Celebrate 100 Years of UIL Football This Season on FOX Sports Southwest

IRVING (August 25, 2020) – FOX Sports Southwest will celebrate 100 years of Texas high school football with popular franchises FOOTBALL FRIDAY, HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBARD LIVE, BUILT FORD TOUGH PLAYER OF THE WEEK and TEXAS FOOTBALL DAYS along with special features and vignettes throughout the season.

“We look forward to sharing the stories of Texas high school football greats whose competitive spirit helped shaped the game in our communities around the state,” said FOX Sports Southwest Sr. Vice President/General Manager Steve Simpson. “We are proud to partner with the UIL and commemorate this significant milestone.”

“We are thrilled to partner with FOX Sports Southwest to kick off the celebration of 100 years of UIL football,” said Dr. Charles Breithaupt, UIL Executive Director. “We know FSSW will do an excellent job highlighting the unique stories from individuals and communities across the state that have defined the last century of Texas high school football.”

The network’s weekly programming slate will kick off Friday, August 28 at 8:00 p.m. CT across linear and digital platforms.

FOOTBALL FRIDAY POWERED BY DCTF returns in for its 10th season with three hours of highlights and updates from games across Texas, providing the most comprehensive statewide coverage of Texas high school football on Friday nights.  Both Ford and Jack in the Box return as presenting sponsors of the show for 2020.

FOX Sports Southwest’s Erin Hartigan will again team with Texas Football Managing Editor Greg Tepper to anchor the show from the FOX Sports Southwest studio. CT Steckel and Texas high school football coaching legend Ken Purcell will provide analysis.

Sarah Merrifield, Katie Engleson, Lauren Blackwell, Whitley Pleasant, Paige Schnorbach, Austyn Iven and Ashley Pickle will all serve as field reporters providing updates from the sidelines each Friday.

FOX Sports Southwest’s Friday night blitz continues with continues with HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD LIVE at 11:00 p.m. CT.  The two-hour signature show enters its 25th season hosted by Ric Renner with co-anchors Craig Way and Greg Tepper.  They’ll offer a complete recap of game action, scores, highlights and standings throughout Texas to wrap up the evening.

FSSW will also back its signature promotional event TEXAS FOOTBALL DAYS presented by Jack in the Box for the fourth year, televising live games held at AT&T Stadium marking start of the season for classes 5A-6A.  The live doubleheader will also feature Lone Star look-ins from several games around the state.  More details on TEXAS FOOTBALL DAYS will be announced at a later date.

The network will further spotlight the 100th Anniversary of Texas high school football in partnership with the UIL by showcasing a series of 50 vignettes of legendary Texas high school football players on linear and digital platforms, including FOXSportsSouthwest.com.

BUILT FORD TOUGH PLAYER OF THE WEEK program returns to honor six outstanding student-athletes each week of the 2020 regular season, recognizing one player in each of the state’s six athletic classifications. The winners are chosen for athletic achievements on the field, contributions to teams, academic success and good community citizenship and featured weekly beginning Friday, September 4 at 9:30 a.m. CT.  Additionally, FSSW will televise the PLAYER OF THE YEAR awards banquet where winning players from each classification are recognized.

Fans can keep up with games across the state with the FOOTBALL FRIDAY app throughout the season.  Personalized profiles, team schedules, live score updates, fan forums and message boards are all part of the unique experience for the high school football community, presented by Ford and Jack in the Box.

FSSW will culminate coverage of the 2020 Texas high school football season with exclusive live broadcasts of the UIL Texas High School Football State Championships. Classes 1A-4A championships will be held December 16-19.  FSSW will provide pregame game and postgame coverage before and after every matchup.  The championship contests for classes 5A-6A will be held on January 11-12.

All high school football programming on FOX Sports Southwest and FOX Sports Southwest Plus will be available for live streaming on FOX Sports GO.  The FOX Sports GO app is currently available for iOS, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Chromecast, Fire tablets and Fire phones, Roku players and Roku TV, Xbox One, select Windows devices, and online at FOXSportsGO.com. Fans can download the mobile app for free from the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Windows Store.