Troup High School has been named the unanimous No. 1 team in Class 3A/2A/TAPPS in the latest East Texas football rankings, published Monday, September 21, 2026. The Tigers have achieved a 4-0 start to their season, outscoring opponents by a margin of 222-76.
In the Class 6A/5A/4A division, Carthage holds the No. 1 ranking, receiving 13 first-place votes. Longview also received a first-place vote in this category.
The Class 3A/2A/TAPPS rankings include several of Troup’s district mates, who also represent the Tigers' final four opponents of the season. Arp is tied for No. 2 with Malakoff, while Jefferson is ranked No. 4. West Rusk stands at No. 12, and New Diana is No. 13. Overton and Gladewater joined the small-school rankings this week. Other teams receiving votes in this classification included Atlanta, Shelbyville, Westwood, Waskom, Hawkins, Cayuga, Mount Vernon, Tatum, Union Grove, Cushing, and San Augustine. Shelbyville, previously No. 14, and Hawkins, previously No. 15, dropped out of the rankings.
For the larger schools in Class 6A/5A/4A, Carthage leads the field, followed by Lindale at No. 2, Pleasant Grove at No. 3, Longview at No. 4, and Athens at No. 5. Pittsburg and Whitehouse entered the big-school rankings this week after securing significant wins against Van and Mount Pleasant, respectively. Other programs receiving votes in the 6A/5A/4A poll were Rusk, Lufkin, Sulphur Springs, Marshall, Henderson, Palestine, Terrell, Tyler Legacy, Brownsboro, and North Lamar. Rusk, previously No. 13, and Sulphur Springs, previously No. 15, dropped from these rankings.
Voters in the poll comprised sports reporters and broadcasters from across East Texas. These included Phil Hicks and Brandon Ogden of the Tyler Morning Telegraph; Jack Stallard of the Longview News-Journal; Lauren Rosenberg of the Marshall News Messenger; Nathan Hague and John Krueger of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel; Edwin Quarles and Josh Havard of the Lufkin Daily News; Dan Mallea of CBS 19; Harlen the Sports Guy of the Friday Night Scoreboard Show; Bret Swinney and Jarrin Peeples of the Northeast Texas Sports Network/NETSN; Benny Rogers of The Rogers Report; and Conrad Bahr of 99.9 KMOO FM.
East Texas football fans can look forward to several notable games this week. The No. 1 Troup Tigers will travel to play Tatum. No. 2 Lindale is set to play at Henderson, while No. 1 Carthage will face West Orange-Stark. Other key matchups include Cayuga at Hawkins, No. 11 Pittsburg at No. 4 Jefferson, Marshall at No. 15 Texas High, No. 5 Athens at No. 15 Gladewater, No. 3 Pleasant Grove at Shreveport Byrd (Louisiana), No. 5 Winnsboro at Commerce, No. 8 Kilgore at No. 10 Pine Tree, Sunnyvale at No. 7 Gilmer, and Atlanta at No. 14 Van. These games are expected to influence next week's rankings.
