FOX Sports Southwest in conjunction with the University Interscholastic League, this week announced the return of Texas Football Days during a press conference at the Texas High School Coaches Association’s annual Coaching School and Convention in Houston. Texas Football Days, presented by Jack in the Box, will begin Aug. 25.
Headlining the week-long gridiron celebration are exclusive live broadcasts of two Texas high school football games on Aug. 29 and Aug. 30. The featured marquee matchups will be Wall at Mason at 7 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the “Battle of the Axe” rivalry game between Denison and Sherman from Bearcat Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
“We created Texas Football Days to celebrate football and its positive impact on communities throughout our state,” said FOX Sports Southwest Sr. Vice President/General Manager Steve Simpson. “We are proud to work with our partners at the UIL, THSCA and the THSADA to make it a highly anticipated signature event. New for our third year, we are expanding our live Texas high school football broadcast coverage over two days to showcase the unmatched passion for the sport”.
Texas Football Days has been a wonderful celebration and start to the football season for the past two years,” said Dr. Charles Breithaupt, UIL executive director. “FSSW does an excellent job highlighting Texas high school football and all the diverse communities and unique stories across the state. We are thrilled to partner with FSSW for this one-of-a-kind event.”
Texas Football Days officially launches at 10 a.m. on Aug. 25 with the replay of the 2017 UIL 5A Division I Championship thriller between Dallas Highland Park and Manvel with the High School Spotlight season preview show debut at 10:30 p.m.
Additionally, replays of high school football classics will be featured throughout the week leading up to the live telecasts.
FSSW live coverage will kick off Aug. 29 with Texas Football Days one-hour pregame show hosted by Erin Hartigan with coaching legend Ken Purcell and Texas Football Managing Editor Greg Tepper adding analysis. Coverage begins from the Mason Puncher Dome at 6:00 p.m.
Mark Followill will handle play-by-play for the Wall-Mason game alongside Shea Walker, who will provide analysis, with CT Steckel and Katie Engleson reporting from the sideline.
The broadcast team on-site at Sherman Bearcat Stadium for the Denison-Sherman game will include FSSW’s Ric Renner as host with Tepper and coach Purcell as pregame and halftime analysts.
The one-hour pregame show starts at 6:30 p.m. to get folks ready for the games they have to look forward to.
Craig Way will be play-by-play with Gary Reasons as analyst and Sarah Merrifield and Jason Spells will serve as sideline reporters.
In addition to the two marquee Texas high school football matchups on Aug. 29 and 30, FSSW will deliver live look-ins at 11 games across the state, capturing the local pageantry, fanfare and game updates throughout the night.

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