Springtown fell to Waco La Vega in the Class 4A Division I semifinal, and NBC 5’s Pat Doney also handed out honors to the best in high school football this year.
UPDATE: Springtown fell to Waco La Vega, the final score was 27-14.
It is high school football state semifinals weekend, with teams all over Texas hoping to earn one more win to advance to play in AT&T Stadium for a state title next week.
Springtown Tries to Make School History
And when a high school football team from a small town gets rolling at this time of year, it completely takes over a community. That's exactly what's happening in Springtown, where the Porcupines are 13-and-1, and haven't lost a game since mid-October.
The Porcupines will try to win their 4A state semifinal game against Waco La Vega Friday night in Midlothian.
"There's nothing that's going to pull a town together like a winning football team… there's no discernable way to measure it, it's just the truth," said Springtown Football Coach Brian Hulett.
Springtown High School has a unique mascot, the Porcupines, the only high school with a porcupines mascot we could find in the entire country.
According to stories told in the community, the mascot was selected by the Springtown basketball team in the 1920s and has been a point of tradition, no pun intended, ever since.
Almost the entire Springtown community is expected to attend Friday night's game - as a small town hopes the Porcupines can advance to their first ever football state championship game.
"It's great, I'm glad it happened my senior year, so I have something to leave behind, you know" said Springtown senior running back Cameron Rickett. "Just the people here are great, like the community is awesome. They've supported us through all five rounds, they're just great."
Rickett, who has rushed for over 2,000 yards and 38 touchdowns this season, is probably the best kept secret in the state.
"Cameron has been here four years now, Cameron is special, he's elite, he's really good. He's got it all, he's tough to tackle, he's tough to stop."
Rickett has over 6,000 yards and 125 total touchdowns in his career at Springtown, and he will have to have a big game Friday night if the Porcupines want to get one step closer to the greatest season in school history.
Other North Texas Teams Play Saturday
Arguably the two best games of the weekend involving North Texas teams will take place Saturday.
In 5A, quite possibly the game of the year will take place at 2 p.m. in Allen Eagles Stadium featuring the undefeated No. 1 5A team in the state, Frisco Lone Star, and the No. 3 in the state Denton Ryan.
Frisco Lone Star Rangers are led by wide receiver Marvin Mims, an Oklahoma commit who just broke the state record for receiving yards last week, while the Denton Ryan Raiders team is loaded with D-1 talent. The winner has a great chance to win the state title next week.
Meanwhile, the No. team in the state, the Rockwall Yellowjackets and No. 2 team in the nation, the Duncanville Panthers will clash at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at McKinney ISD stadium.
The Panthers will look to get back to the state championship game for a second straight season, but to do it, they'll have to stop arguably the best player in the state of Texas, Yellowjackets wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has scored 6 touchdowns in a game twice during the playoffs.
