Ranch Cities' teams made their final push of the 7-on-7 season, with the Pilot Point Bearcats and Tioga Bulldogs competing at the 2026 State Tournament on June 25-26.
The Bearcats and Bulldogs traveled to College Station and faced off with 31 other teams in Division II and III, with both programs recording Top 10 finishes.
“They competed hard, made plays and didn’t panic when we got down,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “Pretty much every game was pretty close, except for the Hitchcock game, but other than that, they were really tight, and the kids just battled through and showed a lot of toughness.”
Pool play for the tournament began on June 25, and Pilot Point went 2-1, with a 27-14 win over Hitchcock followed by a 26-20 loss to Sweetwater.
The Bearcats bounced back in their third game of the day to beat Port Isabel 26-19 to finish third in their pool and set themselves up for a rematch with Decatur to open bracket play on June 26.
“Decatur had beaten us in our first tournament of the year,” Worrell said. “We played them in the championship game, and they beat us that game, [but] we beat them first thing Friday morning.”
Pilot Point used the momentum from its 13-7 win over Decatur in the opening round to pull off wins over Somerset, 28-25, and Southwest Christian, 21-19, in the second and third rounds.
The 3-0 start landed the Bearcats in the semifinals, facing off with the Van Alstyne Panthers, with the winner punching their ticket to the championship match.
Both teams were able to find the end zone multiple times, but the Panthers pulled out the 27-13 win.
“They’re a good bunch,” Worrell said. “We ran out of gas, but they deserved to win. It’s a grind down there when you’ve played three games on Thursday in that heat and then come back on Friday. You don’t really have a break; it's just one after another, and it takes a toll on the kids physically, but what a run. We couldn’t be prouder of the kids.”
Worrell highlighted senior receiver Luke Conner, who was elected to the allstate tournament team.
He also spoke highly of the Bearcat’s 7-on-7 quarterback, junior Luke Daniel.
“Luke did a great job,” Worrell said. “We played a lot of 7-on-7, and he’s gotten better each week. He improved at play-calling and reading defenses and understanding what we’re trying to do with the ball. He threw the ball well and made good decisions with it, and we hope he continues to get better.”
This year marked Pilot Point’s first time competing at the state 7-on-7 tournament, and Worrell said he hopes the experience will help the Bearcats this fall.
“The kids know they can compete with anybody,” he said. “They should have gained more confidence, and they know that even when you’re tired or things don’t go your way, they have to battle through it mentally, but they know skill-wise we can play with anybody in the state.”
The Tioga Bulldogs made their fourth appearance in a row at the state tournament, opening Division III pool play with an 18-15 win over Wink before dropping their next two matchups against Hamilton, 39-27, and Rice Consolidated, 24-14, finishing third in their pool.
“We got put in a really tough pool,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “Dave Campbell’s called it the Pool of Doom, and that first day didn’t go quite as planned, but we watched our kids respond on Friday instead of reacting, which was really big for us, and I think that’s something that is going to pay off huge for us.”
The Bulldogs opened bracket play with a convincing 41-21 win over Van Vleck and followed it up with a 3420 win over Sonora.
The two wins moved Tioga into a third-round matchup with Goldthwaite, with Goldthwaite taking the win 34-12.
“We got a Goldthwaite team that’s really rolling this 7-on-7 season and was rolling in the tournament, and we learned some valuable lessons,” Birdwell said. “We gave up a score on the last play of the half on a Hail Mary, two scores on fourth down and got in the red zone first-and-goal from the fouryard line and didn’t score … but we were able to do some new things and were able to learn before August, which is awesome.
The wins in bracket play marked Tioga's first wins at the state tournament, and Birdwell said he was encouraged by the Bulldogs' performance.
He also highlighted the performances of receivers/ defensive backs Justin and Quesyn Arrington and senior receiver Jaxson Hurst.
“Seeing both Arrington brothers, Justin and Quesyn, out there leading the defense was really big for us,” he said. “… And to come back this year with a fully healthy offense and still see Jaxson not skip a beat was great. We had to lean on him last year with all the injuries, so to see us back at full tilt and him still be the go-to guy was big as well.'
Birdwell also highlighted receiver/defensive back Jake David and quarterback Cole Boyd, who both battled injuries last football season.
“That got taken from them last year, and from a coach’s standpoint, you always hate to see that happen, especially at the high school level, so just being able to see those young men get out there and do what they love again was awesome,” he said.
