Temple Wildcats football: 1979 and 1992

Going back to the beginning of Texas high school football, Temple has had one of the state's winningest programs. The Wildcats advanced to state championship games in 1940, 1941, 1951, 1952 and 1976 but lost each time, though never by more than 13 points.
Temple finally broke through and joined the pantheon of Texas state champions in 1979, producing a 15-0 season under legendary coach (and Temple native) Bob McQueen. The Wildcats defeated Houston Memorial 28-6 at Baylor University in Waco to capture the crown in Class 4A, the state's largest classification before 5A arrived in 1980.
The '79 Wildcats posted Temple's fourth consecutive 10-0 regular season (1980 delivered a fifth straight 10-0 mark), then edged previous playoff nemesis Plano 19-16 in the second round of the postseason and survived a 3-0 struggle against Lewisville in the state semifinals.
For the season, the Wildcats outscored opponents 480-89, racked up four shutouts and limited foes to six points or less 11 times.
One of Temple's top players in '79 was junior running back Kenneth Davis, who shared carries with senior Darrell Weddington. Davis went on star at Texas Christian and made four Super Bowl appearances with the Buffalo Bills in the 1990s.
Temple continued to win under McQueen in the 1980s but didn't make it back to another state final until 1992, when the Wildcats fashioned a 15-1 march to the 5A Division II championship.
Whereas Temple was perfect in '79, the '92 Wildcats didn't even get through their district schedule unscathed. They lost 14-7 to league rival Killeen, then responded by winning their final three district games by a combined score of 127-20.
Temple steamrolled through the playoffs, defeating Round Round, Huntsville, Richardson, Richardson Lake Highlands and Amarillo by a combined 231-78 before cruising past Houston Yates 38-20 at the University of Texas' Memorial Stadium in Austin to become a two-time state champion.
State powerhouse Converse Judson won the 5A Division I title in '92, but Temple could stake a claim to being the outright 5A champion that year because its Wildcats beat Judson's Rockets 37-21 in a non-district duel in September.
And as of the beginning of 2010, Temple -- whose football program had struggled since McQueen's retirement after the 1999 season -- hadn't returned to a state title game since its 1992 triumph.