Thanks to some holiday hustle by the Northwestern State Athletic Department and other university personnel, nearly 10,000 Texans came to Natchitoches Friday for two state playoff football games at Turpin Stadium.

Defending state champion Port Neches-Groves upset previously undefeated Texarkana High 31-28 in the Friday night game pitting two bigger Texas schools. Daingerfield dominated Newton in a small school contest earlier Friday.

Unlike in Louisiana, all playoff games are contested at neutral sites in Texas high school football. Turpin Stadium was agreed upon by the schools at the outset of last week, and NSU staff scrambled to line up ticket and other game operations personnel to host the two games during a holiday week when the university was closed.

In the big school matchup, Port Neches Groves sold 5,400 tickets in advance of game day, and Texas High sold another 2,900. Other fans traveled in and bought tickets at the stadium gates for both games.

All three VIP boxes were full along with the two-level press box.

During Friday, Texas license plates were abundant downtown, with several vehicles sporting team colors or flags as the visitors shopped and ate in the Natchitoches Historic District.

A few Texas playoff games have been hosted at Turpin Stadium through the years, but Friday’s was the first doubleheader, and by far the largest crowd to travel to Natchitoches for playoff football.