Bayou Bowl

The Bayou Bowl has been one of the most recognizable all-star games featuring Texas high school football talent since 2003, and East Texas’ best players will finally have an opportunity to compete in it against Houston’s top talent during Saturday’s 1 p.m. matchup at Mont Belvieu’s Barbers Hill I.S.D. Eagle Stadium.

Houston area high school football players first competed against Louisiana athletes under the direction of the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association (GHFCA) and Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) between 2003 and 2013. The two organizations decided to part ways, so an East Houston vs. West Houston battle took its place and occurred every year between 2014 and 2023 except for the COVID 2020 year.

Starting this weekend, a new chapter begins when football players from the East Texas Coaches Association (ETCA) region face GHFCA’s Houston-area lineup during the 2025 QuickAsyst Bayou Bowl. The football game will be televised by Space City Home Network and streamed by Texan Live. The event is scheduled to remain in the Houston area in future years.

“This started when [Bayou Bowl founder] Dick Olin came to me with the thought of meeting up the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association all-stars vs. our East Texas Coaches Association all-stars,” said Longview athletic director and head football coach and ETCA treasurer John King.

“They’ve done it in the past,” he continued. “It started out being an all-star game between the Houston area kids and Louisiana. Then, Louisiana dropped out and it became a Houston all-star game. It had a competitive deal to it. That’s why we’ve agreed to play in this one.”

Once the idea was in place, former East Texas football coaches Robert Bero, Dennis Alexander, Bill Harper, Sid Harper, Andy Evans and Lucky Gamble took up more responsibility, and eventually made up a six-man selection committee that chose the football players for this year’s East Texas roster.

“We told those guys to select the best of the best,” King said of the partnership between East Texas coaches and the selection committee. “We had probably 120 nominees. [Current coaches] nominated and got the kids’ information in. These [committee] guys evaluated the [players’] film and selected the team. It really helped out.”

Longview will have one of the biggest footprint on the ETCA roster because Kelvin Washington, Jamayis Morrow, Kason Brooks and Fernando Longoria will be active, along with the alternate Jailynn Taylor replacing the injured Isaiah Horton. They all plan to make the most of the special opportunity to represent their home East Texas region again and improve their college football aspirations.

“I look for our kids to go out, compete, have fun, and do it the right way,” said King. “I think our kids are going to stack up with anybody.”

“It gives them the chance to represent East Texas football, as well as an opportunity for scouts to take another look at them against different opponents,” he added. “It’s a chance to up their recruitment and get one more shot of high school football.”

Pine Tree’s Peyton Davis and Spring Hill’s Trevor Allen are also scheduled to play in the game.

“He is a heck of a football player,” Pine Tree head football coach Jason Bachman said of Davis. “He’s been playing for us for three years. He’s played on both sides of the ball, and never missed a start.”

“It’s a great opportunity,” Spring Hill head football coach Brandon Joslin said of Allen. “We’ve been pushing for his name. He gets to prove himself. We’re excited for him.”

Joining those local players on the ETCA roster will be Kilgore’s Jamarian Duncan, Wylie Mitchell and Jackson Tucker Phillips, Hallsville’s Kobe Gaut, Marshall’s Dameon Smith and Raijon Sims, Carthage’s Klayton Ingram, James Morrow, Braylin Allison and Brandon Allison, Henderson’s Jonathan Bateman, Mount Pleasant’s Jonathan Amieva, Jefferson’s Christopher Love, Daingerfield’s Chase Johnson and Kenny Mosley, Texas High’s Darnell Williams, Javari Johnson, Kendrevion Boyce, David Potter, Sheldon Harris, Isaiah Dowden and Joshua Blackwell, Tyler Legacy’s Nathaniel Kirksey and Cash Acker, Whitehouse’s Noah Lindsay, Hudson Barron and Layne Hooker, Lindale’s Seth Baggett and Chad Ward, Nacogdoches’ Tyren Mathews and Quentin Lacy, and Lufkin’s Quincy Coutee.

They will face notable players on the GHFCA roster like North Shore’s Jordan Fields, Morris Taylor and Kylan Darville, Westfield’s Jordan Reasonover and Nehemiah Allen, Galveston Ball’s London Deyon, Cypress Falls’ Chase Ferrell, and Morton Ranch’s Adrian De La Garza.

“They put on a great event,” King said of the Bayou Bowl. “The kids are taken care of in a lot of ways. It’s no expense to the kids or their families. There are sponsors that put the game on. The kids get rewarded with keeping their jersey and getting a ring for playing in it, so it’s a neat deal.”