Henrietta's past 25 years of football

Looking back at the Bearcats' quarter century of gridiron success

Henrietta finally felt at home at the turn of the century.

In the four seasons before 2000, the Bearcats were grouped with the then-Class 3A (now 4A) schools.

Graham, Vernon, Iowa Park and Childress were among Henrietta’s district mates. Let’s just say it did not go well.

Over those four seasons, the Bearcats compiled a 4-36 record and had three 0-10 seasons. In fact, when Henrietta beat Whitesboro 35-21 in September of 2000, it was the program’s first victory since midway through 1997.

Once Henrietta got grouped with similar-sized schools, it was a different story. The Bearcats won eight games and a district title in 2000 under Tom Howard, one of the more impressive turnarounds in recent memory.

Howard’s best group would come four years later when the Bearcats beat Panhandle, Shallowater and Colorado City (coached by Frank Johnson) in the playoffs, setting up a rematch with Boyd in the semifinals.

The Bearcats had lost by 39 points in a non-district meeting, but three months later, the gap was closed. Henrietta led for much of the game before losing steam down the stretch in a 32-22 setback that was the most memorable Henrietta game I’ve covered.