GAMES
RANKINGS
STORY-BOOK ENDING: Mayde Creek shocks state, wins cheer state gold
Megan Montgomery left her corporate job at Academy Sports and Outdoors in product development three years ago… to become a State Champion?
In one of the most inspiring stories in Houston high school sports this year, the Mayde Creek cheer team won the Class 6A DI UIL State Championship earlier this month.
Why so inspiring?
Montgomery is in her first year as the Rams’ head coach. She cheered at The Colony High School in the DFW-area and worked National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) Camps as a teenager. She didn’t cheer in college and learned how to navigate the high school hallways and lead new-age teenagers in a matter of months.
“I didn’t love the corporate life,” the University of Arkansas grad said. “I just wasn’t making an impact in other people’s lives. When I saw this job open up, I went for it. It was a complete 180 from what I was doing, but it was a calling.
“I just built a personal relationship with each girl and figured out how to coach them as a team and individually,” she said. “I’m a big detail person, and they started to trust me and bought in. When they started believing they could compete at a high level, their confidence grew very quickly.”
Montgomery leaned on the likes of Trinity Jackson, MacKenzie Espinoza, Camila Rodriguez and Ashayla Phillips along the way.
“Camilla just has that infectious energy and keeps everyone up, while Mackenzie battled back pain and just killed it,” she said. “Ashayla was an alternate and on JV much of the year, but stepped up when we needed her. Trinity is just a star. She was so coachable and led by example.”
…
The State Cheer event is usually won by schools loaded with all-star cheerleaders who work daily on their craft at well-known gyms, and travel nationwide to compete against other elite-level teams in a multi-million-dollar business.
“God is good,” Montgomery said. “For some programs, a win is just another win… it means much more at Mayde Creek.”
The Rams, who have one all-state competitive cheerleader, battled through routine changes, injuries, and position substitutes every step of the way this fall and winter.
“We were changing our routine between the prelims and the finals at State,” Montgomery laughed. “That brought me back to my NCA Camp days when I was given a team from somewhere in Texas, and I had to create and clean up their routines on the fly. That experience helped.
“We had JV cheerleaders step up when the lights were the brightest. We have a girl getting an MRI on her knee even today after leaving it all on the mat.”
Mayde Creek (89.77) edged out Seven Lakes (89.40) and Katy Jordan (88.73) to win the title, which is even more story-book. All three are Katy ISD programs.
“When they announced our name, we just paused,” she said. “We didn’t realize they said Mayde Creek. We just cried on that mat, just stunned. What was so encouraging was that the other Katy ISD schools were so excited for us. They cheered us on all the way and had our backs. Our kids will never forget that.
“It is still sinking in. We are still so grateful for the experience,” she said. “It’s truly a God thing.”
LATE TO THE PARTY: Mayde Creek’s Haastrup new to recruiting scene
Every year there always seems to be one prospect in the city of Houston who bursts onto the recruiting scene, late to the party.
This year, look no further than Mayde Creek’s Tobi Haastrup -- a 2025 DE who has picked up 21 offers in the past month -- and went from unknown to a 4-Star national recruit overnight.
How did he get here?
...
Haastrup’s journey to football is more unique than most, starting with living ‘across the pond’ in London.
“I lived in London for nine years and the main sports over their were futbol and and track, so that’s what I played when I moved over to the US," he said. "I really was trying to get a track scholarship originally, but realized if you’re not running a 10.1 or 10.2, there aren’t many schools offering you for track.”
After some convincing from some coaches, Haastrup traded in his spikes for cleats.
“The football coaches came up to me over the offseason and convinced me to give football a shot," he said. "They told me I had the size and the speed, so I decided to give it a shot for my senior year.
“I went to SAC (speed and strength) camp all summer and trained non-stop. I really knew nothing about what I was doing other than getting off the ball, because it was similar to getting a good start out of the blocks in track.”
Many people who have only been playing football for three months might struggle or have a slow start, but Haastrup introduced himself to Texas High School football was a bang.
In his first game playing the sport, Haastrup finished the game with four sacks, seven tackles and two QB pressures, a stat line that even many high-level 5-star prospects might not eclipse in their high school careers.
“Before the first game I really was just leaving it up to God, praying for the confidence in myself to go out there and apply what I had learned so far,” he said.
After that first game stat line, Haastrup got his first taste of the recruiting process picking up 21 offers from some big-time Power 4 programs overnight.
“I always thought that I would get a scholarship to run track, so whenever they started to come in for football I just had to thank God. None of this would be possible without him.”
Haastrup will have a big decision coming around signing day and will be visiting LSU, Boston College, Missouri, Ole Miss and Florida State in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned.