High school football players attend magazine photo shoot

Published 12:24 am Thursday, June 12, 2025

LONGVIEW — More than 185 high school football players filled the basketball gym at Spring Hill High School in Longview on Tuesday evening for the first of The Zone photo shoots, a preseason tradition hosted annually by the Tyler Morning Telegraph and Longview News-Journal.

At the shoot, professional photos were taken for the newspapers’ exclusive football magazine set to debut this year on Aug. 16. The subscriber-only product will be inserted into that weekend’s editions of the News-Journal and Morning Telegraph.

A total of 186 players from 19 area teams were in attendance. About 44 teams are expected to attend next week’s second shoot, which will be held Tuesday evening at Tyler Legacy.

As players and coaches entered the building, they were welcomed by Longview News-Journal Sports Editor Jack Stallard, who gave an overview on what to expect for the shoot before players headed off to have their headshots taken by Henderson News sports writer Audrey Blaschke.

Next, sports photographer Michel Alfaro took team photos. Veteran photographer Les Hassell captured high-energy shots of individual players as others had their time in front of the green screen, where the CBS19 sports team filmed sports promotions.

Sports writers Brandon Ogden (Tyler), Lauren Rosenberg (Marshall), Ryan Silapan (Panola) and Tyler sports editor Phil Hicks assisted throughout the shoot. Tyler managing editor Santana Wood roamed around the gym taking behind the scenes photos of all the action. Circulation manager Steven Briggs was also on hand to let folks know how to secure a copy of the magazine this August.

In addition to photos taken this June, the magazine will feature 150 glossy pages filled with key stats and players, team breakdowns, schedules and more for about 140 teams in the region. It is an exclusive product available to subscribers of the News-Journal and Morning Telegraph, so high school football lovers are encouraged to go ahead and sign up for a subscription so you don’t miss getting a copy. To subscribe, visit subscribe.news-journal.com or subscribe.tylerpaper.com. Parents and coaches of players who took part in the shoot are eligible for a discounted rate and can subscribe by contacting the News-Journal customer service team at 903-237-7777, or 903-597-1121 for the Morning Telegraph.

The Zone magazine is a combined effort of the editorial, advertising, circulation, and design teams at Carpenter Media Group Texas’ newspapers in East Texas. The team appreciates CHRISTUS Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute’s support through the presenting sponsorship.

Advertising opportunities are available in The Zone magazine. For information, contact sales manager Kerri Esposito at kerri.esposito@news-journal.com or call her at 903-232-7276.