Larry Hill passes Jim Streety as San Antonio area's all-time winningest football coach
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In typical Larry Hill fashion, he wasn't about to have a big to-do about a landmark victory.
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Still, though, it's worth acknowledging his Smithson Valley Rangers' 84-7 home win against Cedar Creek on Thursday for No. 344 in his storied 36-season head coaching career. That puts him one ahead of Jim Streety and No. 1 - alone - on the Greater San Antonio all-time coaching list.
"Milestones are milestones," Hill said after the game. "They're numbers. I'm glad to get to it. I feel a little bit funny about Larry Hill winning three hundred whatever game it is. We've had a lot of great assistant coaches, a lot of great players and lot of great community support. My name's atop the stationary, but a lot of people had a big part of this and we're proud of that."
It was a typical Smithson Valley Rangers postgame. Hill answered a few questions, and his players ran straight to the locker room. His wife Lori and several of Hill's grandchildren celebrated with him on the field.
"That's just how he is," said Josh Adkins, who is Smithson Valley's all-time leading passer and now on the Rangers coaching staff. "He's as humble as they come. And he teaches his kids and us coaches to do the same thing. He's as selfless as they get, and he just does things the right way."
Hill's march to history was a no-doubter from the start on Thursday.
Noah Johnson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score that started an avalanche of touchdowns as the Rangers piled on the most points in Hill's 447-game career.
Being one better than Streety - the former Madison and New Braunfels coach who won 343 in 40 seasons - carries special significance because they are close friends. They speak regularly by phone and see each other on Sundays at Oakwood Church in New Braunfels, along with D.W. Rutledge, who forged a legendary career at Judson.
"I don't know if my name belongs in the same sentence as Jim Streety and D.W. Rutledge," Hill said. "They both go to my church, and they are heroes of mine. They've been big mentors to me and are still great friends."
Streety hoped to be at the record-breaking game, but he was out-of-town on a pre-planned trip. Streety called Hill on Monday to let him know.
"I wanted to be the first one on the field to shake his hand," Streety told the Express-News on Tuesday.
There will be plenty of time for them to talk about it, most likely when they meet up again at church in two Sundays after Streety returns to town.
"Our preacher probably thinks maybe this is a ceremonial occasion, so maybe one of us could drop something in the offering plate for one," Hill said. "We've been a little negligent on that lately."
After his retirement in 2013, Streety knew it was a matter of time before Hill caught up.
"It's a natural progression that I have felt for some time," Streety said. "I felt if Larry stuck around, he would probably get me."
Entering the season, Hill had 340 career wins, which included 10 in two years (1989 and 1990) at Jourdanton. That was three shy of Streety. The Rangers improved to 4-0 on Thursday.
Streety had planned to be there for the record-breaker. Originally, everyone thought that would be at Manor last week. However, the Rangers' season-opener against Katy Cinco Ranch was canceled because of weather. That pushed back the earliest date to achieve the milestone by a week.
Hill and Streety faced off 11 times, including twice each in 2005 and 2007 - once in the regular season and the other in the playoffs. Smithson Valley won twice in the 2005, which included a 50-20 win in the state quarterfinals. In 2007, Madison won twice with a 35-30 overtime win in the state quarterfinals. Hill's Rangers had an 8-3 advantage against Streety's Mavericks.
Smithson Valley head coach Larry Hill cheers on his team during a game between Smithson Valley and Cedar Creek on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026 at Smithson Valley Ranger Stadium, in Spring Branch, Texas. (Andrew J. Whitaker/San Antonio Express-News)"We had some pretty good matchups," Streety said. "I gained so much respect for Larry. I always thought he was as good a game planner as I coached against. They had a plan for just about everything."
Smithson Valley defensive coordinator Craig Wersterfer has had up-close view of both. Wersterfer played quarterback and defensive back for Streety at New Braunfels in 1981 and 1982. During that time, he was part of 21 of Streety's victories, which included 12 wins and a run to the state semifinals in 1982.
Wersterfer was already on the staff at Smithson Valley when Hill took over in 1993. He never left and coached alongside Hill for 334 wins for the Rangers.
It's probably no surprise that Streety and Hill share the same blueprint for success.
"From what I remember from playing for Coach Streety in high school was his attention to detail," Wersterfer said. "In his special teams meetings, much like we do know, we have the same type of bullet points. There are a lot of great similarities between both of them, which is why they get so much attention from around the state, and it's well deserved."
Streety's relationship with the Hill family stretches back to the early 1960s. Streety played for Smiley High School and once faced Falls City, coached by Hill's father, Glenn Hill Sr..
"That was back in the stone ages," Streety joked. "Larry was a little kid. Obviously, it becomes a little more personal."
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