LANCASTER — Bill Mahone has seen quite a bit change during the 65 years he’s been a Lancaster football fan.
The team competed at the Class A level when he showed up for his first game in 1948, and Mahone, a Lancaster graduate, said he’s missed only 12 games since.
Lancaster plays 4A football today and has an enrollment of roughly 1,700 students. The city’s population has ballooned to 36,000, and the demographics have changed dramatically.
But Mahone, a 76-year-old retired construction worker and banker, has always found his way into the bleachers on game day. What never seemed to change, though, was Lancaster’s undistinguished football team. The Tigers have won only five playoff games since 1985, and Mahone could count on a mediocre season more often than not.
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But that seems to be changing, too.
Mahone watched as Lancaster upended the state’s top-ranked team, Tyler John Tyler, on Sept. 7, then followed up three games later with a 45-14 rout of Waxahachie — a rival the Tigers hadn’t beaten in 12 years.
Lancaster is 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state. This is the first year Lancaster has been in the top 10.
“We’ve never been known in this state for football,” Mahone said. “I think