Kyle Parmley
Hoover Football
Hoover quarterback Garrett Farquhar leads the Bucs into Texas.
Hoover and Allen boast impressive resumes in recent years.
Hoover High School reached the state final in each of Josh Niblett's first seven years as head coach through 2014, winning four state championships, including three in a row from 2012-2014.
Allen won the school's first Texas state championship in 2008, and also won three consecutive titles from 2012-2014.
Each team fell short of its goal last fall, but are back and expected to contend for their respective state titles once again in 2016.
Hoover is coming off a 23-7 victory over Central-Phenix City in the Champions Challenge last Friday night. The Bucs weathered a 51-minute lightning delay and relied on a strong defensive effort to get the season started on the right foot.
“We celebrate the winning,” Niblett said following the game. “There are some things we could’ve done better, but at the same time, we won the football game. Championship football teams have got to learn how to win when the variables and the circumstances don’t go their way.”
Quarterback Garrett Farquhar was just 8-of-25 passing, but managed the offense well in the wet conditions. Shedrick Jackson and Cortez Hall finished with 75 and 69 yards receiving, respectively.
High school football season gets underway in Texas this week, so Allen will be playing its first game of the campaign. The Eagles are under new leadership in Terry Gambill, who comes from Waco-Midway. Gambill was the defensive coordinator at Allen when the program won its first state title in 2008.
Tom Westerberg took over at Barbers Hill after 12 seasons as head coach at Allen.
Former Texas A&M quarterback Kyler Murray is the most prominent recent graduate of Allen High School.
Allen's Eagle Stadium opened in 2012, but was closed in 2014 due to structural issues. It has since reopened, and seats approximately 18,000 spectators.
The Bucs depart from Birmingham Thursday afternoon, and will return following the game late Friday night.
