High School
Built Back Different: How Ingram Tom Moore Made Playoff History After Devastating Floods
Months after the July 4 floods ravaged their town, Ingram Tom Moore Warriors made back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in 41 years.
No one warned Ingram Tom Moore head coach Tate DeMasco to bring a change of clothes to the bi-district playoff game in the event of a Gatorade bath. He was sopping wet, sticking to the bus seat on the 80-mile drive back to Ingram, a ride so uncomfortable it convinced him this couldn’t be a dream — that his Warriors truly won the first playoff game since 2014.
After an upset 24-17 win over Hondo, a normal coach would’ve used the moment to boast to his team that they’d done what nobody believed they could. But DeMasco is not a normal coach, and this is not a normal season. They’d done what they themselves didn’t think they could, becoming the first Ingram Moore football team in 41 years to reach the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, months after the second-deadliest flood in Texas history ripped through their town and lives on July 4th.
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