North Shore Mustangs named to the 11th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the North Shore (Houston, TX) Mustangs have officially been named to the 11th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 11th 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 Mustangs ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

North Shore High School's football team overcame adversity on more than one occasion in its 2015 season. After a disappointing 1-3 start, the Mustangs rallied back with 12 straight wins and took home the UIL Texas 6A Division 1 state title. The team’s state final overtime win (21-14) over No. 19 Westlake was no easy feat.

On Saturday, Dec. 19 North Shore's Zafir Murphy forced the back-and-forth game into overtime after he blocked a potential winning field goal in the final seconds of regulation. In overtime, Mustangs' senior Maciah Long scored the final go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard dive to clinch a 21-14 win and the UIL 6A Division 1 title. This was the first overtime game in the state's largest classification since 2009.

Second-year head coach John Kay led his team to a District 21 and Region III championship en route to the school's second football title since 2003. Coach Kay will now wear both championship rings as he was an assistant in their undefeated 2003 state title season as well.

The Mustangs (13-3) beat the odds after a slow start and finished ranked No. 39 in the nation, No. 7 in the state, No. 6 in Division 6A, No. 3 in Region III, No. 21 in the top 25 composite rankings, No. 9 in the Southwest Region, No. 3 in the MaxPreps Texas top 25 and No. 10 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25.

These incredible season achievements have earned the North Shore Mustangs an invitation to the 11th Annual Tour of Champions.

Please join us as we celebrate with the football team, head coach John Kay, students and fans on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 1:45 p.m. during the pep rally at the football stadium.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.

To view more photos for North Shore football, click here.