District 9-6A
Allen
Prosper
McKinney
Plano
Dallas Jesuit
McKinney Boyd
Plano East
Plano West
Allen Reloaded, Ready to Soar Again in 2019
As the great meme would say: One does not simply have a down year. That is most likely the case with Allen in 2019 as it enters the year with just six returning starters from a team that went 14-0 before falling in the state semifinals. The program is deep though - exceptionally deep. Allen is said to bring back 56 lettermen to the team, so there's talen a-plenty ready to step in a make its own mark. Terry Gambill's team will be extremely new on defense, though, with only one returning starter, so the offense will have to control the ball a little more than people would expect from an Allen team.
Prosper returns eight from last year's team that made it to the area finals in its first year in 6A. Five of those starters come on the defensive side of the ball, which will need to take that next step up for Prosper to make a deeper run. Graduating 44 lettermen is tough for a program to overcome, but with 24 lettermen coming back, the foundation is set for this burgeoning power.
After getting all of its wins in district play and getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs, McKinney has 13 starters back and ready to make Year 2 of the Marcus Shavers era a big improvement. Look for McKinney to utilize 3-star defensive lineman Mitchell Tyler as the catalyst on the defensive side of the ball. He has Defensive MVP-level type talent as evident by his 85 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two sacks last year.
Having just missed out on the playoffs last year, expect Plano to nab the last playoff spot this year as it returns 11 starters and 21 lettermen. The offense has seven starters back and the biggest question mark will be who takes the reigns at quarterback. The key for Plano to make the playoffs this year will be to capitalize on the inexperience of the other teams in the district.
VYPE Preseason Awards
MVP: RB Celdon Manning, Allen
Offensive MVP: RB/WR EJ Smith, Dallas Jesuit
Defensive MVP: DL Mitchell Tyler, McKinney
Breakout Player of the Year: RB Tylan Hines, Plano
Sleeper Team: Dallas Jesuit
