Highland Park prepares to host a special TOC 2016-17 ceremony where the football team will be nationally recognized by MaxPreps.
MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Highland Park (Dallas, Texas) Scots have officially been named to the 12th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 12th year honoring football.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for the top 100 teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the
MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams. This puts the Scots ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
Keeping up with the Joneses is a tough task in the state of Texas. Highland Park QB John Stephen Jones is the grandson of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and son of CEO Stephen Jones. As the Cowboys were putting together one of their best regular seasons in franchise history, John Stephen was leading the league with 3,017 passing yards and leading his team to the state championship game. I think it's safe to say that nobody is keeping up with the Joneses.
On Saturday Dec. 17, the Highland Park Scots were looking to win their first state title since 2005 when Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford led the team past Marshall 59-0. The Scots had to win five
Photos by Robbie Rakestraw
games just to make it to state final, where they would meet up with a Temple team who was playing in their second title game in three seasons.
The Scots faced adversity early, allowing a 38-yard run by Jemiyah Franklin to make the score 7-0 Temple at the end of the first quarter. They would show the resiliency they played with all season as Jones scored on a long touchdown run in the second quarter to tie the game up. Once the game was tied, the Scots would never lose control, scoring off another Jones run on fourth down in the third quarter to take a touchdown lead. The defense was able to close out the game in the fourth quarter when Turner Coxe sacked Reid Hesse for a safety with just a few minutes left in the game. The Scots just needed to run out the clock to clinch their first title in over a decade. Congratulations to the Highland Park Scots for their incredible season!
In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Temple 16-7 on Dec. 17 marked the completion of an incredible 14-2 season — and earned Highland Park an invitation to the Tour of Champions. Their championship season helped earn them a
No.10 ranking in the state, and
No.111 in the MaxPreps National Rankings.
These incredible season achievements have earned the Highland Park Scots an invitation to the 12th Annual Tour of Champions.
Please join us as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Feb. 17 at 9:00 a.m. in the Gym.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
Photos by Robbie Rakestraw
