The St. Thomas High School football team returns 12 starters — six on each side of the ball — from a team that came within five points of a TAPPS Division I State Championship Game appearance.

If there’s a TAPPS football team with a tougher schedule than St. Pius X, it’d be difficult to find them.
“Our slogan this year is ‘The Journey is the Reward,” St. Pius X second-year head coach Blake Ware said. “It’s about all of the moments put together.”

On Sept. 7, the Scarborough High School team will trek down U.S. Hwy. 59 South to play Wharton, a UIL Class 3A regional semifinalist a season ago. They’ll get an up close look at “what true Friday Night Football is about,” said Spartans second-year coach Jayson Merren.

Last season, the Reagan High School football team advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2004 and defeated fellow Houston ISD opponent, Worthing, in the first round of the UIL Class 4A, Division I playoffs.

The Lutheran North High School football team finished 2-8 last season, but the Lions have a great chance to match that win total before mid-September.