North Crowley running back Kiante Ingram (23) pushes past Duncanville’s Jeremy Clayton II (12) during the first half of a District 11-6A high school football game on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Duncanville.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Here are five storylines to watch in Week 7 of the Texas high school football season.
Showdown in 11-6A
The game of the year in Texas is finally here. Nationally ranked North Crowley plays at Class 6A state No. 1 Waxahachie on Friday in a game that could decide the District 11-6A title.
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North Crowley, ranked No. 19 in the nation by MaxPreps, is 5-0 and has outscored the opposition 189-74. Waxahachie, also 5-0, has been even more dominant and has outscored its opponents 267-109 for an average margin of victory of 31.6 points.
North Crowley’s Kiante Ingram and North Texas pledge G’yrell Smith have combined to run for 1,019 yards and 16 touchdowns and are arguably the top running back duo in the Dallas area. A Waxahachie offense that averages 53.4 points can beat teams with the running of Taylen Strange (630 yards and 12 touchdowns) or the passing of South Carolina pledge Jerry Meyer III (1,306 yards and 16 touchdowns).
This will probably be the only meeting of the season between these two powerhouses. Waxahachie is likely to end up in the 6A Division I playoff bracket and North Crowley will probably go Division II, even though their enrollments are 26 students apart.
Offensive shootout
Two of the top offenses in the Dallas area will collide when 6-0 Lovejoy plays at 5-1 Argyle on Friday. Argyle ranks second among D-FW 5A teams in scoring at 54.3 points and Lovejoy is third at 51.3 points. They both average more than 500 yards of total offense — 524 for Argyle and 521.2 for Lovejoy.
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The game will also feature the top two 5A receivers in the area with Lovejoy’s Coleman Reaugh and four-star Texas Tech pledge Julian Caldwell from Argyle. Reaugh has 42 catches for 811 yards and seven touchdowns and Caldwell has caught 34 passes for 735 yards and 14 touchdowns despite having played in only four games.
Lovejoy will be looking to avenge a 56-0 loss to Argyle in the first round of the playoffs last season. Caldwell had six catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
Big test for DeSoto
Four-time state champion DeSoto will get its toughest test yet from a Class 5A team since dropping down to the UIL’s second-largest classification in realignment. DeSoto (3-2, 2-0) will play at Lancaster (4-1, 2-0) on Friday in a game that could decide the District 8-5A Division I title.
Four-star Texas Tech pledge SaRod Baker from DeSoto is rated the fifth-best running back in the nation in the Class of 2027 but has been sharing time at quarterback in recent weeks and has run for 639 yards and nine touchdowns. He rushed for 212 yards and four touchdowns in a 52-6 win over Midlothian on Sept. 25.
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Baker will be facing one of the area’s best defensive players in Lancaster five-star junior safety James Foster III. The second-ranked safety in the nation lists 43 college offers, including Miami, Texas, Notre Dame and Alabama.
Pivotal games in 3-6A
If Arlington Bowie can win its next two games, it should win the District 3-6A title. That won’t be easy by any means.
Bowie (3-2, 2-0) plays at 12-time state champion Aledo (2-3, 1-1) on Friday and then plays co-district leader Arlington Martin (5-0, 2-0) on Oct. 16. Martin ended Aledo’s state-record 136-game district winning streak with a 35-21 victory on Sept. 25 and is trying to win a district title after missing the playoffs the last two years.
Bowie beat Martin 56-43 last year and 34-24 in 2024. Aledo has struggled in its first season in Class 6A, as it already has as many losses as the last three seasons combined. This is the first time Aledo has lost three games in a season since 2007, when it finished 11-3.
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State final rematch
Parish Episcopal will play at Argyle Liberty Christian on Friday in a rematch of the 2024 TAPPS Division I state championship game that Liberty Christian won 45-24. That was the only playoff loss for Parish Episcopal in the last seven years, as it has won six state titles in that span, including last year.
Parish Episcopal quarterback Logan Lucero threw 27 touchdown passes as a freshman last year and has 13 in the first seven games this year. He will be going against the top private school player in the state in Liberty Christian’s Cooper Witten, a five-star Oklahoma pledge who is rated the third-best athlete in the nation in the Class of 2027.
In last week’s 65-43 win over Plano Prestonwood Christian, Witten had a team-high 18 tackles (per USA Today) and also caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He isn’t Liberty Christian’s only offensive weapon, as Crews Messer has thrown for 1,896 yards and 25 touchdowns for a 4-2 team and Kansas State pledge Correll Buckhalter Jr. has run for 1,087 yards and 17 touchdowns.
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