Last Friday – April 10, 2026 – will go down as a historical day in San Antonio area high school sports. In the early afternoon, the Smithson Valley girls soccer team completed the first perfect season by an area team in any UIL sport since 1995 by winning the 5A-DI title, and at night, the Pieper boys team pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UIL state finals history in any sport by winning the 5A-DII title.
Both the Lady Rangers and Pieper boys came from District 26-5A, which contains the two Boerne ISD schools.
Last Friday also became known as “Adkins Family Appreciation Day” because the Smitson Valley girls coach won a title and then watched his twin sons, Cooper and Parker, who play at Pieper, win state on the boys side.
In the girls match, Alondra Sanchez scored in the 85th minute as the Rangers won the 5A girls soccer state title over Prosper Walnut Grove 1-0, and then later, Jack Blische scored in the 73rd minute in a driving rainstorm as Pieper shocked state power Frisco Wakeland 1-0 for their first team state title in anything.
It was the first time in 19 semifinal/ final matches that Wakeland was shutout.
The Rangers became the eighth SA-area UIL team to go unbeaten, with no losses or draws, and win a title in any sport and the first since the 1995 Roosevelt football team.
The Rangers were only the third girls team to do that and first since 1985. They joined the 1991 and 1993 Madison squads as the only area girls soccer state champions.
Jason Adkins had the wildest day of anyone. The Smithson Valley coach won the girls title, while sons Cooper and Parker were preparing to play in Pieper’s title match back home. The sons watched dad win his title on a computer before the team headed up to Georgetown to play.
While that was going on, Jason drove the Smithson Valley team bus back to Bulverde, dropped the players off, then got in his car and drove back to Georgetown to watch his sons play.
The Rangers match had 11 cards handed out that led to one Walnut Grove player being disqualified in the 45th minute, which gave the Rangers a man advantage the rest of the way.
But it took 40 minutes to score, until Sanchez got past a falling defender, dribbled bled and shot it past the keeper. She was keeper named match MVP.
Pieper was a massive underdog in the rain against Wakeland, which had more state titles – 5 – than Pieper had years open as a school.
Goalkeeper Nolan Masker, who made 2 saves in PKs in the semis vs. Austin LASA, became the first GK to shut out the Wolverines in a semi or final with 10 saves before Blische took a cross pass and booted it upstairs past the falling keeper for the win. Masker was named MVP.
Smithson Valley became the first non-Dallas – Fort Worth school to win football and girls soccer titles in the same athletic season.
For all-district soccer awards, be sure to look in the Boerne Star.
Smithson Valley girls soccer coach Jason Adkins, poses with his sons, Cooper and Parker, who play at Pieper. Coach Adkins led the Lady Rangers to the soccer title, while Cooper and Parker were on the Pieper team that won gold that same day.
Submitted photo by Jason Adkins
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