting up the posters. The Texas law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took effect in September, marking the largest attempt in the nation to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools.
From the start, the law was met almost immediately by a mix of embrace and hesitation in Texas classrooms that educate the state’s 5.5 million public school students.
The mandate animated school board meetings, spun up guidance about what to say when students ask questions, and led to boxes of donated posters being dropped on the doorsteps of campuses statewide. Although the law only requires schools to hang the posters if donated, one suburban Dallas school district spent nearly $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “a major victory for Texas and our moral values.”
“The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day,” he said.
Tuesday’s ruling comes after the appeals court heard arguments in January in the Texas case and a similar case in Louisiana. In February, the court cleared the way for Louisiana to enforce its law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Texas ruling “adopted our entire legal defense” of the law in her state. In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey also signed a similar law earlier this month.
“Our law clearly was always constitutional, and I am grateful that the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us,” Murrill said in a statement posted to social media.
Judge Stephen A. Higginson, in a dissenting opinion joined by four others on the court, wrote that the framers of the Constitution “intended disestablishment of religion, above all to prevent large religious sects from using political power to impose their religion on others.”
“Yet Texas, like Louisiana, seeks to do just that, legislating that specific, politically chosen scripture be installed in every public-school classroom,” Higginson wrote.
The law says schools must put donated posters “in a conspicuous place” and requires the writing to be a size and typeface that is visible from anywhere in a classroom to a person with “average vision.” The displays must also be 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
Texas’ law easily passed the GOP-controlled Legislature and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have backed posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
___
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu, Hawaii.
Texas
Glam influencer who drowned during Texas Ironman had battled flu but ignored pleas to ditch race
The glam influencer who drowned during a Texas Ironman swim had been battling the flu – but ignored pals who begged her to pull out of the brutal endurance race, according to one friend.
“She was ill before the trip, she wasn’t okay,” Luis Taveira said of close friend Mara Flávia, 38, who died during Saturday’s race in The Woodlands.
“My wife and I spoke with her to say she was too weak for this race, although a couple of days ago when we talked to her, she insisted she was okay,” Taveira said of the Brazil-born influencer, according to sports website the Spun.
“I still cannot believe what’s happened. She was ill because of the flu.”
Flávia continued “training hard” even while “weakened” by her illness, the friend said.
Just two days before the competition, Flávia shared a picture of herself in a pink swimming costume and cap sitting by the edge of a pool.
“Just another day at work,” she wrote in Portuguese.
Her Instagram account was peppered with snaps, showing her working out in a gym, by the pool, or running outdoors.
“Not every victory is photogenic, not every growth is pretty to watch. Sometimes evolving is being silent, stepping back, saying no, crying in the background, and coming back the next day more aware,” she said in one motivational post.
In others, she said that skill “only develops with hours and hours of work” and sport is “the best tool for transformation.”
The Ironman Texas competition features three legs — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. The women’s event got underway just after 6:30 a.m. Saturday, with fire crews alerted around an hour later that there was a lost swimmer.
Flávia’s body was found around 9 a.m. in about 10 feet of water.
Officials have ruled her preliminary cause of death was drowning, and relatives have paid tribute.
Flávia’s sister, Melissa Araújo, said her sibling “lived life intensely” – and revealed a piece of her had vanished, People reported.
“You were always synonymous with determination, with courage — with a strength that seemed too vast to be contained within you,” she wrote on social media.
“You never did anything halfway; perhaps that is why you left such a profound mark on the lives of everyone who crossed your path.
“A piece of me is gone, and I will have to learn to live without it. And it hurts in a way I cannot even explain.
“It is a strange silence, a void I knew existed all along — as if the world itself had lost a little of its color.”
Flávia’s partner, Rodrigo Ferrari, described the swimmer as his “love” and said not waking up next to her was hard.
“Ursa, you were the best person I have ever met in my life,” he wrote in a note shared on social media.
A Brazilian fitness influencer has died after getting into difficulty during the swimming portion of an ironman event in Texas.
Mara Flavia Souza Araujo was reported as a “lost swimmer” around 7.30am at the Ironman Texas in Lake Woodlands near Houston on Saturday. According to KPRC 2 News, safety crews could not immediately locate Araujo. The 38-year-old’s body was discovered around 90 minutes later in 10ft of water by divers. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department confirmed her identity in a statement to NBC on Monday.
“MCSO can confirm that Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, of Brazil died while competing in the Ironman event in The Woodlands on Saturday,” the sheriff’s department told NBC News. “Preliminary investigations indicate she drowned during the swimming portion of the event.”
Araujo was an experienced triathlete and had completed at least nine ironman events since 2018. She had more than 60,000 followers on Instagram and had posted about the importance of making the most out of life in the days before her death.
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“Enjoy this ride on the bullet train that is life,” she wrote in Portuguese. “And even with the speed of the machine blurring the landscape, look out the window – for at any moment, the train will drop you off at the eternal station.”
Organizers of the race expressed their condolences on Saturday.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time,” race organizers said in a statement on Saturday. “Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance.”
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