High School Football in America Keeps Building Champions

The game is bigger and better, but the formula for winning in high school football hasn't changed.

High School Football in America Keeps Building Champions

Times have changed in high school football since the first organized games were played in Boston in 1862. Some teams now play national schedules and look more like college teams with tons of Division talent on the field.

Games are televised. High schools have multimillion-dollar stadiums. Recruiting is a 365-day-a-year operation. And players can get paid for their name, image, and likeness. High school football is big business.

But high school football still retains some innocence and purity. The game has over 1 million participants and remains a huge part of communities across the United States.

High school football gives young athletes a spotlight unlike any other sport. Longstanding traditions make each game an event. Every week, generations of fans from all different backgrounds and walks of life come together to support local kids with the same goal of winning football games.

The formula for winning hasn't changed in 160 years. The best teams win. The first high school football team in Boston, named the Oneida Club, had 15 players, never allowed a touchdown, and left opposing teams with torn uniforms and big bruises.

The fundamentals of football continue to be rewarded. Preparation, collective effort, belief, work ethic, play-calling, execution, strength, speed, toughness, grit, discipline, and teamwork not only win football games. They build champions.

For the 2022 high school football season, Stadium Talk explored "High School Football in America" with The Stadium Talk Podcast. Stadium Talk writer Tony Adame spoke with coaches, players, former players, and people connected with the game to get an inside look at the past, present and future of high school football across the U.S.

Of the eight high school coaches we interviewed, five of the teams won state championships for the season, and one won a sectional championship.

High school football in America is bigger and better than ever at building champions. On and off the field. Somewhere, those Oneida boys are smiling.

THE STADIUM TALK PODCAST

SEASON 1: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IN AMERICA

Episode 1: Which State Plays the Best High School Football?

Episode 2: Best High School Football Movies of All Time

Episode 3: Evolution of High School Football Recruiting and the Best High School Football Recruits of All Time

Episode 4: St. Edward's Tom Lombardo, Buford's Bryant Appling, the Importance of Football in Ohio, and High School Football Players Getting Million-Dollar Offers

Episode 5: Bixby High School Football Head Coach Loren Montgomery, Quest for Another Oklahoma State Title, Bixby-Jenks Rivalry, Elite National Programs

Episode 6: St. John Bosco’s Jason Negro, Austin Westlake’s Tony Salazar Talk High School Football NIL, National Schedules, Chasing History and Coaching Mentors

Episode 7: St. Thomas Aquinas’ Roger Harriott, Cherry Creek’s Dave Logan on Faith and Football, Beating Adversity, Winning State Titles and Producing NFL Players

Episode 8: What's It's Like to Be a Girl Playing High School Football

You can listen to all of the episodes.

Episode 1: Which State Plays the Best High School Football?

Duncanville High School football team from Texas

This episode aired on Oct. 6.

California, Texas and Florida are the powerhouses, but they aren't the only states with great high school football players.

In our inaugural episode, Stadium Talk's Tony Adame is joined by Rob Cassidy of Rivals.com to answer the age-old question: Which state plays the best high school football?

Episode 2: Best High School Football Movies of All Time

Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans

This episode aired on Oct. 13.

Stadium Talk's Tony Adame is joined by workwithclarity.com co-founder and former sports journalist Jeffrey Martin to discuss a very, very specific movie genre for The Stadium Talk Podcast — high school football movies. They rank the greatest high school football films of all time and go down some very interesting rabbit holes.

If "Good Will Hunting" doesn't ever happen, does Matt Damon have a lengthy career as one of the great villains in acting history?
Why can't we write better roles for women in sports movies?
Is "Remember the Titans" a top five role for Denzel Washington?
Has Jon Voight remained in character from "Varsity Blues" since filming his role as Coach Bud Kilmer in 1999?

Episode 3: Evolution of High School Football Recruiting and the Best High School Football Recruits of All Time

Marcus Dupree running the ball for Philadelphia High School in Philadelphia, Mississippi

This episode aired on Oct. 20.

It's a whole new ballgame for high school football recruiting

Stadium Talk's Tony Adame is joined by high school football talent development guru Brian Butler to discuss the evolution of high school football recruiting over the last 20 years and to discuss their choices for the best high school football recruits of all time.

Episode 4: St. Edward's Tom Lombardo, Buford's Bryant Appling, the Importance of Football in Ohio, and High School Football Players Getting Million-Dollar Offers

Tom Lombardo with the St. Edward High School football team

This episode aired on Oct. 27. St. Edward beat Springfield 28-14 on Dec. 2 to win the Ohio Division I state championship. Buford lost to Walton 42-35 on Nov. 18 in the second round of the Georgia Class 7A state tournament. It was the first loss of the season for Buford.

Ohio and Georgia love high school football.

Stadium Talk’s Tony Adame talks with St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) High head coach Tom Lombardo on how to put together a national schedule, not turning down your boyhood heroes and what high school football means in Ohio (1:45).

Then, Buford (Georgia) High head coach Bryant Appling stops in to talk about social media, high schoolers getting million-dollar offers to play college football and how expensive it was to mail VHS highlight tapes to college football coaches in the 1990s (16:20).

Episode 5: Bixby High School Football Head Coach Loren Montgomery, Quest for Another Oklahoma State Title, Bixby-Jenks Rivalry, Elite National Programs

Bixby High School head coach Loren Montgomery

This episode aired on Nov. 3. Bixby beat Owasso 69-6 on Dec. 2 to win the Oklahoma Class 6A-1 state championship. Bixby beat Jenks 41-34 in the semifinals on Nov. 25 to avenge their only loss of the season.

Bixby High School in Bixby, Oklahoma, has become one of the best high school football programs in the United States. And people are starting to notice.

Bixby was ranked No. 19 in the Stadium Talk Top 25 High School Football Rankings for Week 11 and had the longest active high school winning streak at 58 games, before losing to Jenks 38-35 on Nov. 3 in a game that aired on ESPN2 this year.

Stadium Talk’s Tony Adame talked with Bixby (Oklahoma) High School football head coach Loren Montgomery about his team’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive state title (:45) and how his mom’s career as an educator laid the groundwork for his career.

They also discussed the annual Bixby-Jenks game, how he talked his way into his first job at Jenks out of college (it involved washing trucks and babysitting), and how Bixby keeps itself among the elite high school football programs in the nation.

Episode 6: St. John Bosco’s Jason Negro, Austin Westlake’s Tony Salazar Talk High School Football NIL, National Schedules, Chasing History and Coaching Mentors

St. John Bosco's Jason Negro and Austin Westlake's Tony Saazar

This episode aired on Nov. 10. St. John Bosco beat Serra (San Mateo) 45-0 on Dec. 10 to win the California Open Division state championship. Westlake lost to North Shore 49-34 on Dec. 10 in the semifinals of the Texas 6A Division 1 state tournament. It was the first loss in 54 games for Westlake, ending the longest active winning streak in high school football.

St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) High School head coach Jason Negro and Austin Westlake (Austin, Texas) High School head coach Tony Salazar join Stadium Talk’s Tony Adame to talk high school football.

Negro talks about turning his alma mater into one of the best programs in the nation, how MaxPreps changed high school football, the loaded CIF Southern Section Division I playoff bracket and the role he takes in helping his players navigate a new age of recruiting in the NIL era (1:30).

Then, Salazar stops by to talk about his team embracing pressure and chasing history this season as they pursue a fourth consecutive state title, growing up as a football-obsessed kid in Texas and the mentors that shaped his coaching career (17:30).

Episode 7: St. Thomas Aquinas’ Roger Harriott, Cherry Creek’s Dave Logan on Faith and Football, Beating Adversity, Winning State Titles and Producing NFL Players

This episode aired on Nov. 17. Cherry Creek beat Valor Christian 24-17 on Dec. 3 to win the Colorado Class 5 state championship. St. Thomas Aquinas beat Homestead 38-21 on Dec. 15 for the Florida 3M state championship. It was the 14th state title in school history for Aquinas, the most in Florida history.

Stadium Talk’s Tony Adame talks with St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) High head coach Roger Harriott about his team’s pursuit of a fourth consecutive state title, how St. Thomas Aquinas continues to produce the most NFL players of any high school in the country, and how his faith has shaped his life and coaching career (1:30).

Then, Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colorado) High School head coach and former NFL wide receiver Dave Logan stops by to talk about his 30 years as a high school head coach, how his team has dealt with some adversity in its pursuit of a fourth consecutive state title, playing games out of state, and what’s been lost with the specialization of high school sports (18:30).

Episode 8: What's It's Like to Be a Girl Playing High School Football

Bella Rasmussen with Laguna Beach High School running back coach Alex Hutch

This episode aired on Dec. 1. Laguna Beach High School beat Diamond Bar 36-28 on Nov. 27 to win the CIF Southern Section Division 9 championship.

High school football is no longer just for the boys. Girls are playing football, and they're playing it well.

On the season finale of "Season One: High School Football in America," Bella Rasmussen, a senior at Laguna Beach High School in Southern California, talks with The Stadium Talk Podcast about what it's like to be a girl playing high school football, making California history with her two-touchdown game this season and how girls younger than her have responded to her making history (2:30).

Then, Laguna Beach High head coach John Shanahan comes by the show to talk about Bella's role on the team and what this season has been like for Laguna Beach, which won its first CIF title in 76 years this season after we recorded (12:25).

Finally, Tony Adame is joined by former colleague, friend and former professional women's football player Dani Welniak to close out the first season of the podcast (19:31).

Check out The Stadium Talk Podcast, "Season One: High School Football in America" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Be sure to rate and review The Stadium Talk Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon. Check out StadiumTalk.com for our latest stories, including our weekly Top 25 High School Football Rankings. Also check out our social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook. Got questions? Send them to tony.adame@bigedition.com.