July 31, 2011

Dallas Jackson
Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the Senior Analyst for RivalsHigh. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him on Twitter.

Utah is bringing three of its top teams to California to see how the up-and-coming state can hang with the big boys.

Some of the best in Nevada and Arizona will again settle their border dispute in the annual Barry Sollenberger Kickoff Classic; this year, two RivalsHigh 100 Top 50 teams - Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman and Socttsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral - will play at University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, and aired on Fox Sports.

Schools in Maryland and Virginia are pursuing games against teams from Ohio to test their mettle.

And the best in New Jersey have a simple policy: We'll take on anyone, anywhere.

The rise of out-of-state games has had a positive influence on high school football as states can get answers to long-running debates about talent. But as much as states need these games to secure their spots nationally, one state gets all it needs within its own borders.

With apologies to Florida and California, Texas is able to stand alone.

"We are going to play some of the best competition in the country in our attempt to win a state title," Craig Chessher, head coach of Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point. "And, it may just be my opinion, but we don't need to prove anything. This is Texas football."

Indeed coach, it is.

As the season plays out, and teams from small towns in parts mostly unknown take to the road to prove their worth in the national landscape, teams from Texas will gear up for a postseason run that few can compete with.

A six-game winning streak is what it takes to claim the state title in Texas, for which most any team that wants to hoist the crown will face at least three nationally-ranked teams. Some could face as many as five.

"What teams in this state have to do to win our state title is challenging enough," Chessher said.

He's right.

Consider 2010.

Stony Point, which begins this season at No. 59 in the RivalsHigh 100, was a Class 5A Division I semifinalist in 2010.

The team lost in the semifinals to Euless (Texas) Trinity, 28-24. Trinity was ranked in the Top 5 at kickoff.

To get to that point, Stony Point needed to defeat a ranked DeSoto (Texas) High team, ranked College Station (Texas) A&M Consolidated, Spring (Texas) Klein Oak, and the 2009 state runner-up Austin (Texas) Westlake in the first round.

Consider Euless (Texas) Trinity.

It was a top-five school nationally from nearly start to finish. And while its regular-season schedule wasn't daunting - and rarely is - its road to a Texas Class 5A Division I state title always will be. The school knocked off three nationally-ranked teams before ultimately falling in the final to Pearland (Texas) High.

And then consider Pearland (Texas) High.

It wasn't even ranked nationally when it started the Texas playoffs. But, after rolling to the title - by downing both nationally-ranked Katy (Texas) High and Trinity, it wound up No. 7 nationally.

The bottom line is this: The best teams in Texas have to prove their worth just like any other team, but most do not need to go out of state to do it.

And it is not isolated to the Class 5A teams.

Austin (Texas) Lake Travis has been nationally ranked each of the last three years, finishing at No. 2 in 2009 and winning the Class 4A Division I state title.

"There is not much difference when you are talking about the top schools in those classes," Cavalier head coach Hank Carter said. "The perception has changed within the state recently and it has been helped by the success that the teams that have moved up have had."

Longview (Texas) High, Cibolo (Texas) Steele and others had been unable to beat Lake Travis to win the Class 4A title but have had success since the move up in enrollment. Steele won the Class 5A Division II title last year, finishing No. 46 in the national rankings.

"Steele had given us some good battles in the past," Carter said. "And in their first year at 5A, they win a state title. That gives a lot of credence to our ability at this level."

There are other pockets in the country that are just as tough: We'll stand by our assessment last season that the Ohio Division I playoffs are as deep as it gets.

But Ohio, as good as it is, isn't Texas.

And the final four in the top classes in Florida always are filled with teams that can compete with anyone - it is just that there are usually only six teams competing for those four spots.

The CIF bowl games in California are always strong, but randomly determined.

But for depth from top to bottom of nearly every class, no state can match up with Texas.

That's why Texas may be the only state that doesn't need to cross its borders to prove its power.

But, it would be nice if it did.

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