Pieper (Texas) wins first district high school football title in school history
LIBERTY HILL, Texas - Old school vs. new school. Tale as old as time.
The Warriors (9-1, 6-0) used their aerial attack and stout defensive front to generate big plays to jump out to quick lead and hold on to beat the Liberty Hill Panthers (6-4, 4-2) 33-23 on Friday night.
Both teams already secured a playoff spot in next week's TX-5A bi-district round entering the game.
The stakes? The District 13 championship.
Pieper used its explosive, quick offense through district play leading to this historic season and the Liberty Hill Panthers runs the vaunted slot-T offense to generate their offensive fireworks.
Piper struck first. 2024 quarterback Jake South connected on a deep ball to 2025 wide receiver Jaden Legrand to set up a first and goal. Two plays later, 2026 Brady Hopper punched it in from one-yard out to give the Warriors an early 6-0 lead.
With the Warrior defense holding the Panthers rushing attack in check, South found 2024 wide receiver Jake Strachan for a 41 yard reception. Then, the senior signal caller found Isaiah Champagne for the six-yard touchdown pass.
With the Warriors up 12-0, Liberty Hill cracked the scoring column mid way through the second quarter on a 45 yard field goal by senior place kicker Connor Hawkins to make it 12-3.
Right before halftime with Pieper threatening, the Panther defense came up with the big play they needed to get back into the game with a 76 yard interception for a touchdown to make it a 12-10 halftime deficit.
The third quarter was controlled by the Warriors' defense as they forced three turnovers, which led to three Hopper touchdowns to extend the lead to 33-10.
Liberty Hill cut into the 23 point deficit in the fourth quarter with two short touchdown runs to make it 33-23, but in the end, the Warrior defense stood tall, propelling Pieper to the district championship.
2024 defensive back Reece Madigan sealed the district title with his second interception of the night with less than a minute to go.
On the night, the Warriors sophomore running back rushed for 170 yards and four touchdowns while the Pieper defense forced five second half turnovers to push the Warriors to their first district title.
UP NEXT
Pieper will host San Antonio Sam Houston Hurricanes in the bi-district round as the one seed in the TX-5A, Division 2 state playoffs. Liberty Hill will be the two seed out of District 13-5A and will battle the Harlandale Indians.
--Ryan Childers | @sblivetx
