How Houston's state championship may change state's perspective of Memphis Class 6A football

Chris Smith was glued to the screen, watching Houston run away with the TSSAA football Class 6A state championship against Oakland on Saturday night on the NFHS network.

The more Houston dominated Oakland, stifling the Patriots rushing attack after the first drive and holding them under 10 points in the final game of the season, the more Smith realized the magnitude of what Houston was doing.

"It’s been a long time since somebody can say they physically knocked back Oakland,” Smith said. “To me that was pretty impressive to watch what they did.”

Smith, who finished his first season at Bartlett, knew after Houston defeated Tupelo 38-33 after having back-to-back losses, the Mustangs were going to be just fine.

“Once I heard they beat Tupelo, I knew at that moment, Houston was for real and could win the whole thing,” Smith said.

Longtime Whitehaven coach Rodney Saulsberry wasn’t surprised to see Houston — which into the playoffs with a seven-game win streak — bring the 6A title back to Memphis, which hasn’t been west of Nashville since 2016.

Houston’s dominance on the biggest stage of high school football in Tennessee begs the question: Is it time for Memphis high school football and Region 8-6A to get more respect around the state?

Some of the Region 8-6A coaches believe so.

"Our region is extremely tough,” Saulsberry said. “... It was great for Houston to bring something back to Shelby County and show that we’re playing really good football in Region 8-6A.”

Giving Region 8-6A more confidence for years to come

Since 2009, when the TSSAA added a sixth class in Division I, which is comprised of public schools, a Memphis area team has played for a state championship in the largest class six times. In that span, Whitehaven has won twice (2012 and 2016) and White Station won in 2009. No Memphis-area team has played in more 6A title games than Whitehaven (four) in that span as well.

While Memphis-area teams have struggled against teams around the state during its title drought, Houston proved it’s not impossible to overcome.

“Hopefully it raises the bar,” Saulsberry said. “Our goal in all of our regions is for us to win state championships. Hopefully it raises the bar for all the other teams in our region.”

Germantown went undefeated in the regular season this past year with its only loss coming to Houston in TSSAA quarterfinals and was widely viewed as a top team in the area. All four teams that made the postseason this year won at least seven games.

“I don’t think (the respect) has been there in the past,” Smith said. “But I think that’s going to change now with Houston winning the state championship. It’s going to be viewed differently and I think that will change everybody’s perspective moving forward.”

Beginning a new trend

With Houston’s win, can Memphis area teams in 6A turn it into a streak? It’s one thing ending Oakland’s streak – it won three straight titles, playing in every title game since 2020 and six title appearances since 2016.

"I was glad to see them win it because we’ve known how good this region can be,” Smith said. “... The truth is, you look across the state, I think our region one-through-five, could compete, if not, win a lot of the other regions across the state.”

Germantown has become a dominant team in Memphis since Gene Robinson took over in 2019. Whitehaven will always be a threat in the region, despite having down years after not playing in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bartlett played in the 6A semifinals in 2022 and Collierville has contended for region titles, winning one in 2021.

And Houston is now the defending 6A champion.

"I think us winning it definitely gets some respect back to around here and it gives guys around here hope it can be done,” said Houston coach James Thomas.

Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TSSAA football: How Houston championship earns Memphis respect