The University Interscholastic League realigns schools every two years, and when it unveiled its latest shuffle in February, one district in Class 5A looked like a football monster.
District 8-5A included
Allen,
Plano,
Plano East and
Plano West, which are among the biggest schools in the state and each made the playoffs in 2009. They were joined in 8-5A by perennial playoff teams
Flower Mound,
Marcus (Flower Mound) and
Hebron (Carrollton).
Lewisville could finish eighth in the district, it seemed, and it would still be good enough to beat playoff teams from other districts.
"If there's a tougher district out there, I'd like to see it," Marcus coach Bryan Erwin said after looking over his new district. "Each week is going to be tough. It's going to be like the SEC."
District 8-5A appears to be as good as expected. With one week of nondistrict play remaining, 8-5A teams have rolled up an 18-4 record. Six of the teams are in The Dallas Morning News 5A top 20, and the two that aren't, Lewisville and Flower Mound, are each 2-1.
The district race will start with a bang as Allen, No. 3 in the area rankings, faces No. 6 Plano in a matchup of unbeatens on Sept. 24. Allen has won 31 straight district games dating back to 2005, when it lost to Plano.
More top stories of the last week from around the Dallas area:
2. Aledo ends Lake Travis’ win streak: Running back
Johnathan Gray rushed for 145 yards and the winning touchdown as
Aledo beat
Lake Travis (Austin) 14-10 to end the Cavaliers' 48-game win streak. Lake Travis' loss wasn't a huge surprise because star quarterback
Michael Brewer, a Texas Tech commitment, missed the game with an injured shoulder. Aledo is also the defending 4A Division II champion and was ranked No. 2 in the state before beating Lake Travis. It took over the top spot after beating the three-time defending champion in 4A Division I.
DeSoto High's Ryan Polite.
Photo by Tom Lemming
, the defending Florida 6A champion, traveled to
DeSoto as part of the Texas-Florida Showcase, and the game truly was a showcase of athletes. DeSoto won 42-41 after Miramar failed on a two-point conversion attempt in overtime. Quarterback
Ryan Polite threw three touchdown passes for DeSoto, giving him 12 on the season.
4. Highland Park escapes scare at Sherman: Highland Park (Dallas), the Dallas area's top-ranked 4A team, rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to beat
Sherman, 43-42. Sherman missed a 23-yard field goal attempt with 16 seconds left.
5. Marcus volleyball team knocks off Coppell: Marcus (Flower Mound), the No. 7 team in the 5A state rankings, finished tuning up for district play by beating another area power,
Coppell, in four games. Marcus' big showdown in district competition should come in two weeks against Hebron, which is No. 2 in the state.
TOP PERFORMERS* Trevon Boykin, West Mesquite, football: The senior quarterback, who is committed to TCU, passed for 311 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-37 victory over Corsicana. Boykin also rushed 16 times for 167 yards and a touchdown.
* Tyrone Darling, Seguin (Arlington), football: The linebacker had 19 tackles and forced two fumbles in a 26-24 victory over Carter, helping Seguin (2-1) to its best start since 2006.
* Troy Taylor, Northwest (Justin), cross country: Taylor won the Southlake Carroll Invitational Boys Elite 5K with a time of 15 minutes, 31.2 seconds. He finished just ahead of Lake Highlands' Meron Fessahaie (15:32.80).
RECRUITINGLiberty (Frisco) receiver
Cameron Brown, a 6-2, 195-pound senior who has caught three touchdown passes through two games, has orally committed to Minnesota. He's expected to join a stream of local athletes that have headed to the Gophers the last few seasons, including four former stars at Skyline (Dallas): receivers Da'Jon McKnight and Troy Stoudermire and linebackers Keanon Cooper and Spencer Reeves.
LOOKING AHEAD* Just six days after taking on Miramar (Fla.), DeSoto faces another powerhouse when
Stony Point (Round Rock) visits Friday night. DeSoto is No. 7 in the 5A state rankings and Stony Point is No. 3. Stony Point's last game against a Dallas-area school was in last year's 5A Division semifinals, where it lost to Trinity (Euless), 35-28. Trinity is now MaxPreps' top-ranked team in the nation.
FINAL THOUGHTIn the last four years,
Lovejoy (Lucas) is the only Dallas-area school that has won a UIL volleyball title. Lovejoy has actually won two, back-to-back 3A titles in 2008 and '09, but that wasn't enough to shut down questions about why Dallas-area volleyball teams are struggling at state. This could be the year when the trend reverses, as the latest state rankings have Dallas-area teams at the top in 3A (Lovejoy) and 4A (
Pearce of Richardson) There are also four local teams in the 5A top 10:
Hebron (Carrollton) at No. 2, Marcus at No. 7,
Martin (Arlington) at No. 8 and
Grapevine at No. 9.
Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or on Twitter @mattwixon.
