Texas School for the Deaf Wins First State Championship

Texas School for the Deaf has won a historic state championship as the first school for the hearing impaired to win a Texas state championship.

According to NewsWest 9, the school had a record of 6-3 going into the TAPPS state championship game and won the title Friday night.

“To win during a season like this, where every single football program in the country has been affected by COVID-19, would be outstanding. Knowing our boys put in the extra work on the field and off-the-field to stay safe really makes my staff and I proud,” said John Moore, TSD's football coach.

The school had to drop down to 6-man football because of the COVID-19 pandemic because they did not have enough players to play in standard 11-man football.

Most of the students who lived outside of the Austin area chose to go to online learning this fall which attributed to the smaller football roster.

All of the players, and coaches at Texas School for the Deaf are fully deaf so they have to use a huge drum on the sidelines to help players coordinate their plays.

They cannot hear the drum but they can feel it which is how they know when to hike the ball.

Texas School for the Deaf played Veritas Academy of Austin on Friday which had a 9-0 record going into the TAPPS Division I six-man state championship.

Veritas had won state titles in 2015, 2016, and 2018 but lost to the Texas School for the Deaf 63-32.