With the 2024 University Interscholastic League (UIL) football playoffs nearing their conclusion, the city of Midland is reflecting on the past successes of its high school football programs, both public and private.
According to a December 7 Facebook post, Midland has celebrated a state football championship victory at least five times in its history. These victories occurred in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with the Midland Independent School District’s (MISD) then-Lee High School responsible for three titles.
The post said that the all-Black Carver High School won Midland’s first-ever state crown on the gridiron by defeating Conroe Washington 44-16 in the Prairie View Interscholastic Class 2A title game on December 16, 1961. Midland had to wait at least 35 years until Lee (now Legacy) Rebels defeated San Antonio MacArthur 54-0 on December 19, 1998, to earn their first Class 5A crown.
The Rebels went on to successfully defend their title for the next two years, becoming one of the few programs in Texas to achieve a "three-peat." Eleven years ago was the last time a Midland school claimed a high school football championship when Midland Christian School (MCS) edged out Katy Pope John Paul XXIII 28-20 on December 9, 2013, completing a three-peat of their own within the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). The Mustangs have seven overall championships in the TAPPS' 11-man category.