THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Houston High School Athletics

CHATTANOOGA – James Thomas has always been a Houston Mustang. He was a student there. He played high school football there, reaching the Class 5A state semifinals his senior year in 1998 as an offensive and defensive tackle. And he's coached there as an assistant and later as the head coach for 19 years. He added something else Saturday night, though. He's now a TSSAA football state champion there. Houston beat three-time defending Class 6A state champion Oakland 24-9 at Finley Stadium in a steady rain all night for the program's first title in its first championship appearance. "To see where our program is at right now, it just fills my heart," said Thomas, who was a Houston football assistant for 13 years before becoming the head coach six years ago. "It's unbelievable. It's a huge step for our program. "A lot of people say your school hasn't arrived until you've won a football state championship. So it looks like we've arrived." And the Mustangs (13-2) arrived in dominant fashion. Houston's defense gave up just 202 total yards of offense and nine points — the smallest point total for Oakland since a 12-0 Class 6A semifinal loss to Maryville in 2019. It got a dominant performance from Damon Sisa, who rushed for 179 yards on 30 carries and scored a touchdown. He was named the Class 6A BlueCross Bowl MVP. Houston ready to celebrate, show off gold ball Like Thomas, Houston Principal Hallie Ross is also an alumnus of the school. While she didn't initially know how the team would celebrate the title back at home she was overwhelmed to see her alma mater holding up the gold ball after the game. And having a local Houston man running the program was even better. "This makes this run sweet. It's sweet to win," Ross said. "It feels like bringing it home because you've got people that built this school. James Thomas is Houston. I'm a Houston grad as well. This is just incredible." Ross said the school will proudly display this first football gold ball trophy. She'll likely have it in the main lobby "so that everybody sees it." Now, Houston is well versed in winning TSSAA state championships. But it's been best known as a baseball and soccer statewide powerhouse over the years before this year's Class 6A BlueCross Bowl championship run. The school has won nine girls soccer state championships and seven boys soccer state championships. They also have two baseball titles. "My friends and I talked about it earlier," said Houston senior quarterback Chandler Day, who is also a pitcher for the school's baseball team. "We couldn't believe we were playing in a state championship for a football game out of all sports. We showed the world that we are to be dealt with." Oakland (12-3) led briefly 6-0 after a Daune Morris 8-yard TD run. But Day threw a short 3-yard pass to Shawne Jones with seven seconds left in the first quarter to take a 7-6 lead. The Mustangs never trailed after that. Houston's dominant defense ended with an interception returned for a touchdown by Tony Williams with 1:16 remaining. The Mustangs then picked off one final Patriot pass to end the night and start celebrating. "We had made to the semifinals four times," Ross said. "But we'd never made it to the championships until this year. To take it home, man."

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Houston High School Athletics

HOUSTON HAS PLENTY OF STATE TITLE TROPHIES BUT FIRST FOOTBALL GOLD BALL WILL GET PROMINENT DISPLAY

TOM KREAGER

Commercial Appeal | 12/3/2023