7-6A
Cedar Hill
DeSoto
Mansfield Lake Ridge
South Grand Prairie
Mansfield Summit
Grand Prairie
Mansfield
Waxahachie
Can Cedar Hill Shake Off Last Year's Early Exit?
Typically dubbed the "District of Doom," 7-6A hasn't had a state representative since 2016 when DeSoto won the 6A DII state crown. The district might be down in respect to previous years, but the talent is certainly there at the top. And a new-but-former coach is back on the sidelines.
Last year's first round loss was certainly surprising to many, if not all associated with Texas high school football. Cedar Hill will have to shake off any hangovers from that loss very quickly with a very tough non-district schedule to start the year - Allen, Denton Guyer and Mesquite Horn. While a 9-2 finish is a very good season, Cedar Hill fully expects long playoff runs and is fully loaded with 28 lettermen and 12 starters back to make a deep playoff run.
Claude Mathis is back on the DeSoto sidelines where he guided the Eagles to a state title in 2016 and then left for SMU and then Marshall before coming back. DeSoto went to the second round last year but only return eight starters from a year ago. The defense will be lead Mathis' squad this year with six starters back and great talent at all levels. DeSoto will need to figure out its quarterback situation, but luckily have a stable of running backs to lean on offensively.
Lake Ridge could easily be the sleeper team in this district. With a second-place finish last year, nine wins, getting the furthest in the playoffs (regional semifinals) among its district counterparts and having 11 starters back, the Eagles have the experience and returning talent on both sides of the ball to make these predictions quite awful.
Thirteen starters are back for South Grand Prairie that finished 5-6 and made the playoffs last year. Brent Whiston's team should see improvements in quarterback Drake Logan from a year ago as he will have a full year of playing with the current core of skills players - ATH Titus Jackson, RB Javarius Crawford and WR Deamikkio Nathan.
VYPE Preseason Awards
MVP: WR Kylan Johnson, Mansfield Lake Ridge
Offensive MVP: ATH Quin Bright, Cedar Hill
Defensive MVP: CB Jabbar Muhammed, DeSoto
Breakout Player of the Year: QB Adrian Hawkins, Mansfield Lake Ridge
Sleeper Team: Mansfield Summit
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
