Mikail Trotter runs for 143 yards and three touchdowns as Bears win third title in five years.
South Oak Cliff (Dallas) avenged last year's state championship loss to
Randle (Richmond), striking early and silencing the defending champions 35-19 to win the UIL Conference 5A Division 2 title on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Senior running back
Mikail Trotter ran for 143 yards on 11 carries and scored three times to lead the Bears to their third state championship in the past five years. South Oak Cliff has reached five consecutive state finals, previously winning in 2021 and 2022.
Last year, Trotter ran for 171 yards and two scores in the state final loss to Randle. This year, he helped set the tone with first-half rushing scores of 30 and 40 yards and continued with a 44-yard scoring run on the first play of the second half that made it 35-10.
South Oak Cliff senior Mikail Trotter runs for one of his three touchdowns in Saturday's 35-19 victory over Randle in the UIL Conference 5A Division 2 championship at AT&T Stadium. (PHOTO: Alex Garza)
South Oak Cliff (15-1) capitalized on a first-quarter turnover as
Xavier Mayfield intercepted a Randle pass and returned it to the Lions’ 25-yard line.
Jayden Williams found
Torrin Teague in the end zone for a 7-yard score a few plays later. Teague added a 38-yard touchdown out of a wildcat that gave South Oak a 21-7 lead after one quarter.
Five-star junior recruit
Landen Williams-Callis, who ran for 106 yards in last year’s final, returned a kickoff out of his own end zone for a touchdown of 100-plus yards in the first half and scored on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter. Williams-Callis, who has more than 60 collegiate offers, finished with 121 yards on 32 carries, boosting his season totals to 3,491 yards with 59 touchdowns.
Raul Vega hit a pair of field goals from 32 and 31 yards for Randle (15-1).
South Oak Cliff’s only loss this year was 38-35 to
Duncanville on Sept. 5. Two weeks later, the Bears went on a streak of seven straight shutouts to close the regular season, outscoring opponents 371-0 during that stretch. In the postseason, South Oak beat
Crandall 49-18,
Mt. Pleasant 46-7,
Terrell 45-17,
Port Neches-Groves (Port Neches) 28-0 and
Melissa 35-17.
