Champion has won all five regional titles since the sport was introduced by the UIL in 2022. The Chargers claimed the 2026 regional championship after they dominated the tourney with two wins by a combined score of 47-11 last weekend.

The Chargers beat Brennan in the semifinals on Friday, 26-7, and then hammered Harlan on Saturday in the finals, 21-4.

Champion (25-3) plays at the state tournament on Friday against League City Clear Creek (32-3-1). Friday’s winner plays the winner of the Austin Westlake (29-1) and Lewisville Hebron (22-8) for the championship on Saturday at noon at Davis Natatorium.

Chargers coach Scott Slay says every one of his state teams has been different but added that this one plays great defense.

“Defensively, this is the best crew we’ve had as far as defensive concepts; they’re very solid in that aspect,” he said. “We’re going to take our defense to the semifinal game at state and see how it plays out.”

Against Brennan, the Chargers were winning 10-0 in the first quarter and outscored the Bears in the second 8-4 for the 18-4 halftime lead before outscoring their opponents in the second half, 8-3.

Julius Hoxhaj finished with 10 goals, Grant Perkins added 7 assists and EJ Altermatt recorded 3 goals and 5 assists, while Landon Muenchow came up with 3 steals.

Jackson Hankins, Knox Armstrong and Rodrigo Almaguer took turns in goal.

In the regional finals, Champion was up 5-1 in the first quarter and took a 9-3 lead into halftime after winning the second, 4-2. The Chargers won the third, 5-1, and closed it out with 7 goals in the fourth while not allowing a goal in the final period.

Hoxhaj led the team again with 7 goals, Altermatt had 5 goals, Perkins came up with 5 assists, while Muenchow and Altermatt had 4 steals each.

Hankins and Armstrong were in goal for the Chargers and Hankins came up with 17 saves.

Champion girls

The Lady Chargers dropped a tough one in the fourth round or regional semis last Friday to Harlan at the SWISD Aquatics Center.

Champion fell to the Hawks by a goal, 13-12, to end their season at 18-12 overall. The very next day, Harlan lost to Clark, also by a goal, 14-13, in the regional championship.

Slay said either Champion, Clark or Harlan was going to win the region and it ended up being Clark, which beat Brennan in the regional semis before edging Harlan in the finals.

“It was kind of a three-team race (with Harlan and Clark) and we just ran out of steam at the end,” he said. “We gave it our best and the girls got better as the year went on. They were really playing well last week and came into this game playing well.”

Against Harlan, Breanna Hempton led the team with 6 goals, while Olivia Dunn added 4 goals and Bennett Rice came up with 3 steals and 2 assists.

Ava Mueller was in goal for the Lady Chargers, which had won the last two regional titles.

Friday’s contest will feature two undefeated teams ranked in the top 5 in the state at the 5A-DI level. Smithson Valley (7-0, 6-0) sits at No. 1 and the Chargers (7-0, 5-0) are No. 5. One of the teams will suffer their first loss of the season on Friday. Champion coach Blane Ellis has been asked about the game throughout the year but wouldn’t talk about it too much because they were mainly focused on the game at hand. The Rangers are the next team up on the schedule, and Ellis said everybody’s excited about the opportunity to play against the Rangers.

“There’s a lot of excitement around it. It’s going to be a fun night,” he said. “We know it’s a big game, it’s been circled on everyone’s calendar. We’ve taken them one at a time and now it’s here. It’s important that we block out the outside noise and focus on what we do.”

Smithson Valley graduates good players every year, but coach Larry Hill always finds a way to reload, and Ellis said the Rangers bring back a good nucleus except on the line.

“They’ve got a lot of their skill players back, but they’ve replaced a lot on their O line and D line,” he said.

Both teams have been offensive juggernauts and have been racking up points in bunches. Smithson Valley is coming off an 89-3 win at Lockhart and beat Cedar Creek, 84-7. They’ve also recorded wins of 79-14 over Manor and 77-3 against Kyle Lehman.

Champion hasn’t scored that many points, but they’re close. They’ve hit 60 three different times and the fewest points Champion has scored in a game has been 55.

Ellis said the offense has been explosive but noted that their defense has only given up 63 total points in seven games.

“A lot of people talk about our offense but defensively we’re getting after it and we’re playing suffocating defense,” he said. “I can’t speak enough about our defense.”

This will be the fifth straight meeting between the Highway 46 rivals and the last four have been one-sided in favor of the Rangers. Smithson Valley won last year, 41-14, won in 2024 by a score of 42-10, won in 2023 by a score of 56-14 and again in 2022 by the score of 49-0.

Champion is looking to reverse that trend on Friday against a team that has won the last two state titles and played in three straight championship games. Ellis said the Rangers are as good as it gets but is eager to see how his team matches up this year.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to mix it up with them,” he said. “We know what kind of opponent they are and who they are, but we know our guys are excited about it.”

If the Eagles (7-1, 3-1) beat Holy Cross (3-4, 2-2) on Friday, they’ll secure second place in the district standings and clinch a playoff spot at the same time.

Kickoff for Friday’s homecoming contest is set for 7 p.m. in Boerne.

Not only will Geneva clinch second and lock up a postseason berth, but they’d do it against their main rivals and Eagles coach Adam Foren said that will feel good.

“Knowing how hard our kids have worked, it would validate a lot of things that we’re doing and would be another step in that process,” he said. “If we win, we would have beaten New Braunfels Christian (Academy) and Holy Cross in the same year for the first time.”

Last year’s game between Holy Cross and Geneva was marked by controversy after the Knights were caught using an illegal earpiece in the quarterback’s helmet so he could communicate with the coaching staff, which is illegal according to TAPPS rules. Besides having the head coach suspended, other fallout from the game included Holy Cross forfeiting several games, including giving the win to the Eagles.

Foren wasn’t here for that and said all of that is water under the bridge.

“We’ve done a good job of not fixating on the past. This is a new Holy Cross team and this is a new Geneva team,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for this game but we’re confident going into it.”

Not counting last year’s win against Holy Cross via the forfeit, the last time the Eagles defeated the Knights on the field was in 2021 by the score of 18-15. It’s Geneva’s homecoming game against their main rival and Foren said he knows it’ll be emotional for his team.

“We told them to play with emotion but not be too emotional,” he said. “You can’t play with your head in the sand, we know it’s a big game, but you can’t get too emotional about it.”

BHS visited the Mule Dome on Friday and fell to host Alamo Heights in five sets, 23-25, 26-24, 16-25, 25-20, 15-12.

Boerne’s loss also created a logjam atop the 26-5A standings, with the Greyhounds at 9-1, Champion at 9-1 and Alamo Heights at 9-2 going into Tuesday.

The picture will be clearer by Friday since Champion hosted Boerne on Tuesday, while the Chargers visit Alamo Heights on Friday and BHS hosts John Jay.

Boerne (28-5) was up 2-1 after three sets last Friday against the Mules (29-12), but AH won the last two sets to defeat the Greyhounds. It’s their first loss since Sept. 4 when they fell to Churchill.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Boerne ISD Stadium.

Because of scheduling issues, this was the best week to host homecoming. Boerne coach Brett Sawyer said he would have preferred it sooner but will make the best of it.

“Homecoming week is always fun, but I’d prefer to do it early. I don’t like having it this late, but it just didn’t work out on the schedule,” he said. “We couldn’t do it in weeks where we had holidays during those weeks because we need a week where we were in school all five days. We could have done it against Laredo United (Sept. 4) but we didn’t want to do it in our first home game.”

BHS only has three games left in district, counting Friday’s contest with the Patriots and the Greyhounds are playing for a perfect regular season. The Greyhounds enter the contest at 7-0 (3-0 in district), while the Patriots are 4-3 (1-2 in district) and in the hunt for one of the four playoff spots up for grabs.

The Greyhounds are in first place at 3-0, Legacy Ranch and Alamo Heights are 3-1 and Liberty Hill is fourth (2-2), followed by the Patriots at 1-2. Both New Braunfels schools, the Unicorns and NB Long Creek, are winless in district at 0-3.

Veterans Memorial needs a win on Friday to help their chances and Sawyer said they have a lot of talented players. The Patriots defeated New Braunfels (24-7) and lost to Legacy Ranch (42-20) and Alamo Heights (50-6).

“Veterans Memorial has talent,” he said. “They run the ball well and have some good running backs and some good receivers. Their quarterback is good and they’re better than they were last year.”

In 2025, the Patriots went 0-6 in district and were defeated by the Greyhounds, 45-27.

Boerne is coming off a 49-7 win over Liberty Hill last week. The Hounds were up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Sawyer said it should have been a bigger margin at the end of the stanza.

“We could have put the dagger in them and should have been up 21-0 but had a turnover and let them off the hook,” he said. “Those are the little things we have to work on.”

The Greyhounds got on track in the second and outscored the Panthers 21-0, and after neither team scored in the third, BHS closed it out by winning the fourth quarter, 14-0.

Sawyer said he needs to see consistency for all four quarters.

“We’re getting better, but we’re still not there yet,” he said. “We have to keep getting better and stay healthy.”

Homecoming festivities will be at halftime of Friday’s game, according to Sawyer.

The Chargers defeated McCollum at home last Friday and have clinched a playoff spot, but how they do in two matches this week will determine whether the Chargers finish first, second or third in the final 26-5A standings.

The Chargers control their own destiny and wins on Tuesday against Boerne High and on Friday at Alamo Heights would give Champion this year’s district title. If they drop one or both, they could end up second or third.

Champion is 9-1 in district, Boerne High is 9-1 after Alamo Heights did the Chargers a favor and beat the Greyhounds last Friday, while the Mules are 9-2.

The Chargers (29-7) won last Friday’s home match over McCollum, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19.

Hannah Perez finished with 23 kills and Brielle Boothe had 21 kills, Shay Brothers dropped in 2 aces, four players came up with one block, while Boothe and Brady Cooksey both tallied 19 digs. Perez recorded 18 digs and Cooksey registered 46 assists.

The Bobcats dropped their season record to 1-6 and district mark to 0-3. They will look to breakthrough and snap a six-game skid when they travel to Karnes City for a 7 p.m. game on Oct. 23.

The Brahmas, meanwhile, improved their year record to 6-2 and district mark to 4-0 before they host Poth at the same time.

“That’s a good Stockdale ball club,” Comfort head football coach Jay Rieken said of his team’s opponent on Friday. “I know it’s a loss, but I’m proud of the way our guys battled them.”

Comfort’s defense made some early noise when it forced an early Stockdale fumble and recovered the ball at its own one-yard line at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter.

The Bobcats then leaned on their run game during a 99-yard scoring drive and took the early 7-0 lead after Gabe Gonzalez’s eight-yard touchdown run and Omar Rivera’s successful PAT at the 2:23 mark of the opening period.

Stockdale regrouped on its second drive because Erik Maldonado produced a two-yard touchdown run at the 11:25 mark of the second quarter, but Josh Hathaway’s short extra point attempt kept Comfort in front 7-6.

Comfort continued to charge down the field on its next drive because Jared Valadez avoided a tackle for loss and found important spacing during an excellent 43-yard touchdown run. Rivera then tacked on his second extra point of the night to expand the home team’s lead to 14-6 at the 8:24 mark of the second quarter.

But, Stockdale’s Coy Gann quickly answered with a 60-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion scamper to even the score at 14-14 at the 6:16 mark of the period.

Gann eventually ran 20 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns, and also completed both his passes for 70 yards.

Comfort’s attempt through the air on its following offensive drive then landed in the hands of Gann, who ran down the sideline for Stockdale’s go-ahead picksix touchdown. Hathaway then redeemed himself on the extra point to give the Brahmas a 21-14 lead with 4:53 remaining in the first half.

Stockdale set the tone for the second half with a steady 8:26-second drive. Gann eventually punched in a one-yard touchdown run to set up a 28-14 lead at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter.

Comfort cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter when it outscored Stockdale 14-13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the district defeat.

The Bobcats received touchdown runs of 25 yards and six yards from Rivera, but the Brahmas countered with Ty Dougherty’s 47-yard rushing score and Gann’s 10-yard touchdown before a late blocked PAT.

Rivera finished Comfort’s outing with 14 carries for 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also completed two of his eight pass attempts for 51 yards.

Things went the Greyhounds way early Friday in Liberty Hill, mounting a 35-7 halftime lead enroute to a win that keeps them undefeated on the season at 7-0, 3-0 in District 13 5A-DII.

Liberty Hill (4-4, 2-2 in 13 5A-DII) found themselves down 14-0 after running just two offensive plays. Boerne opened with a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped by a Sweeney to tight end Beau Dayoc pass of 8 yards for the night’s opening score.

Two plays later, Liberty Hill quarterback O’Donovan Francis fumbled the snap and Boerne’s Cooper Thompson recovered at the Panthers’ 40. On the next play, Sweeney took the ball to the house for a quick 14-0 lead at the 7:55 mark.

Liberty Hill trimmed the lead to 14-7 when tailback Jacobi Morris ran in from 8 yards out at the 2:21 mark, which is how the first quarter ended. But the second quarter was as catastrophic for the Panthers as the first 4 minutes of the game.

Boerne responded to Liberty Hill’s touchdown with another 75-yard drive, this one of 12 plays, capped by a Sweeney15-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter for the 21-7 lead.

The Boerne defense owned the second half, stopping Liberty Hill two times — foiling a fake punt on a fourth-and-8 from its own 48, and forcing a turnover on downs at midfield — setting up short fields for the Boerne offense, which responded with two scores for a commanding 35-7 lead.

After the botched fake punt, which saw an up-man take the snap and lose 3 yards, the ‘Hounds scored five plays later. Sweeney hit the acrobatic wideout Zach Freasier, who went up over double coverage to pull down the ball from 5 yards out, for a 28-7 lead.

The game began to slip away from the Panthers. Liberty Hill’s next possession ended with an interception by defensive back Austin Gerbes, but the Boerne offense stalled and was forced to punt.

The Greyhounds defense then came up with the turnover on downs, stopping Liberty Hill halfback Caydon Timmons a yard short on a fourth-and-2. Three plays later, Sweeney hit Freasier for another touchdown, this one from 24 yards for the 35-7 lead just 1:26 before half.

Liberty Hill only crossed the 50-yard line once in the second half while Boerne tacked on two fourth-quarter touchdowns — Sweeney to Dayoc from 10 yards, and backup quarterback Taydon Eamello’s 1-yard touchdown with 1:17 left in the game.

The Greyhounds return home on Friday to host the 4-3 Vets Memorial Patriots, who lost 50-6 Friday to the Alamo Heights Mules. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Boerne ISD Stadium.

Geneva School of Boerne 

The Eagles close out district play at Holy Cross last Thursday and dropped the match in four sets to the Knights.

Holy Cross won the match, 25-20, 25-12, 22-25, 25-23. Geneva (21-17 overall) closes out district play at 6-4 and will be the third-place team in the district behind Holy Cross and New Braunfels Christian, which are both 9-1.

They are scheduled to play St. Mary’s Hall on Tuesday in a warm-up game and open the playoffs Saturday in Waco against Live Oak Christian, time TBD.

Comfort High

Comfort High was in action last Friday and defeated Florence in straight sets.

The Deer swept the Lady Buffs and improved to 4-3 in district (19-18 overall) and are sitting in third place in the five-team league. They host Blanco on Tuesday and are off on Friday to close out the regular season.

The weather was bad but that didn’t stop the Chargers from scoring in all four quarters and defeating the Matadors, 57-7.

Now the Chargers (7-0, 5-0) can give their complete attention to Smithson Valley. The two-time state champs will host Champion on Friday, 7 p.m.

Champion and SV are both undefeated this year, so one of the teams will suffer their first loss, and Chargers coach Blane Ellis said they’re looking forward to the matchup.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to mix it up with Smithson Valley,” he said. “This game has been circled on everybody’s calendar for a year, and it goes without saying it’s a big game.”

Even though the wind was howling and the feels-like temperature dipped to the mid-40s during Friday’s contest at BISD Stadium, the Chargers went into the wind on its first drive and scored on two plays. Ryder Flugence threw a 76-yard completion to Zachary Lopez on the first play. Flugence then hit Lopez on the next play for a touchdown and it was 7-0 less than a minute in.

Ellis said they don’t worry about the weather.

“We don’t talk about it, if you talk about things like that, you make it bigger than it is. We went into the wind in the first series and attacked it and threw into it. That’s who we are and that’s what we do,” he said. “We don’t make much of the weather because we can’t control it. We don’t play it up and talk it up because we don’t want them to overthink it.”

Flugence capped the next two Champion drives with TD runs of 39 and 71 yards to give the Chargers a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter after Ethan Haines booted all three extra points.

While the Chargers scored three times going into the wind in the first quarter, they struggled with the wind at their back in the second stanza. They went for it on fourth and goal at the 5 and didn’t score, and later in the quarter, they gave the ball back to their opponents after a Seguin punt hit a Charger player in the back and the Matadors recovered near midfield.

But Champion’s defense kept the shutout intact going into the break after Michael Guerrero blocked a punt that led to a safety. Caleb Farias also scrambled in on a 25-yard run to make it 29-0 at halftime after they missed the extra point after the Farias run.

Ellis said his defense has played great this season.

“A lot of people talk about our offense but defensively we’re getting after it, and we’re playing suffocating defense,” he said. “I can’t speak enough about our defense.”

Once the second half started, the offense went to work right away. Farias bolted to the end zone on an 81-yard sprint on their first play from scrimmage and it was 36-0.

Later in the quarter, Farias made another house call and scored on a run of 23 yards and the lead ballooned to 43-0.

After a fumbled snap on a Seguin punt attempt, the Chargers took over on the 17 and Flugence tallied his third TD of the night with a short run to match Farias, who had three rushing touchdowns, and it was 50-0 late in the third.

Ellis probably could have kept the shutout going but started moving players in and out and said it was more important for his younger players to get experience than it was to keep the shutout.

“We’re not defined by a shutout,” he said. “They’re cool when they happen, but if you look at our body of work and what the Chargers have done all season long, our defense is tremendous.”

The Matadors punched it in on a Daniel Pinon run of 10 yards to make it 50-7 with 5:28 left in the game.

Champion responded after Finn Ryan capped the scoring after he caught a pass from Julian Navarette of 57 yards with 5:06 left to push the lead back to 50 points. After that, the Matadors turned it over on a loss of downs and the Chargers ran out the clock.

The Chargers will play at the state tournament that starts Friday where they have earned two silver and two bronze medals at the previous four state tourneys.

Chargers coach Scott Slay says the goal is always to win gold and feels like this team has a chance.

"Defensively, this is the best crew we’ve had as far as defensive concepts, they’re very solid in that aspect," he said. "We’re going to take our defense to the semifinal game at state and see how it plays out."

The state water polo tourney is Friday and Saturday at NEISD's Davis Natatorium.

For more, see the Boerne Star.

The weather was bad but that didn’t stop the Chargers from scoring in all four quarters and defeating the Matadors, 57-7.

Now the Chargers (7-0, 5-0) can give their complete attention to Smithson Valley. The two-time state champs will host Champion on Friday, 7 p.m.

Champion and SV are both undefeated this year, so one of the teams will suffer their first loss, and Chargers coach Blane Ellis said they’re looking forward to the matchup.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to mix it up with Smithson Valley,” he said. “This game has been circled on everybody’s calendar for a year, and it goes without saying it’s a big game.”

Even though the wind was howling and the feels-like temperature dipped to the mid-40s during Friday’s contest at BISD Stadium, the Chargers went into the wind on its first drive and scored on two plays. Ryder Flugence threw a 76-yard completion to Zachary Lopez on the first play. Flugence then hit Lopez on the next play for a touchdown and it was 7-0 less than a minute in.

Ellis said they don’t worry about the weather.

“We don’t talk about it, if you talk about things like that, you make it bigger than it is. We went into the wind in the first series and attacked it and threw into it. That’s who we are and that’s what we do,” he said. “We don’t make much of the weather because we can’t control it. We don’t play it up and talk it up because we don’t want them to overthink it.”

Flugence capped the next two Champion drives with TD runs of 39 and 71 yards to give the Chargers a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter after Ethan Haines booted all three extra points.

While the Chargers scored three times going into the wind in the first quarter, they struggled with the wind at their back in the second stanza. They went for it on fourth and goal at the 5 and didn’t score, and later in the quarter, they gave the ball back to their opponents after a Seguin punt hit a Charger player in the back and the Matadors recovered near midfield.

But Champion’s defense kept the shutout intact going into the break after Michael Guerrero blocked a punt that led to a safety. Caleb Farias also scrambled in on a 25-yard run to make it 29-0 at halftime after they missed the extra point after the Farias run.

Ellis said his defense has played great this season.

“A lot of people talk about our offense but defensively we’re getting after it, and we’re playing suffocating defense,” he said. “I can’t speak enough about our defense.”

Once the second half started, the offense went to work right away. Farias bolted to the end zone on an 81-yard sprint on their first play from scrimmage and it was 36-0.

Later in the quarter, Farias made another house call and scored on a run of 23 yards and the lead ballooned to 43-0.

After a fumbled snap on a Seguin punt attempt, the Chargers took over on the 17 and Flugence tallied his third TD of the night with a short run to match Farias, who had three rushing touchdowns, and it was 50-0 late in the third.

Ellis probably could have kept the shutout going but started moving players in and out and said it was more important for his younger players to get experience than it was to keep the shutout.

“We’re not defined by a shutout,” he said. “They’re cool when they happen, but if you look at our body of work and what the Chargers have done all season long, our defense is tremendous.”

The Matadors punched it in on a Daniel Pinon run of 10 yards to make it 50-7 with 5:28 left in the game.

Champion responded after Finn Ryan capped the scoring after he caught a pass from Julian Navarrete of 57 yards with 5:06 left to push the lead back to 50 points. After that, the Matadors turned it over on a loss of downs and the Chargers ran out the clock.

The Bobcats dropped their season record to 1-6 and district mark to 0-3. They will look to breakthrough and snap a six-game skid when they travel to Karnes City for a 7 p.m. game on Oct. 23.

The Brahmas, meanwhile, improved their year record to 6-2 and district mark to 4-0 before they host Poth at the same time.

“That’s a good Stockdale ball club,” Comfort head football coach Jay Rieken said of his team’s opponent on Friday. “I know it’s a loss, but I’m proud of the way our guys battled them.”

Comfort’s defense made some early noise when it forced an early Stockdale fumble and recovered the ball at its own one-yard line at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter.

The Bobcats then leaned on their run game during a 99-yard scoring drive and took the early 7-0 lead after Gabe Gonzalez’s eight-yard touchdown run and Omar Rivera’s successful PAT at the 2:23 mark of the opening period.

Stockdale regrouped on its second drive because Erik Maldonado produced a two-yard touchdown run at the 11:25 mark of the second quarter, but Josh Hathaway’s short extra point attempt kept Comfort in front 7-6.

Comfort continued to charge down the field on its next drive because Jared Valadez avoided a tackle for loss and found important spacing during an excellent 43-yard touchdown run. Rivera then tacked on his second extra point of the night to expand the home team’s lead to 14-6 at the 8:24 mark of the second quarter.

But, Stockdale’s Coy Gann quickly answered with a 60-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion scamper to even the score at 14-14 at the 6:16 mark of the period.

Gann eventually ran 20 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns, and also completed both his passes for 70 yards.

Comfort’s attempt through the air on its following offensive drive then landed in the hands of Gann, who ran down the sideline for Stockdale’s go-ahead pick-six touchdown. Hathaway then redeemed himself on the extra point to give the Brahmas a 21-14 lead with 4:53 remaining in the first half.

Stockdale set the tone for the second half with a steady 8:26-second drive. Gann eventually punched in a one-yard touchdown run to set up a 28-14 lead at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter.

Comfort cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter when it outscored Stockdale 14-13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the district defeat.

The Bobcats received touchdown runs of 25 yards and six yards from Rivera, but the Brahmas countered with Ty Dougherty’s 47-yard rushing score and Gann’s 10-yard touchdown before a late blocked PAT.

Rivera finished Comfort’s outing with 14 carries for 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also completed two of his eight pass attempts for 51 yards.

Things went the Greyhounds way early Friday in Liberty Hill, mounting a 35-7 halftime lead enroute to a win that keeps them undefeated on the season at 7-0, 3-0 in District 13 5A-DII.

Liberty Hill (4-4, 2-2 in 13 5A-DII) found themselves down 14-0 after running just two offensive plays. Boerne opened with a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped by a Sweeney to tight end Beau Dayoc pass of 8 yards for the night’s opening score.

Two plays later, Liberty Hill quarterback O’Donovan Francis fumbled the snap and Boerne’s Cooper Thompson recovered at the Panthers’ 40. On the next play, Sweeney took the ball to the house for a quick 14-0 lead at the 7:55  mark.

Liberty Hill trimmed the lead to 14-7 when tailback Jacobi Morris ran in from 8 yards out at the 2:21 mark, which is how the first quarter ended. 
But the second quarter was as catastrophic for the Panthers as the first 4 minutes of the game.

Boerne responded to Liberty Hill’s touchdown with another 75-yard drive, this one of 12 plays, capped by a Sweeney15-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter for the 21-7 lead.

The Boerne defense owned the second half, stopping Liberty Hill two times — foiling a fake punt on a fourth-and-8 from its own 48, and forcing a turnover on downs at midfield — setting up short fields for the Boerne offense, which responded with two scores for a commanding 35-7 lead.

After the botched fake punt, which saw an up-man take the snap and lose 3 yards, the ‘Hounds scored five plays later. Sweeney hit the acrobatic wideout Zach Freasier, who went up over double coverage to pull down the ball from 5 yards out, for a 28-7 lead.

The game began to slip away from the Panthers. Liberty Hill’s next possession ended with an interception by defensive back Austin Gerbes, but the Boerne offense stalled and was forced to punt.

The Greyhounds defense then came up with the turnover on downs, stopping Liberty Hill halfback Caydon Timmons a yard short on a fourth-and-2. Three plays later, Sweeney hit Freasier for another touchdown, this one from 24 yards for the 35-7 lead just 1:26 before half.

Liberty Hill only crossed the 50-yard line once in the second half while Boerne tacked on two fourth-quarter touchdowns — Sweeney to Dayoc from 10 yards, and backup quarterback Taydon Eamello’s 1-yard touchdown with 1:17 left in the game.

The Greyhounds return home on Friday to host the 4-3 Vets Memorial Patriots, who lost 50-6 Friday to the Alamo Heights Mules. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Boerne ISD Stadium.

Boerne Champion

The Chargers improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in district after a 57-7 victory over Seguin at Boerne ISD Stadium.

Up next, Champion travels down the road to face undefeated Smithson Valley in what will surely be everybody's game of the week as the two district heavyweights clash at Ranger Field.

Boerne High

The Greyhounds were on the road at Liberty Hill and defeated the Panthers, 49-7.

Boerne is 7-0 overall and 3-0 in district. They are home on Friday to host Veterans Memorial for homecoming.

Comfort High

Comfort was home on Friday to host Stockdale and fell to the Brahmas, 41-28.

The Bobcats are still looking for their first district win and slipped to 0-3 in league play. 

Comfort is 1-6 overall and visits Karnes City on Friday.

Geneva School of Boerne

Geneva QB Caleb Quitadamo tossed six TD passes and ran for another to lift the Eagles past New Braunfels Christian Academy, 57-43.

Geneva improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in district. They'll host Holy Cross on Friday for homecoming.

The Champion boys have won the last four regional championships.

The Lady Chargers were defeated by Harlan in the regional semis, 13-12, to end their season.

Team Tennis

Boerne High fell in the regional championship team tennis match Friday at Blossom.

Flour Bluff defended its regional title after they defeated the Greyhounds 10-2 to win their second straight Region IV-5A crown.

This was Boerne's second time to play for the title in three seasons since they moved up to 5A in 2024.

For more, see the Boerne Star.

The top three teams at district advance to regionals and the top four teams from regionals advance to the state meet in early November in Round Rock.

BHS is young on the boys and girls side and only had one senior race on the varsity level on Wednesday, Julian Wasal. In the two varsity races combined, Boerne ran one senior, three juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen.

Greyhounds coach Chris Carter said both overcame a lot of obstacles to advance out of district.

“I’m excited about regionals. The girls ended a drought, they hadn’t been to regionals in about four years, but they came on,” he said. “The guys have gone through some struggles and for them to get there and learn how to get there is important. They didn’t give up; they circled the wagons and said, ‘we’ll do it together.’ They did it the toughest way possible too because they didn’t have a guy in the top 10.”

Varsity Girls

The Lady Greyhounds were third (62) behind Champion (17) and Alamo Heights (59). Harlandale came in fourth (102) and South San placed fifth (146), while John Jay and McCollum didn’t have full teams in the field of 37.

Sutton Amerman led BHS and was seventh (20:12), Lucille Frank finished ninth (20:15), Presley Merkens came in 12th (20:51), Penelope Kirk finished 13th (21:13), Ansley Schiller was 21st (22:34), Ainsley Purcell placed 23rd (23:07) and Michaela Reichenau was 25th (23:19).

Varsity Boys

Boerne High finished in third (84), behind Champion (18) and Alamo Heights (42). McCollum (120), South San (140) and John Jay (164) rounded out the field, while Harlandale didn’t have a complete team in the field of 43.

Julian Wasel led the BHS boys and was 12th (18:03), Colin Bartonicek finished 14th (18:13), Levin Mendoza was 16th (18:21), Joshua Reaves came in 20th (18:59), William Olivo was two spots back in 22nd (19:09), Kevin Rogers finished 23rd (19:15) and Stefan Bain placed 27th (20:10).

JV

Both the Boerne JV teams were third as well after the girls tallied 65 points and the boys scored 93.

Abigail Jendrusch had the girls best finish after she was fifth in 21:54 and Dylan Weller came in 22nd in 20:26 for the best finish on the boys side.

This was the third year for the Greyhounds to play water polo and the 2026 girls team made history because they were the first to clinch a playoff spot and the first to win a postseason match.

The Boerne girls finished the year at 6-10 overall. In their first year of action in 2024, they didn’t win a match, and in 2025, they only picked up one victory but this year they won six matches and advanced to the postseason.

Greyhounds head coach Brandon Cheves said the boys and girls programs are heading in the right direction.

“Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of watching both our boys and girls water polo teams grow tremendously, not just as athletes, but as competitors and teammates. When I look back at where we started and where we are today, I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work, dedication and determination these athletes have shown,” he said. “This season, our girls made program history by advancing to the second round of the playoffs, the farthest a Boerne girls water polo team has ever gone. Although their season ended there, they have set a new standard for those who follow.

“Our boys continue to make tremendous strides, and while we haven’t reached the playoffs yet, their improvement, resilience and commitment to getting better each year are building the foundation for future success,” Cheves continued. “What makes me most proud isn’t just the wins or records, but the culture these athletes have built over the last three years. Both teams have helped raise the expectations for Boerne water polo, and I truly believe the best is still ahead of us. It’s a great time to be a Greyhound.”

Kirstynn Williamson led the team with 2 goals against the Jaguars, while Makenna Henson, Bonnie Johnson, Michelle Mendoza and Ashlyn Jendrusch all had 1 goal, while Jendrusch came up with 7 steals.

Carly Robertson and Brooke Sachs were both in goal for the Greyhounds.

The Champion boys defeated Churchill, 15-6, while the Lady Chargers beat district foe Brandeis, 11-7.

Champion plays in the regional tourney this weekend, with the regional semis on Friday and the finals on Saturday at SWISD Aquatics Center. The Lady Chargers played Harlan and the winner plays the winner of Clark and Brennan. The Champion boys faced Brennan on Friday and plays the winner of Alamo Heights and Harlan.

Varsity Boys

Champion improved to 24-4 overall with their third-round win.

The Chargers were up 6-0 in the first and took a 13-2 lead into halftime. They closed it out by outscoring Churchill in the second half, 4-2 and shutout the other Chargers in the third quarter.

Julius Hoxhaj led the team with 7 goals, 3 assists and 3 steals, while EJ Altermatt finished with 4 goals, 3 assists and 5 steals.

Jackson Hankins and Knox Armstrong were both in goal for the Chargers.

In their second-round match, the Chargers beat Johnson, 18-8.

Varsity Girls

Champion’s match with Brandeis was their third this year against their district foe. The Chargers won their first match on Aug. 29, 8-4, but the Broncos defeated the Chargers on Sept. 12, 11-5. However, Champion won the one that mattered most after posting the 11-7 win on Tuesday.

The Lady Chargers are 18-11 overall and won their second-round match over Pieper, 27-16.

Against Brandeis, Ava Story and Bre Hempton paced Champion with 3 goals and 2 assists apiece, while Sabrina Means added 2 goals on Tuesday. Meghan Jackson came up with 6 steals, Hempton had 5 steals and Ava Mueller finished with 4 steals.

Mueller was in goal and tallied nine saves.

Champion defeated the Greyhounds during district play, but Boerne won Tuesday’s third-round postseason match at NS Anne Marie Tennis Center, 10-8.

The Greyhounds advanced to the fourth round or regional semis that started Thursday against Gregory-Portland. If BHS won that match, they’ll have played in the regional finals on Friday with a trip to the state tourney on the line against the winner of Alamo Heights and Flour Bluff.

Boerne coach Tyson Stewart said their loss to the Chargers on Sept. 22 in a district match they were leading 5-2 and 9-6 before losing 10-9 provided plenty of motivation.

“As soon as we lost that match, I told the kids, ‘Remember this feeling and from now until we play them in the third round, you’ve got to do everything you can to get over that feeling’ and they took that to heart,” he said. “You don’t want to lose the regular-season match against them, but coming in with a chip on your shoulder works better, it gets the kids motivated.”

Stewart said he feels fortunate to beat the Chargers three years in a row in the playoffs. The Greyhounds lead the all-time series 4-3.

“We fought for every point,” he said. “They’re a heck of a team and to beat them three years in a row in the playoffs is big.”

Champion trailed 4-3 after doubles on Tuesday and was in better shape than they were in their district match after they closed out doubles in that contest trailing 5-2, but the Greyhounds played well in singles on Tuesday and won six of the 12 singles matches as opposed to district when the Chargers won eight of 12 singles matches.

BHS was solid in third-set super tiebreakers and went 4-1 in those matches to help get their 10 wins on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s match was tied 8-8 with three matches left on the courts. Boerne’s Zoe Gonzales won her match at line 3 girls singles in a super tiebreaker and then teammate Caleb Norman closed it out at line 2 boys singles in another super tiebreaker, while there was one other match left on the court that didn’t finish once BHS hit 10 wins.

Chargers coach Kristin Cantu gave the Greyhounds credit for winning the majority of the super tiebreakers.

“It came down to super tiebreakers in singles,” she said. “It was a point here and there; that’s all the difference was.”

Cantu added that it was a great season in her first year leading the team during the fall team tennis season.

“We went 17-3 in my first year and I’m proud of how much they worked and how much effort they put into it,” she said. “It’s been a great year.”

Champion ends its season at 17-3 and BHS improves to 12-4.

Second round

In their second-round matches, both BISD breezed to easy wins.

Champion played Highlands and defeated the Owls, 10-0, in less than two hours at McFarlin Tennis Center.

Boerne High tangled with Medina Valley and pounded the Panthers, 10-1, at the Northside Tennis Center.

After beating Liberty Christian School of Argyle 5-0, Trinity Christian School of Lubbock 5-3 and Grace Preparatory Academy of Arlington 5-1, the Eagles lost in the championship to Midland Christian School, 4-5.

Geneva players Grant Dillinger, Jared Bass, Ava Jersin and Naomi Bowser were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Prior to the tourney, the Eagles were in action and won two matches to improve to 12-1 overall.

The Eagles beat Central Catholic, 12-1.

In boys doubles, Walker West and Grant Dillinger, Ray Reynolds and Jared Bass, Grant Hakspiel and Mark Luffy and Christopher Siller and Brendan Donovan all won their doubles matches.

In boys singles, Walker West, Geneva, Grant Dillinger, Jared Bass, Grant Hakspiel, Mark Luffy and Brendan Donovan all picked up wins and in exhibition matches, Ava Jersin and Naomi Bowser played two matches and won both.

The Eagles also played Corpus Christi Incarnate Word and won 6-3.

Walker West and Grant Dillinger won in boys doubles and Rebekah Burkhart and Audrey Garcia won in girls doubles.

Jared Bass won in boys singles, while Burkhart, Allison Gerch and Naomi Bowser won in girls singles.

The Eagles are 6-3 in district and 21-16 overall. The Eagles have clinched a playoff spot and are locked into third place behind Holy Cross (8-1) and NB Christian Academy (8-1).

Geneva had one more district match and played at Holy Cross on Thursday to close out league action before beginning postseason play In their first-round meeting with NB Christian, the Eagles were swept but took last week’s match to five sets in their rematch. The Wildcats won the first two sets, 25-20, 25-17, but Geneva won the next two, 25-15, 25-15, to force a fifth game. That last set was tight, but the Wildcats prevailed, 15-13.

Against CC Incarnate Word, Geneva dropped the first set, 25-23, but won the next three, 26-24, 25-17, 25-15, to close it out.

The Champion boys varsity team started the day by winning their 19th straight district title, while the girls followed and won the 26-5A crown as well. The two Charger JV teams swept as well to make it a clean sweep for the program.

The Chargers boys varsity team has won every district title since the school opened in the fall of 2008. Champion coach Sheila West said the boys are aware of the streak and don’t want to be the ones to end it.

“I love the tradition here, I think it’s important to the guy’s team,” she said. “I have a large group of seniors and it’s something that’s very important to them and they’ve passed it on to the next group. I’m proud of them, it’s important to the community and it’s important to Champion high school.”

Both varsity squads will race at Region IV-5A meet on Oct. 27 in Corpus Christi. The top four teams from there advance to state set for early November in Round Rock.

Varsity Boys

The Chargers tallied 18 points and had all seven runners finish in the top 11 in the field of 43 runners.

Alamo Heights was second (42), followed by Boerne High (84) in third. McCollum (120), South San (140) and John Jay (164) rounded out the field, while Harlandale didn’t have a complete team in the field of 43.

Shawn Edwards won the district title (15:53), Sebastian Carvallo was second (16:14), Abhiram Bhogireddy came in fourth (16:37), Noah Moreno was fifth (16:43), Mason Nelson finished sixth (16:44), Brandon Martinez placed seventh (16:58) and Hector Canales was 11th in 17:54. Six of the seven are seniors; only Bhogireddy is a junior.

Varsity Girls

Champion won the district title with 17 points and claimed five of the top six spots in the field of 37.

Alamo Heights took second (59), Boerne High was third (62), Harlandale came in fourth (102) and South San came in fifth (146), while John Jay and McCollum didn’t have full teams.

Rebecca Bezerra won the individual district title for the Chargers (18:52), Payton Kidder placed second (19:36), Emma Radtke was third (19:39), Luciana Zazueta Ibarra came in fifth (20:00), Abigail Clark was sixth (20:12), Kaylee Tierney finished eighth (20:14) and Peyton Salazar was 18th (22:15).

JV teams

The Lady Chargers won the district title with 21 points, while the boys ran a perfect race and had the top five runners for a minimum of 15 points.

Taylor Lefler won the boys JV district title with a 17:44 and Elena Duran won the girls JV individual title after she placed first with a 20:58.

After Tuesday, the Greyhounds are 9-0 in district, the Chargers are 8-1 and Alamo Heights is 8-2 in district play. One of those three will win this year’s district title as the teams head down the final stretch of the regular season. McCollum is in the driver’s seat for fourth place in 26-5A at 4-5 but can’t catch any of the three teams ahead of them.

Boerne High

The Greyhounds defeated McCollum on Tuesday in four sets, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16. BHS (28-4) still has Champion, Alamo Heights and John Jay left on the schedule.

Ava Seamans finished with 14 kills and Bella Pettet added 12 kills. Lauren Magnus dropped in 4 aces and Riley Caldwell had 2 aces, Mallory Miles came up with 2 blocks, Kiley Coffland tallied 24 digs, Miles and Magnus both recorded 12 digs, while Magnus tallied 42 digs.

In their previous match last Friday, the Lady Greyhounds defeated South San, 25-11, 25-16, 25-7.

Riley Caldwell and Bella Pettet both finished with 9 kills, Lauren Magnus and Molly McCormick dropped in 3 aces each, Brook Summers and Miles totaled 3 blocks apiece, Magnus and Kiley Coffland both came up with 10 digs, while Magnus tallied 16 assists.

Boerne Champion

Champion was off last Friday and returned to action Tuesday with a match against South San at Charger Gym and beat the Bobcats, 25-11, 25-11, 26-24.

Champion (28-7) hosted McCollum on Friday and then welcomes Boerne High on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in what could be for the district title. They close out the regular season at Alamo Heights on Oct. 23.

Hannah Perez finished with 11 kills, 15 digs and 3 aces against South San, while Abby Marizcurrena had 7 kills. Brady Cooksey cooked up 27 assists, 21 digs, 5 aces and 4 blocks, Olivia Sansone came up with 7 blocks and Hailey Pfahlert had 8 assists.

The Deer are 19-18 overall and 3-3 in district. Comfort hosted Florence on Friday before playing Blanco next week to close out the regular season.

The Deer have clinched a playoff spot and are fighting for positioning. A win on Friday could get them to third, with a chance at moving up to second place in the standings.

Against Ingram, the Deer won the first game but fell to the Lady Warriors in four sets. After the Deer took the first set, 25-18, Ingram captured the next three games to win the match, 25-14, 25-23, 25-20.

Tindall Ahrens had a big match with 23 kills, 15 digs and 2 aces, while Mallie Knight added 12 kills.

Emily Hill dropped in 2 aces, Molly Gowan came up with 2 blocks, Savana Womble recorded 19 digs and 34 assists, while Knight and Anahi Martinez both tallied 11 digs.

Comfort dropped their first two sets to Llano, 25-19, 25-22, but won the next three. The Deer took the third and fourth sets, 25-13, 25-21 and closed it out with a 15-11 victory.

The back-and-forth affair, spearheaded by a stellar night from Geneva quarterback Caleb Quitadamo, ultimately saw the Eagles come out on top by a final of 57-43. With the victory, Geneva trails only first place Brazos Christian High School in the standings.

“We knew it was gonna be a three-phases, four-quarter game, and it was,” Geneva head coach Adam Foren said. “What's been so cool about our team is we take punches and we don't flinch. I'm so proud of our players. I'm so proud of our coaches.”

The visitors seemingly began scoring touchdowns as soon as they got off the bus, as they got on the scoreboard early by taking their opening drive nearly 90 yards for their first touchdown on the night.

Quitadamo used timely short passes – including one to junior running back Chase Doran that went for over 30 yards – to drive his squad to the end zone. The nearly eight-minute opening drive was capped off by the senior signal caller’s touchdown pass – his first on the night – to senior Bryce Hanover from seven yards out.

“I think he's our hardest worker, our mentally toughest player, and the one player who pushes through when things don't go well,” Foren said of his quarterback. “His temperature never changes, win or lose, and that's what's really cool about him.”

While the Eagles ground out their scores, the Wildcats would find paydirt much quicker, with their first score taking just two plays on their opening drive to even the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.

Both squads traded touchdowns – including a 60-yard scamper by Doran – to end the first quarter tied at 14-14. The offensive barrage in the opening frame would be a precursor to what both teams did on offense all game long.

On their first possession in the second quarter, Quitadamo made a miracle out of a mistake, as a muffed snap was recovered by the quarterback who then proceeded to weave his way nearly 80 yards to the Wildcats red zone. They would cap off the drive with an eight-yard plunge by junior running back Shae McNew, which gave the Eagles lead once again.

A two-point conversion on their third touchdown on the night saw the home team take their first lead of the contest midway in the second quarter, but it wouldn’t last long. The back-and-forth scoring lasted the entire first half, with Geneva out in front 36-24, thanks to Quitadamo’s third touchdown pass of the half, heading into halftime.

After the break, a 70-yard bomb from the Wildcats on their second play from scrimmage got the fireworks started again and cut into the Eagles' lead. However, the squad from New Braunfels ultimately didn’t have the firepower to keep up with Geneva. Quitadamo’s fourth touchdown pass on the night, a 14-yarder to freshman Luke Abuzeid, proceeded a 63-yard rush that put Geneva out in front for good.

Quitadamo would tack on a fifth touchdown pass and found Abuzeid for another TD and finished with six passing touchdowns in the game to add to his one rushing touchdown. This put the Eagles up two scores with just under three minutes to play. The Wildcats would make a furious push for the end zone, but Geneva’s defense stepped up when it had to. Junior defensive back Walter Teague jumped a sideline route and sealed the win for the Eagles with an interception.

“We've never beat that team before here, and they're a really good team” Foren said of the Wildcats. “But, also, we got another opportunity next week to play at home in a district game. That's gonna be really important as well.”

Geneva (7-1 overall, 3-1 in district) will continue district play with a clash at home against the visiting Holy Cross on Friday, Oct. 23. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.