Tyler — Call it the Chapel Hill thrill.

Chapel Hill played in the first state championship game at Cowboys Stadium.

The Hill almost won it all last year and the Bulldogs will win it all this year. That's what Texas Football Magazine says.

It has picked Chapel Hill as its preseason #1, the top team in Texas.

Chapel hill coach Thomas Sitton told KETK, "We know right now that doesn't mean anything. It's definitely an honor to be picked up there but it doesn't mean anything. Our coaching staff knows that and our kids know that."

The Dogs will have 14 starters returning, including quarterback Avery Saenz. The Chapel Hill offense averaged 41 points per game last season. The Bulldogs shocked Carthage last year in early September. Carthage had won two straight state championships and Carthage hadn't lost a game in two years. But Chapel Hill snapped Carthage's 31-game win streak with a one-sided shocker, 46-to-14. That game sent Chapel Hill on its journey to the state finals.

Sitton said, "It helped us get some confidence. It It showed us, if we played at a high level, if we played fast, we could do some good things. We were extremely proud of they way our kids played all year and extremely proud of the accomplishments they had all year long."