Even if you’ve never attended a high school football game in Texas, you probably know that these games and the fans who watch them are somewhat different from other high school football games and cheerleaders. In Texas, football is not a sport and it is not an extracurricular activity. No, it was raised almost to the level of religion. To say that high school football fans in Texas are excited about the venue would be an understatement; Great understatement.

Friday Night Lights may first be a popular book and then a movie, but it all started with the true story of one season with the Odessa Permian Panthers. Hollywood didn’t need to dramatize the real-life story of this Texas high school team; The true story was already enough for the legend to carry it all the way to the silver screen.

If you think you know high school football, you won’t see anything until you see it from the Lone Star State. Even the smaller schools are really participating. It is not uncommon to see entire caravans traveling the Texas highways on Friday nights; Football team, drill team, cheerleaders, marching band, and sponsor. All of which could easily require a dozen or so buses. And that doesn’t even include the legions of parents and fans who travel with them. In relatively few other events, you’ll see loyal fans travel hundreds of miles for a playoff game; And remember, this is entirely possible in Texas. The border stretches from east to west for nearly a thousand miles.

So, what is it about Texas high school football in particular that seems to attract such a huge crowd? While there may not be a definitive answer to this question, there is one certainty: nothing else on earth has the same intensity and passion for it. You can feel the echo in the air when you step onto any high school football field across the state.

High school football fans in Texas are not only passionate about football; They live and breathe it. On any given Friday night during football season in Texas, you are likely to see just as much violence in the stands as you would on the lawn if one fan happened to aggravate another.

And that doesn’t even mention the rivalry that can happen between teams in Texas. While it is not at all uncommon for neighboring cities across the country to make up a high school football rivalry, Texas is taking it to a whole new level. In many cases, an extra policeman must be called during major rival matches just to keep the peace between the fans. In a few cases, some cities have had to stop playing each other at all due to violence that has occurred between fans in the stands and on the sidelines during rival matches.

It might be a little hard to describe the exact allure of Texas high school football, but one thing is for sure: you feel it when you experience it.

If the rest of the world loves soccer, Texas loves soccer.