NationalHSFootball.com
– Dallas Jackson, NationalHSFootball.com
It was only the difference of 42 people but what those individuals represent is something special.
The Texas Class 5A Division I championship game between Allen (Texas) High and Pearland (Texas) High drew a new Texas high school attendance record with 54,347 on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday, the NFL contest between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills announced its attendance of 54,305.
Or, 42 less than a high school football game.
More than 50,000 people attended the state championship in Texas/
Courtesy Dallas Morning News.
Historically the Texas 5A Division I Championship has compared favorably against college bowl games but this is the first time it had more attendance than an NFL contest on the same weekend.
David Just is a high school sports writer for the Dallas Morning News and said that covering a high school game with that many people was incredible.
“I am not from Texas, so this state never ceases to amaze me with its love of high school football,” he said. “I was a history night, and I couldn’t believe it when I saw the first fans trickling into the upper deck.”
To be fair to the fans in Buffalo weather at kickoff was in the mid-40s with rain while Texas was treated to a climate controlled experience inside AT&T Stadium.
So far this season only the New Orleans Bowl has had more in attendance than the Texas finals by drawing 54,728.
Organizers of the bowl smartly pitted New Orleans-based Tulane University against Louisiana-Lafayette. The two Universities are separated by just 135 miles.
Allen and Pearland are 285 miles from one another — and the game was a 63-28 blowout — making it more impressive that the Houston fans made the trip to Dallas.
The Texas 4A Division II finals — the fourth largest classification — drew 33,745 which is about 6,000 more than the New Mexico Bowl and 12,000 more than the Idaho Potato Bowl.
