state titles in 1922, 1925, 1926, and 1927, with runner-up finishes in 1923, 1924, and 1939. In 1927, Waco High had one of the most dominant seasons in Texas high school football history. The Tigers scored an average of 56 points per game (a record that would stand until 1975, when Big Sandy scored 824 points in 14 games) while giving up only 2.4 points per game to its opponents. On two occasions Waco High scored more than 100 points, once in a playoff game versus Houston Davis. Roy Needham, Davis' coach, said "Waco could have beaten a good college team" that day. During that same 1927 season, Waco High was recognized as the mythical national high school champion after defeating Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School of Chardon, Ohio in a postseason game, 44-12. In the spring of 1942, the Waco school board suddenly and unanimously voted to fire Tyson after an 8-2 season, two years removed from a year he took the Tigers to the state finals. Tyson, a lifelong bachelor who never dated, was rumored to be "too intimate" with his players. Waco High won two more state titles after Tyson. In 1945, they shared the championship with Highland Park after the title game ended in a 7-7 tie, and won outright in 1948, when the Tigers beat Amarillo, 21-0. Modern era Under coach Johnny Tusa, who coached at Jefferson-Moore from 1979-1985 and Waco High from 1986-2009, Waco made the playoffs in 1986-88, 1990–92, 1994–2002, and 2004–2006. In 1991, Waco High had its longest run in the Class 5A playoffs, five rounds deep to the state semifinals. The Lions lost to the famed Odessa Permian team before a sellout crowd at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa, 37-8. The Lions beat Austin Crockett, Conroe McCullough (now The Woodlands), Richardson Berkner, and Dallas Carter in the previous four rounds. In 2006, Waco High was classified a Class 4A school and placed in District 16-4A by the UIL. The district contained fellow former 5A rival Copperas Cove, plus Brownwood, Killeen, and Waco-area schools University and Midway. The Lions won the district title with a perfect record that year. Waco High made another deep playoff run, defeating Corsicana, Dallas Hillcrest, Whitehouse, Brownwood, and Wolfforth Frenship to advance to the Class 4A Division II state championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The Lions lost to La Marque, 36-14. In 2007, Waco High