8-29-26 Lewisville
Highland Park’s 2026 football campaign kicks off on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco as the Scots face the Lewisville Fighting Farmers in the Jerry Jones Classic.
The Scots are coming off a 12-2 season as regional finalists. The Farmers were 8-3 bi-district finalists last season. It was their third year in a row to be eliminated in the first round.
The Farmers, along with Denton Guyer, are the top ranked teams in District 5-6A. With 3,771 students, Lewisville is the largest school in the district. The team itself is deep, with several D-1 players, especially at the skill positions. The linemen are big and the running backs, receivers and defensive backs are fast and athletic.
Last year the Scots were regional finalists and in 2024 they made it to the state championship game. The program itself, with 912 all-time victories is the winningest high school brand in Texas. They’ve won the state championship six times and boast 60 district titles (another state record).
Leading the Scots offense is quarterback Buck Randall, a senior captain who has already left a mark on Highland Park records in his sophomore and junior years. He needs only 655 passing yards to reach Matthew Stafford’s school record of 8,958 total passing yards. Randall threw for 3,907 yards as a sophomore then threw for 4,396 yards as a junior. So going into his senior year he already has 8,303 passing yards in his quiver.
Former Ennis quarterback Graham Harrell holds the all-time Dallas/Fort Worth high school record of 12,532 yards passing. His record is in jeopardy since Randall needs 4,330 yards this season to break the all-time record. That’s less than his passing total last season.
Coach Allen’s victories are also being closely followed this season. He is the winningest active high school football coach in Texas with 472 wins, and is the second all-time winningest coach. He needs just 18 wins to become the all-time winningest high school coach in Texas and that record could very well fall next season.
This season the Scots return seven starters, four on offense and three on defense, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine. There will be plenty of game experience on both sides of the ball, especially from the players who filled in for injured starters last year. The Scots reload every season so the lack of returning starters has never been an issue. By the time the playoffs hit, the new starters will be playing like seasoned veterans.
Playing the Aug. 29 game at the Ford Center at The Star is a brilliant move. It was 100 degrees on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and the players, coaches, fans, cheerleaders, Belles and Highlander Band would be sweltering. Instead, the Scots and the Fighting Farmers will play indoors and everybody will enjoy the game in air-conditioned comfort.
Probably the best all-time Fighting Farmer, fullback Walt Garrison – a tough guy and a real cowboy who was a Dallas Cowboy legend – would have thought we were all a bunch of city lightweights for wanting to watch a high school football game indoors in air conditioning.
On the other hand, I worked with Walt several years on his annual Walt Garrison All-Star Rodeo. He was one of the roughest, toughest guys I had ever met. But his rodeo was indoors.
And it was air-conditioned.