Two Former Houston Cougars Crowned High School Football State Champions
In this story:
The end of the year means one thing and one thing only in the state of Texas. High school football is reaching it's pinnacle as state champions at every level are being decided in late December.
Two former Houston Cougars, now coaching at the high school level, saw their programs raise trophies at the end of the 2025 high school football season. Former offensive lineman for Houston, Sterling Doty, earned a state title with Stephenville High School, and former defensive back Willie Gaston earned a state title for North Shore High School.
State Champion Coogs 🏆
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) December 23, 2025
Congrats to Sterling Doty (Stephenville) and Willie Gaston (North Shore) on winning state this year! pic.twitter.com/LUHpRBtKSc
Doty spent two years at Houston in 2005 and 2006. In his junior and senior seasons, the interior offensive lineman made 26 starts for the Cougars. After a rough 6-6 season in his first year as a starter, the Houston offense turned it around the next season by going 10-4 with wins over Rice, Oklahoma State, SMU and Memphis.
Gaston, a defensive back for the Cougars from 2003 to 2006, appeared in 49 total games while making 39 starts. In his junior season, the Houston, Texas native logged a career-high three interceptions. In his final year with the program, Gaston started all 14 games and totaled 61 tackles, 5.0 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, and one interception.
The Pathway to State Championships for Doty and Gaston
While North Shore has consistently been a playoff contender in years past, Doty's program seems to be one that's defined by resilience. The Yellow Jackets suffered a season-opening loss to South Oak Cliff, but responded nicely by winning their next eight games.
After a brutal 27-0 shutout loss to Summer Creek midway through the season, Doty and his program once again learned from the experience by dominating their next five opponents on the road to the state title game. Facing a perennial powerhouse like Duncanville, the Yellow Jackets leaned right into the defensive slugfest, eventually coming away with a 10-7 victory.
For Gaston and the Stephenville Yellow Jackets, their path to a state title featured utter dominance in the regular season, with a few defensive battles late in the playoffs. After some impressive offensive performances from Gaston's program, it finally faced some opposition in the later rounds of the playoffs.
For the first time in the 2025 high school football season, Stephenville was held under 28 points. The Celina Bobcats had Gaston's and the Yellow Jackets on the ropes heading into the fourth quarter, but a 10-point effort led by running backs Zyler McClendon and Trot Jordan pushed Stephenville to the state title game. Gaston's program then achieved a 10-0 shutout against the Kilgore Bulldogs for the school's seventh state title.
A Legacy Being Built in Houston Football
When head coach Willie Fritz first took the Houston job, he emphasized the importance of keeping talent in-state. With both Doty and Gaston taking high school jobs in Texas, it seems as though they hold the same perspective.
With the former Cougars choosing to coach in their home state, they're helping cultivate local talent with lessons they likely learned during their time at Houston. Their state title victories show that there's even more talent in Texas that Fritz and his staff can tap into.
Houston has already succeeded in their efforts to land commitments from in-state talent too. Of their 18 commitments from the 2026 class, 16 of them are from Texas.
