Rising to the competition
Robinson is acutely aware of the gauntlet ahead. The district schedule reads like a regional postseason bracket. Kilgore has made back-to-back appearances at AT & T Stadium for the state championship. Chapel Hill has morphed into a perennial juggernaut under Jeff Riordan.
Lindale, led by Chris Cochran, is a model of sustained excellence, while Pine Tree brings heavy-hitting talent dropping down in classification.
Add in a fierce, historic rivalry with Jacksonville, a rising Bullard program, and a well-coached Henderson squad under dynamic leadership there are simply no easy Friday nights. But Robinson doesn’ t want an easy schedule.“ If you’ re going to win a state championship, you’ re going to play really good people,” Robinson said. In his recent stint at Crawford, his team defeated the eventual state champions in a non-district matchup.
“ I would rather play a tough schedule because that’ s the level we want to play at. If you can compete in our district, you can compete for a state championship. It’ s an elite district, but you want to be elite yourself, and you’ ve got to rise to the level of that competition.”
Leading that charge is a hungry senior class. After enduring two years of struggles, these seniors are playing with a chip on their shoulders.
“ They’ ve done a great job. We’ ve had several seniors that have really stepped up,” Robinson said.“ I think when you struggle some in the win column for a couple of years, a lot of people get in your ear. I think they’ re wanting to prove some people wrong.”
The magazines may predict an eighth-place finish, but when the ball is kicked off this fall, opponents will quickly find out that the Wildcats aren’ t backing down.
It’ s a new era in Palestine and it’ s going to be a 48-minute fight.
2026
PALESTINE WILDCATS SCHEDULE
8-28- Dallas Seagoville 9-4- @ Brownsboro
9-11- Rusk( HC) 9-18- Henderson * 9-25- @ Bullard * 10-2- Pine Tree * 10-16- @ Kilgore *
10-23- Jacksonville * 10-30- Lindale *
11-6- @ Chapel Hill *
* Denotes district games All games are scheduled for 7:30 p. m.
GO WILDCATS!
2026 | END ZONE | 7