Week 1 of the high school football season is in the books. Take a look at some of the top storylines surrounding the action across the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.
Black Death is back in Wheeler
The vaunted “Black Death” defense of Wheeler seems to be revived and well alive from decades ago. A reputation built off a prideful force from the 1980’s-1990’s, the Mustangs defense is making former players proud pitching yet another shutout in the 2026 season opener during a 46-0 blanking against Highland Park.
Head coach Matt Hoover’s team has now pitched shutouts in seven of their last of 11 regular season games that included six last season.
In fact, this Mustang defense has been so stingy, Wheeler was the only 11-man team in the state last year to hold its opponents to under 100 points (allowed 63 points all of 2025) and held all 10 regular season opponents to one touchdown or less.
In the season opening win over the Hornets, the Mustangs limited the Hornets to 141 yards and forced five turnovers.
Hale Center earns emotional victory
Playing with heavy hearts Friday night, the Owls were able to overcome a heartbreaking week by making a long road trip well worth it getting a 26-14 win over Seymour on Friday night.
On Wednesday, a 16-year old Hale Center student lost his life in a tragic motor vehicle accident on I-27. Head coach Marc Puente and the school made a late decision Thursday to go ahead and play the varsity contest Friday, and the Owls were able to honor their friend and family member with a victory.
“It was a very difficult decision to play the game,” Puente said. “We went back and forth on it and on Thursday we decided to we were going to play. We wanted to make sure the guys were good emotionally and give them something positive after such a hard week. We also wanted to honor the student who passed away. Everyone loved him and he is related to a lot of people in this town. Seymour ISD also stepped up and raised almost a $1,000 to his family and that was special to see.”
Area coaches celebrate first W’s
Three new head coaches across the Texas Panhandle celebrated their first career victories Friday night. Longtime assistant Stacey Alexander earned his first win with the Stratford Elks in a 78-6 victory against Sunray. Former Medina Valley offensive coordinator Matt Medley brought home his first head coaching W as his Hereford Whitefaces beat up Borger 38-13, and former Marshall defensive coordinator Hunter Ashley kept the momentum going for West Texas High as the Comanches tamed Tulia 49-26 for his first career win. WT High has now won 13 straight regular season games dating back to 2024.
Gruver and Stratford look the part
Two teams with massive expectations looked the part Thursday night with lopsided victories. District rivals, Stratford and Gruver had no issues beating its respective opponents by a combined 134-20 in season opening blowouts. The Elks dominated Sunray 78-6 while the Greyhounds ran all over Hooker, Okla., 56-14.
Darius Jones had a massive outing for the Elks as the senior wide out snagged five catches for 127 yards with three touchdowns. Gruver quarterback Jett Pittman had a superb debut settling right in as the junior went 11-of-19 for 221 yards and five touchdowns. Both will get much bigger tests in Week 2. Gruver travels to Spearman for a Hansford County showdown, while Stratford heads to Panhandle.
Ball hawks
The Hereford secondary had quite the night during a 38-13 blowout win against Borger on the road Friday. Defense was the name of the game as the Whitefaces limited the Bulldogs to 238 total yards and just 79 through the air and forced a total of seven turnovers.
The Hereford secondary was flying all over the field pulling down an impressive five interceptions on the night. Noel Castillo was the highlight for Hereford. The junior not only made seven tackles but added two of those interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.
