WAXAHACHIE, Texas — One of the best and most historic rivalries in all of Texas high school football, featuring a pair of programs that have combined for four state championships in their history, will play for the 103rd time on Friday night, as Ennis and Waxahachie square off.
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This year will mark the 86th consecutive year the schools have played, dating back to 1939. The schools first played one another in 1908 and played 17 times between then and 1937. Friday night, another generation of Ennis and Waxahachie kids will square off, and you can watch the game live for free on Friday Night Football
You can watch the game live on our streaming platform WFAA+, which is available on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. You can also watch the game right here on WFAA.com, or our WFAA YouTube channel.
Ennis is led by legendary head coach Sam Harrell. The three-time state championship-winning head coach began his tenure with the Lions in 1994.
Harrell won championships in 2000, 2001, and 2004. He left the school in 2009 due to his bout with multiple sclerosis (MS) but then returned to the school in 2018 after fighting the disease off to the point where he could return to coaching. He's been dealing with MS again over the last two years, but he's remained coaching – last year and this year from the press box.
Harrell's Lions are ranked 24th in the state in 5A-Division II preseason, by Dave Campbell's Texas Football, and features a star talent at wide receiver in Gracen Harris, who is committed to playing college football at Oklahoma next fall. New junior quarterback Zander Hinton and running back Jamarquez Farsee will lead the Lions offense, behind a strong offensive line led by Braylen Lambert, Bryce Beets, and Adam Meer in the middle.
Waxahachie is coming off a 9-3 campaign in 2023, playing in the toughest district in all of Texas high school football, 11-6A.
The Indians, led by fourth-year head coach Shane Tolleson, bring back a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, including starting running back Wade Lemons, who will be featured prominently in the Waxahachie offense this season. The Indians also have myriad weapons on the outside, including Trenton Kidd, Kohen Brown, and transfer Tristian Gardner. They will catch passes this year from a sophomore star who moved into the district in the offseason, Jerry Meyer.
Meyer played his freshman year at Lake Mead High School in Nevada, setting a state record with 58 touchdown passes, leading Lake Mead to their first state championship in program history.
Defensively, the Lions are led by Kingston Parker and Cash Hendrix, on a defensive unit that gave up just 21.8 points per game in 2023. The Lions were a playoff team a year ago with that stout defense, going 4-3 in a tough district in 5A-DII. Brothers Rennick and Damion Baizar will be part of the Ennis effort up front, holding down two of the defensive line spots.
The Waxahachie defense is led by Da'Marion Cooper, a junior middle linebacker who led the team in tackles last year as a sophomore. They also feature budding superstar sophomore JayQuan Snell, a 6-foot-3-inch, 185-pound safety who was just named a 4-star prospect by 247Sports.com. Snell, despite his youth, is the most highly sought-after recruit on the field Friday night.
Our Friday Night Football pregame show will begin at approximately 6:50 p.m., with kickoff to follow at 7 p.m.