Kilgore defeats Carthage: Live score, updates of Texas high school football opener (8/30/2024)

Follow live as 4A powerhouses clash to kick off 2024 Texas high school football season

Carthage and head coach Scott Surratt (center) face Bullard in a Sept. 2023 Texas high school football showdown. / Photo by Robbie Rakestraw, SBLive

The 2024 Texas high school football season is underway and two UIL class 4A perennial powers are set to clash.

Kilgore and Carthage face off in Week 1 on Friday night at Carthage High School.

• LIVE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Central time. SBLive is providing the latest score and game updates from the showdown and the rest of opening weekend across the Lone Star State.

Scroll down and refresh this page for the latest. Stay with SBLive for live score and game updates, highlights, top performances and more:

KILGORE 20, CARTHAGE 15 (FINAL)

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POSTGAME

- With Kilgore's win, it was the first loss at home for Carthage since the 2016 season.

FOURTH QUARTER

- Kilgore gets one more huge defensive stop in the final moments and will walk out of Carthage with a gigantic season-opening win.

- TOUCHDOWN KILGORE: Kilgore comes right back and regains the lead. Set up by a 70-yard kick return by Javon Towns, Kilgore cashes in as Isaiad Watters goes in from a yard out. Try for two fails, but Kilgore has a five-point lead (Kilgore, 20-15 | 2:51, 4th)

- TOUCHDOWN CARTHAGE: Carthage goes back in front with 5:13 left as KJ Edwards breaks loose for a 52-yard TD run (Carthage, 15-14 | 5:13, 4th)

- Still anyone's ballgame here in Carthage in the early moments of the final quarter.

THIRD QUARTER

- Kilgore will take a six-point lead entering the final quarter in Carthage.

- TOUCHDOWN KILGORE: Kilgore regains the lead as Kayson Brooks hooks up with Javon Towns from a yard out. Kilgore adds the PAT for a six-point advantage (Kilgore, 14-8 | 2:33, 3rd)

- Play has started in the second half.

HALFTIME

- Carthage tailback KJ Edwards rushed for 56 yards on eight carries in the first half. Kilgore running back Isaiad Watters had 64 yards on 11 carries and his team's only TD. Kilgore's defense has picked off three passes.

- A low-scoring first half in a game plagued by rain. Carthage is up by one at the break.

SECOND QUARTER

- TOUCHDOWN CARTHAGE: Carthage takes its first lead of the night as QB Jett Surratt hooks up with Blake Marion from 7 yards out. A try for two fails, but Carthage is now up by a point (Carthage, 8-7 | 2:52, 2nd)

- SAFETY CARTHAGE: Carthage finally gets on the board via a safety, as LB DaQuives Beck tackles a ballcarrier for a loss in the end zone (Kilgore, 7-2 | 11:32, 2nd)

- Kilgore leads by seven at the end of the opening quarter.

FIRST QUARTER

- TOUCHDOWN KILGORE: Kilgore takes advantage of an interception and cashes in for the game's first points as Isaiad Watters goes in from 4 yards out for the TD (Kilgore, 7-0 | 8:15, 1st)

- It is currently raining in Panola County as the Battle of the Bulldogs gets set to kick off the 2024 season.

About Carthage

Gilmer's 4A Division II regional finalupset at the hand of Gilmer may have been the only thing stopping the Bulldogs from a three-peat. Carthage returns most of its starting lineup, including four-star running back KJ Edwards, four-star OL Kash Courtney and standout QB Jett Surratt.

About Kilgore

The Bulldogs went 12-2 in 2023 and reached the 4A Division II regional finals before losing to Chapel Hill, 21-19.

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More Week 1 Texas high school football

• Frisco Emerson's defense stands tall over McKinney: ‘Odds were stacked against us'

• Tory Blaylock, 4-star Oklahoma commit, shines as Atascocita rolls Lamar

• Pieper edges out Boerne in Central Texas high school football thriller

• Jax Brown, star Weiss QB, 'heartbroken' after season-ending injury

• Austin Westlake defeats Prosper in back-and-forth opener

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2024 Texas high school football preview

Stay with SBLive's preseason coverage in the lead up to the 2024 Texas high school football season and the entire Week 1 slate:

• Who are the 25 best teams in Texas, regardless of classification or association? Here are the SBLive Preseason Texas Power 25 rankings, as well as the 20 winningest active coaches.

• Who are the 100 most important high school football players in Texas? We scoured the state and counted down from 100 to 1: Part 1 (100-51) |Part 2 (50-1)

• We're taking a position-by-position look at the top players returning in the Lone Star State this fall, starting with 50 quarterbacks, 70 running backs, 40 wide receivers, 25 tight ends, 25 offensive linemen, 30 cornerbacks, 25 safeties, 45 linebackers and 25 kickers/punters.

• Who are the most underrated teams in the Lone Star State entering the season? We're taking a look by region at the programs poised to out-perform expectations, starting with North Texas, Southeast Texas and Central Texas.

• We examined offseason player movement and the 12 transfers that will have the biggest impact in the fall.

SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before.For more information, visitsi.com/high-school.

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx