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ARLINGTON — Kilgore registered 13 wins and reached the state championship game in 2024.

Both of those accomplishments were firsts for the program since 2013 when it went 13-1 and lost to Carthage in the Class 3A Division I final.

In Friday’s Class 4A Division I championship game against Celina, Kilgore led 14-13 early in the second quarter. Celina scored 14 points in the final 7:53 of the first half and went on a 42-0 scoring stretch that extended to the fourth quarter on the way to a 55-21 decision at AT&T Stadium.

“I think Celina did exactly what we wanted to do,” Kilgore head football coach Clint Fuller said. “They came out and put pressure on us early, gave us some new plays defensively. On offense, we came out and played well to start the game, but one mistake led to another and then games like this can snowball on you in a hurry, and that’s kind of what happened.”

The Bulldogs started the season with a 20-15 win over eventual Class 4A Division II champion Carthage, suffered losses to Gilmer and Henderson to go to 4-2 and then reeled off nine straight victories, allowing 14 points or fewer in eight of those games, to reach the third state championship game in history.

“It’s going to be a little hard for me to sum up the year right now,” Fuller said. “We are obviously devastated. What I can tell you is I couldn’t be prouder of our kids, whether we won this game or lost this game. They’re a great group of kids. They’re a special group of young men. We’re going to pick ourselves up in the future and be able to look back and appreciate the season and the team we had together.”

This season, Kilgore collected the program’s 600th career victory and now sits at 601-379 overall.

Kilgore has 12 seniors — Javon Towns, Jayden Sanders, Jacory Walton, K’Winn Reese, Jamarian Morgan Duncan, Laperrion Graves, Travis Dixon, Cade Cox, Wylie Mitchell, Donavan Rider, Tkyren Dixon and Jackson Tucker Phillips.

“I can’t say enough about our senior class and really every one of our classes,” Fuller said. “It’s a great group, especially our seniors. They set a standard within our program, not just athletically, that’s the least of it; just by character, the way they handle themselves, the way they work and prepare and by the way they walk the halls and carry themselves in the community.

“I’m just very grateful for our senior class, and we’re going to reap the benefits of what they’ve done during their time in our program for a long time.”