The 0-2 Team Won the Magnolia Bowl 55-7. The T-Shirts Raised $11,000 for the Fire Department.
By The Magnolia Standard · September 18, 2026
Ten days ago this paper wrote that a winless team with a grudge and a short drive is not a safe opponent. It was not. Here is what the night turned out to be, and what comes Friday.
Magnolia beat Magnolia West 55-7 at Mustang Stadium on September 11. The Bulldogs came in 0-2, having been shut out by Willis and edged by College Station. The Mustangs came in 2-0 with 87 points scored. None of it mattered by halftime. It was the second straight year the Bulldogs have taken the rivalry by more than 30 points, after last fall's 45-12, and since the two schools share District 15-6A, it counted in the standings as well as on the bumper stickers. Magnolia is 1-2 overall and 1-0 in district. Magnolia West is 2-1 and 0-1.
The district built the evening around two anniversaries, and the football was almost the smaller of them. Friday was 25 years to the day from September 11, 2001, and the game was also the 20th-birthday marker for Magnolia West, which opened in August 2006 and graduated its first senior class, 355 students, in 2010. The school's current principal, Dr. Josh Jacobs, was on the field with three of his predecessors, Dr. Brandon Garza, Dr. Ben King and Jason Morley, alongside Superintendent Dr. Jason Bullock and Mayor Chris Blair. Roughly 240 Magnolia ISD color guard members and the combined bands of both schools performed, with the Fillies and the Texas Stars dance teams.
The part of the night with a dollar figure on it: commemorative T-shirts sold for the game raised $11,000 for the Magnolia Fire Department, according to the district.
Among the alumni the district recognized were John Matocha, Magnolia West class of 2019, who went on to win the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II's top player; choir director Sylvia Garza, who received the UIL Sponsor Excellence Award for 2025-26; and baseball coach Travis Earles, whose Mustangs won the UIL state championship in 2023.
A correction. Our September 8 preview said Magnolia West opened in 2008. It opened in August 2006, which is why the district marked the 20th anniversary Friday. We regret the error.
Friday brings the district's next test, at home. Klein Collins comes to Magnolia at 7 p.m. carrying a 2-1 record and a 1-0 district mark of its own, after beating Tomball Memorial 66-17 on September 10. The two teams share an opponent: Willis, which beat Magnolia 38-0 and Klein Collins 38-28 in consecutive weeks. Magnolia West was at Klein Forest Thursday night at Klein Memorial Stadium; that result came after this edition went to press. The Mustangs are home against Klein Cain on September 25.
Sources: 2026 scores, records and district standings for Magnolia, Magnolia West and Klein Collins as published on MaxPreps; Magnolia ISD's September 14, 2026 post "A Special 2026 Magnolia Bowl" (the anniversaries, the officials and alumni recognized, the color guard count and the $11,000 figure); and Magnolia West High School's August 2006 opening and 2010 first graduating class, per the district. Kickoff times are the district's and can change. Corrections to editor@themagnoliastandard.news.