Sulphur Springs Lady Cats & Wildcats Featured In 2025 Preseason Rankings
The 2023-2024 school year is finally in the books, bringing the long, slow, dog days of summer with its closing. While it may still be months before the 2024-2025 Texas High School sports season kicks off, that hasn’t stopped media outlets from going ahead and taking a look at what could be to come.
When it comes to Texas High School Soccer, Lethal Enforcer has become an outlet people turn to when they want to see where their favorite team is in the rankings. They split their rankings both by Top 25 in the State, and also Top 20 for each individual region.
With both the Sulphur Springs Lady Cats and Wildcats each having some of their best years in program history recently, they have both become staples of the Lethal Enforcer rankings. Last week, the outlet released their “2025 Way Too Early Preseason Rankings” and as expected, both Sulphur Springs teams were featured in prominent spots.
Sulphur Springs Lady Cats
Over the last few seasons, breaking old records and setting new ones has become tradition for the Sulphur Springs Lady Cats. After a down season in 2021-2022, the Lady Cats put together their strongest two-year stretch in program history, going a combined 43-10 in the last two seasons.
Their winning ways earned them their first district title in program history in the 2022-2023 season, igniting a fire that carried over into the postseason, where they would win back-to-back games against Chapel Hill and Palestine by a combined score of 11-0, before eventually losing to Kilgore in the Regional Quarterfinals.
Now with their first big taste of winning, the Lady Cats were as hungry as ever to repeat that success in the 2023-2024 season, and even take it to a new level. They were able to do exactly that, improving their record and once again defending their district title with an undefeated district run.
Once they were back in the postseason, the Lady Cats got off to another hot start, once again beating Chapel Hill and Palestine in back-to-back games, reaching the Regional Quarterfinals again. This time, they were able to make history, beating Bullard 3-1 and advancing the Regional Tournament for the first time in program history. While their historic run would come to an end, they gave Frisco Panther Creek everything they had, losing 3-2 in overtime.
After back-to-back historic seasons, the expectations are very high for the Sulphur Springs Lady Cats, with Lethal Enforcer ranking them No. 3 in 4A in their preseason poll. The only two teams ahead of them are Celina and Salado, with Celina also being in Region 2.
While the Lady Cats did lose a number of strong seniors this season, they return a lot of talent, including Rowan Faircloth, who broke the Lady Cats’ single-season scoring record in her junior year. Sulphur Springs will also return Jolea Moore and Addy Fenton, making three of their top four scorers from last year coming back.
With a ton of strong returning talent, and with the momentum of back-to-back historic seasons, the No. 3 preseason ranking is well deserved for the Sulphur Springs Lady Cats.
Sulphur Springs Wildcats
Much like the Lady Cats, winning has become tradition for the Sulphur Springs Wildcats. The Wildcats entered the 2023-2024 with high expectations, as they had made the playoffs in each of their five seasons with Coach Alexi Upton at the helm.
The momentum was at an all-time high, coming off a Co-District championship, and looking to earn the title of sole District Champions this time around. They were able to do exactly that, dominating the competition in district, going 10-2 and outscoring their opponents 52-8, winning an outright district championship and going into the postseason as the No. 1 seed.
For a second season in a row, the Wildcats opened postseason play with a huge win, shutting out Bullard 4-0. Unfortunately for the District Champion Wildcats, their season would come to an end in the Area round, falling just short in a 3-1 match against Palestine.
With progress and improvement being made in each of the last few seasons, the experts expect more of the same in 2024-2025, placing them No. 15 in 4A and No. 4 in Region 2. While the Wildcats lost a good group of seniors, they also have a ton of returning talent, bringing back eight starters from last season and 19 total players.
After going from Co-District champions to sole District Champions last year, the goal this year is to be undefeated district champions in 2024-2025 Coach Upton said. As the highest ranked team in their district, the fourth ranked team in Region 2 and the 15th ranked team in the state, they will have a great opportunity to do exactly that.
