The Bayou Bowl has been one of the premiere high school All-Star football games in the state of Texas for the past 20 years.  For more than a decade the game featured athletes from the Greater Houston Area versus athletes from Louisiana, making it an excellent rivalry game.  After the 2013 contest, which was won by Texas, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association mutually agreed to end the series.

The GHFCA Board of Directors, however, wanted to continue with an All-Star Football Game for the players in the Greater Houston Area, and changed the format by making it a Houston centric game and dividing the city into an East-West alignment using I-45 as the dividing line.  The U.I.L. High School districts were used to determine the direction of the member schools.

The game features 72 players from the Greater Houston Area, 36 per squad, from 72 different member schools.  The format adopted by the GHFCA Board of Directors was one where the host sites would alternate from the East side to the West side with different communities and ISD’s serving as the host for the Bayou Bowl Game.

The 1^st game played using the new format, was at Ft Bend’s Mercer Stadium in Sugarland.   Subsequent games have been played at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown, Rhodes Stadium in Katy, Turner Stadium in Humble, Challenger Stadium in League City, Traylor Stadium in Rosenberg, and Barbers Hill Stadium in Mont Belvieu.  The games have featured legendary figures serving as honorary coaches, including Wade Phillips, Jackie Sherrill, Dan Pastorini, and Clint Stoerner.

Rob Lynch, who is currently on the Board of Directors of Lone Star Sports and Entertainment as well as Chairman of the Texas Bowl Grid Iron Legends, recruited these legends of the game, where they served as honorary coaches. This year Rob locked in Sean Pendergast, from Sports Radio 610 as the West Team Coach, and Ron Hughley and Clint Stoerner, also from Sports Radio 610 as East Team Coaches, where it will be a battle of the “610 Hosts” for bragging rights!

The 2024 game will again be played in Mont Belvieu at Eagle Stadium on Saturday, June 8^th, with a 7 PM kickoff.  This game will also be broadcast on Space City Houston Sports Network.  Patti Smith and Holly Kesterson of RELEVENT Worldwide will handle the production/promotion of this year’s game as well as the 2025 and 2026 games moving forward.  Chuck Licata of “Big Daddy Media” will once again do the play by play.

With the addition of the regional television partner, SCHN, and the successful partnership with the city of Mont Belvieu, the Bayou Bowl is on a rapid trajectory for expansion and growth.  In fact, there are two new and exciting changes coming after this year’s game.

Moving forward, the game will be expanded and will feature players from GHFCA members schools against players from the ETCA (East Texas Coaches Association).  We will have 76 of the “best players” from these respective areas displaying their talents on Space City Houston Sports Network across the 5-state region.

Also, the 2025 Bayou Bowl Game and all subsequent games, will be played the 1^st week of January instead of the June date that it currently holds.   The City of Mont Belvieu and BHISD will continue to host the games.  So, mark your calendars:   January 4^th, 1:00 PM Kickoff, at Barbers Hill Stadium as we kick off an exciting new era of showcasing some of the greatest football talent in the state of Texas!