The Clemson Tigers are getting set for their first-round matchup against the Texas Longhorns in the College Football Playoff. 

It has been a solid season for the Tigers, as they were able to win 10 games and an ACC Title. Even though things didn’t look great at times for the program, they have made the first expanded CFP. 

This matchup against the Longhorns will be one of the toughest of the season for the Tigers, as they will be facing one of the best defenses in the country. In addition to having one of the best overall defenses, they arguably have the best secondary and pass defense in the country. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the Longhorns are good, but inconsistent at times. They have a very talented quarterback in Quinn Ewers, as his future with the program is certainly up in the air. 

As the two teams get set for Saturday, one impact player who could miss the game is Texas’ wide receiver Isaiah Bond. 

Recently, Pete Thamel of ESPN.com, spoke about the likelihood of Bond suiting up in the first-round matchup. 

“Bond would need to significantly improve in the next two days to be healthy enough to go,” Thamel said via the Clemson Insider. “Bond re-aggravated his high ankle sprain late in the game against Georgia, and there’s more optimism he’ll be able to return against Arizona State on Jan. 1 if Texas advances.”

Bond being out would be a significant blow for the Longhorns, as he is ranked third on the team in receiving yards behind Matthew Golden and tight end Gunnar Helm. So far this season, the talented wide receiver has totaled 33 receptions, 532 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns. 

With an average yards per catch of 16.1, Bond is a really talented receiver with big-play ability. 

Since it seems likely that he won’t be playing in this one, that only helps make things easier for Clemson’s defense to focus on the rushing attack. In his potential absence, it will likely be Ryan Wingo seeing a potential increase in snaps, as he is also a big-play threat at wide receiver. 

This will be a true home game for Texas, as the game will be getting started at 4 p.m. on TNT this Saturday. 

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

Celina will have a chance to move into a tie for third for all-time UIL football champions in the Class 4A Division I game this afternoon. Celina has won eight state titles and currently sit in third place overall among UIL teams — trailing Aledo (12) and Carthage (10) Katy (9). 

Carthage won state title No. 10 earlier in the day to move into second place.

Celina had to rally late to keep the undefeated season and title hopes alive last week, beating Amarillo West Plains, 43-36. RB Harrison Williams scored on a 22-yard run with 1:34 left to account for the final points. It marked the first time in the postseason that Celina hadn’t led at halftime.

Bobcats QB Bowe Bentley, who recently picked up offers from Duke and Cal, ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns in the win. 

TEXAS HS FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

Kilgore has won nine in a row heading into the finals. This will be the Bulldogs’ third finals game with a win in 2OT against Dallas Lincoln in 2004 and a loss to Carthage in 2013. 

Isaiah Watters ran for two scores and Michigan signee Jayden Sanders also scored for Kilgore in the 31-7 win over La Vernia.

Follow along below for live updates from the Class 4A-Division I state finals between Kilgore and Celina, scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. CT on Friday, Dec. 20, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Pregame updates

Kilgore wins the toss and defers. Celina to get the ball first.

First Quarter Updates

TOUCHDOWN CELINA! Bowe Bentley connects with Ethan Rucker for a 34-yard TD. 10:52 left in the first. Celina 7, Kilgore 0

TOUCHDOWN KILGORE! Isaiah Watters with a 12-yard TD run for the Bulldogs. Eddie Jimenez with PAT. Kilgore 7, Celina 7. Big plays on the drive from the legs of QB Kayson Brooks, who has 23 yards on 3 carries

TOUCHDOWN CELINA! Bentley to Rucker again — this time for 61 yards. 5:10 on the clock. PAT blocked but haven’t seen a replay to see who got it. Celina 13, Kilgore 7

Kilgore gets a 26-yard play to move to the 29-yard line of Celina. An 11-yard run by Jacory Walton Omarion and then a 15-yard late hit.

END OF 1ST QUARTER: Celina 13, Kilgore 7

Second Quarter Updates

TOUCHDOWN KILGORE! On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Brooks hits Javon Towns for a 20-yard TD on a bubble screen. The senior WR does the work by catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage and outrunning the defense. PAT is good. Kilgore has the lead for the first time today. Kilgore 14, Celina 13

FIELD GOAL CELINA! The Bobcats regain the lead. Senior Braden Johnson boots a 35-yard field goal. Celina 16, Kilgore 14

Media/TV timeout 7:53 left.

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