LORENA, Texas — The 2023 Texas High School Football regular season has arrived and 6 News' Friday Night Lights Game of the Week 1 is back.
For the season opener, the 6 News sports crew is heading to Leopard Field in Lorena where the Leopards will host China Spring for a battle against the two-time reigning state champs.
Last time Lorena won the 3A Div. I state title was in 2021 and the Cougars are still riding off of back-to-back state title wins in Arlington. For both schools, those titles marked their first championships in over 30 years.
The last time Lorena beat the Cougars was back in 2018, and this year they are hoping to change that. The Ray Biles era came to an end after 31 years, and the Leopards find themselves with a new familiar face in the head job. Once the principal at Lorena, Kevin Johnson can now be found on the sidelines and will make his high school football debut Friday night.
Over in China Spring, Cougars head coach Tyler Beatty racks in year two with this squad with the same expectations for 2023. After winning back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022, China Spring is hoping to add a third title to their trophy case. This Cougar squad returns some key players on offense, including UNT commit Cash McCollum in the quarterback slot, but will also debut some young faces.
Nicole Shearin will be LIVE from Leopard Field with Lorena Head Coach Kevin Johnson at 6 p.m. Friday and with the winning coach during our first Friday Night Lights of the season at 10 p.m.
Later, Justin Woodard will take the reigns of the season debut of Friday Night Lights from the 6 News studio at 10:10 p.m.
We'll see you under the lights!
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