Gridiron Gumbo

Best Margin, Tied for Fourth: Hamshire-Fannett’s Whole Season Comes Down to Oct. 30

Illustration of a night stadium with a tall ladder of glowing gumbo pots beside the field, the fourth pot from the top glowing brightest

Written by

T-Rohn

in

Texas (UIL) ,

By T-Rohn
Gridiron Gumbo | Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 | UIL Week 10 preview · District 10-4A-DII

Hamshire-Fannett has outscored opponents by 165 points this season, the best margin of any 4A team we cover, yet it sits tied for fourth in its district with one game that decides a lot.

Rank every 4A team in SETXsports’ coverage area by scoring margin and Hamshire-Fannett comes out on top. The Longhorns have outscored opponents 310-145 this season, which works out to more than 20 points a game. That’s the third-best margin among SETXsports’ core schools, trailing only Newton and West Sabine. HF has also allowed fewer total points than anyone else in District 10-4A-DII.

Now check the district standings. HF is 1-2, tied for fourth with Hardin-Jefferson, which is also 1-2. SETXsports and MaxPreps both list the Longhorns fourth. HF’s lone district win was 49-21 over Hardin-Jefferson on Oct. 16.

TAKE: Best margin in the district and a tie for fourth place in the standings. That’s the best barbecue in town with no parking: everybody agrees it’s great, and nobody can get a seat.

In Southeast Texas, point differential is lagniappe. The wins are what go on the plate. For HF, the whole plate now comes down to one Friday night.

Two losses, 15 points, one pattern

HF’s non-district résumé would make anyone sit up. The Longhorns beat La Marque 35-27, won 52-10 at Vidor, shut out Little Cypress-Mauriceville 25-0, won 42-14 at Stafford and blanked Hitchcock 49-0. Vidor and LC-M are tied for first in 9-4A-DI at 3-1. HF beat them by a combined 77-10.

District play opened differently. HF lost two of its three district games, by a combined 15 points, and both losses followed the same script:

Oct. 9, West Orange-Stark 42, HF 28 (in Hamshire). KOGT’s Tom Halliburton reported that HF jumped out 21-0. MaxPreps’ line score shows WO-S outscored the Longhorns 42-7 the rest of the way. According to KOGT, HF piled up 28 points and 183 yards in the first half, then gained 80 yards and no points after halftime. Junior quarterback Blake Broussard completed all seven of his first-half passes, threw two touchdown passes and caught a third, per KOGT. Junior receiver Dwayne Long finished with eight catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, per MaxPreps. WO-S coach Hiawatha Hickman told KOGT his defense switched at halftime to bringing pressure.

Oct. 23, Silsbee 31, HF 30 (in Silsbee). MaxPreps’ line score shows Silsbee led 17-0 after one quarter. HF scored 24 in the second quarter to tie it 24-24 at halftime and took a 30-24 lead into the fourth quarter. SETXsports’ live game thread shows that same 30-24 score heading into the fourth. Silsbee scored the only points of the final period. KFDM’s Michael Friedman wrote that the Tigers “held on” and took over second place in the district. That is KFDM’s wording; SETXsports’ standings list Shepherd second and Silsbee third, both at 2-1.

Add them up:

HF’s two district lossesHFOpponents
First halves5238
Second halves635
Fourth quarters021

That isn’t a talent problem. HF has beaten everyone else it has played, mostly by a lot. It’s a 24-minute problem, and in both games it showed up against teams sitting near the top of the district.

TAKE: Twenty-four minutes is a strange unit of measure. In Southeast Texas it’s also about how long the drive-thru takes after a game, and nobody has a plan for that either.

Coach Mark Waggoner gave credit where it was due after the WO-S game. “Khelvy is an incredible player and the most prolific back in our area,” he told KOGT, speaking of WO-S running back Khelvy Jefferson.

Built for this, on paper

None of this is new territory for the program. MaxPreps’ history page lists HF at 10-2 in both 2023 and 2024, including a 5-0 district run in 2024, and at 7-4 last season. Those seasons came in a different district, 4A-DII Region III District 9. MaxPreps’ history page lists Waggoner as HF’s head coach for the 2018 through 2022 seasons, and KOGT identified him as the coach this year.

TAKE: On paper is a wonderful place to be. On paper, the standings make sense, the schedule is fair and the construction on I-10 ends by spring.

The Beaumont Enterprise’s preseason preview picked HF to finish second in the district behind WO-S. Through Week 8, MaxPreps credited Broussard with 15 touchdown passes on a 75.7% completion rate, and Long with seven receiving touchdowns. Those MaxPreps season stats were last updated Oct. 17, so they don’t include the Silsbee game.

Oct. 30: Shepherd at Hamshire-Fannett, 7:30 p.m.

Gridiron Gumbo ran all 64 possible win-loss outcomes for the district’s final six games. The top four teams make the playoffs. Tiebreakers aren’t modeled.

TAKE: Tiebreakers aren’t modeled, which is how a computer says it isn’t going to be the one to explain this to a folding table full of adults.

If HF beats Shepherd:

  • HF cannot be eliminated on wins and losses. It’s in the top four outright in 18 of the 32 outcomes that follow, and in the rest it’s in a tie at the cutoff.
  • If HF then wins at Jasper on Nov. 6, it clinches a playoff spot. No tiebreaker is needed.

TAKE: “No tiebreaker needed.” In this district, that sentence is rarer than leftover boudin.

If Shepherd wins:

  • Shepherd clinches a playoff spot.
  • HF is in on wins alone in only 4 of 32 outcomes, eliminated outright in 16, and left to tiebreakers in the other 12.

The title long shot: HF can still get a share of the district crown, but it needs a lot of help. That happens in only three of the 64 outcomes. HF would have to win out, WO-S would have to lose both of its last two games (to Jasper and Hardin-Jefferson), and Silsbee would have to lose at least once. Every one of those three outcomes ends in a four-way tie for first.

TAKE: Three outcomes, every one a four-way tie for first. That’s less a championship than a family reunion photo where nobody agrees who gets the front row.

Around the district: WO-S (3-0) has already clinched a playoff spot. A WO-S win over Jasper on Oct. 30 guarantees the Mustangs at least a share of the title. Silsbee is at home against Hardin-Jefferson the same night.

For long stretches of both district losses, Hamshire-Fannett looked like the team the Enterprise picked it to be. Now the Longhorns need one full four-quarter game, and they get to play it at home.

TAKE: Four quarters, at home, with no highway to blame. The only thing anyone should be stuck in is the concession-stand queue.

Records are as of Saturday morning, Oct. 24, after Week 9. Season scoring totals and district standings come from SETXsports, checked against MaxPreps. The Oct. 16 final (HF 49, Hardin-Jefferson 21) was confirmed by the SETXsports scoreboard and MaxPreps. The Week 9 final (Silsbee 31, HF 30) was confirmed by SETXsports, MaxPreps and KFDM. The Week 7 final (WO-S 42, HF 28) was confirmed by MaxPreps, KOGT and KFDM. Texashsfootball.com/scores was checked Saturday morning, but its widget listed only Saturday games, so it did not confirm the Friday finals. Playoff scenarios are Gridiron Gumbo calculations and ignore tiebreakers.

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