The Rangers saw their title hopes slipping away when they started the game down 21-7 before clawing all the way back to keep their repeat hopes alive.
SAN ANTONIO — Smithson Valley is heading to their second straight State Championship game after completing a comeback no Rangers fan will forget for a long time.
Last year head coach Larry Hill got the monkey off his back after he led the Rangers to their first ever state title, and the first for Hill in his more than 30-year coaching career.
The team looked to make another deep run in 2025 but were given an early gut check when they lost a Week 2 matchup against the Brennan Bears.
This humbled the Rangers and allowed them to rattle off eight-straight wins to end the regular season.
The Rangers rolled through the first four rounds of the playoffs, pitching three shutouts and outscoring opponents 137-24 in that span.
But the State Semifinals against Port Arthur were going to be a different story.
In the 2nd quarter, Smithson Valley saw their title hopes slipping away when the scoreboard showed them down by two scores, 21-7.
But after stringing together a few scoring drives, the Rangers saw themselves with a 31-28 lead with a little over a minute left and Port Artur had the ball.
With no timeouts, Port Arthur was able to drive down the field but time was against them as their quarterback lofted up a prayer on the final play only for it to end up in a Smithson Valley defender’s hands with no time left on the clock.
After never having won a State Championship before last year, the Smithson valley Rangers and Larry Hill have an opportunity to add a second trophy to their state title collection.
The Rangers will travel to Arlington to take on the undefeated Aledo Bearcats and defend their state title.