Parish Episcopal and Argyle Liberty Christian are defending TAPPS state football champions with Parish on a five-year title streak. Since 2002, Fort Worth Nolan has won seven state titles while Plano Prestonwood Christian has five and Bishop Lynch has three.
Put these teams together and you may have the private-school version of the district of doom. It would be understandable if players and coaches from another team were concerned if they were put in a loop like this.
Frisco Legacy Christian linebacker-running back Sam Jones had a different feeling last November when TAPPS announced what district his team was in for 2024 and 2025.
“I was excited for the competition,” Jones said. “After we found out and meeting with the coaches I knew we would come out and we would compete.”
Jones’ instinct turned out to be right. In arguably the toughest private school district in the state Legacy Christian has been competitive, or at the least, the Eagles have held their own.
In their inaugural campaign in TAPPS Division I, the classification of the largest schools in the organization, Legacy is 6-3, 2-3 in District 1-I with two one-score losses. Legacy, ranked No. 7 in The Dallas Morning News’ Private Schools area poll, has clinched a playoff berth heading into its regular-season finale at top-ranked Liberty Christian (8-1, 5-0) on Friday.
Both Legacy and Liberty have moved up from Division II this season. Liberty, coached by former standout Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, won the Division II state crown in 2023.
This is the third time Legacy has moved up in a TAPPS classification since 2009. Legacy was 10-2 in 2023, advancing to the state quarterfinals in Doug Hix’s first season as Legacy’s head coach. Hix had a 41-36 at Flower Mound Coram Deo from 2013-19, leading the program to playoff appearances in his last four seasons there.
“I wouldn’t say we were apprehensive, but I knew we would have to prepare at a high level,” Hix said.
Hix said he was concerned about being at a disadvantage in numbers and raw talent. He said he asked fellow coach Chris Cunningham for advice and was told to focus on fundamentals. Cunningham led Prestonwood to four state titles between 2009 and 2017 and is currently at Midland Christian.
Legacy went 4-0 in non-district play, although the only win over a team that currently has a winning record was a 14-9 decision over Bullard Brook Hill on Sept. 6.
Legacy’s district opener was against Parish on Sept. 27. While this game is the only one that eventually got out of hand for Legacy in a 56-27 loss, Jones said that game reassured him that his team would be competitive in the district.
“On our first drive we went down and scored a touchdown,” Jones said. “I knew if we could do that against Parish we were in the ballpark in this district.”
The game against Parish may have also provided Legacy’s toughest test of character. Starting quarterback Ian Pulte suffered a season-ending elbow injury in the game.
This started a domino effect as several players had to change positions, the most important Luke Lawrence moving from safety and h-back to quarterback. Duke Strain moved to safety and sophomore Christopher Collins went to h-back. Defensive end Jake Schellschmidt has also suffered an upper-body injury and George Proctor has filled in, although Schellschmidt may return later this season.
Hix praised the durability of the players who had to switch positions. Lawrence came up huge in last Friday’s 56-33 win over Nolan with 365 total yards of offense and six touchdowns. The win clinched a playoff berth for Legacy as the top five teams in the district qualify for the postseason.
Noah Bratcher, a senior defensive end, said the focus on fundamentals was critical in the team regrouping after the loss to Parish.
“Coach Hix reminded us that we had a plan and everybody has a role. We worked as a unit,” Bratcher said. “It is a mentality of next man up.”
Jones estimates Legacy is about five plays away from being 8-1 as the Eagles dropped a 28-24 decision to Bishop Lynch on Oct. 11 and a 35-28 decision to Prestonwood the following week. Bratcher said the Prestonwood loss stung because he felt they should have made a third-down stop that would have got them the ball back late.
Lawrence has passed for 1,056 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. The defense has been anchored by its linebackers with Jones making 103 tackles with 15 for loss while Jaxson Ladd had 91 with 16 for loss.
Legacy’s probable area-round playoff opponent next weekend is San Antonio Central Catholic. Legacy would need to win two road games to advance to the state semifinals at a neutral site, but this makes Jones look forward to a different challenge.
“We’re kind of taking on the role of road warriors,” Jones said. “We can find our strength in ourselves. I think of Ecclesiastes 4:12. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”
That unity may have been forged by a challenge that could be as difficult as playing in TAPPS District 1-I in 2024: the road to respectability. Seniors such as Bratcher remember when Legacy was 1-9 in 2021 and 2-8 in 2022.
What has been done between three years ago and now could be the legacy at Legacy, and maybe a future path as well.
“I think the legacy of this year’s team would be overcome and persevere. We had to step up and persevere,” Bratcher said. “As long as people like coach Hix set the standard they will expect excellence at Legacy, and I think next year they will be even better.”
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