Below are SportsDayHS’ choices for all-area coach, utility player and newcomer of the year following the 2025 football season. Selections were made by the SportsDayHS staff. Find more awards from the 2025 season at the end of this story.
Coach of the YearClaude Mathis, DeSoto
DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis is doused with water after winning a Class 6A Division II state semifinal game against Southlake Carroll, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Mansfield. DeSoto defeated Southlake Carroll 57-44.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Claude Mathis heard it all after DeSoto started the season 0-2, and he took note of it.
“DeSoto’s dynasty is over.”
“It’s the end of an era.”
At Marshall High School in 2017, Mathis’ team started 0-2 but he’d never been 0-2 throughout his two stints at DeSoto dating back to 2008.
What better way to answer an 0-2 start? How about a combined 144-0 margin of victory over the next two games? What about thoroughly beating a Waxahachie team, 40-17, that was coming off a massive win over your arch-rival Duncanville? Not to mention the DeSoto defense held opponents to just over 21 points per game after that start while averaging 55 points offensively.
High School Sports
Fast-forward three months and that same roster that started 0-2 accomplished something only three others in the program’s history had done – another state championship.
“Somebody said it was the end of an era,” Mathis passionately exclaimed after DeSoto’s state semifinal win over Southlake Carroll on Victory+. “It’s just beginning.”
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As evidenced from his post-game interview after the semifinal, Mathis is someone who’s never shied away from criticism. But perhaps more notably, he’s also taught his team how to embrace it and use it as fuel.
“We take the notes and we keep them, and our kids don’t come back out and say anything else, but we keep it in-house,” Mathis said. “There was not a day that went by that I did not relay the message on how people felt about us and what we need to do in order to get better, we took it to heart. We keep a lot of notes.”
Mathis’ team went from historic for the wrong reasons to historic for the right ones. It was spearheaded by the breakout second-half from junior running back SaRod Baker who ended the year with over 3,000 rushing yards, 1,600 of which came in the playoffs alone. Baker even played a lot at quarterback, starting against Corpus Christi Miller with Legend Howell out. He arguably didn’t play full-time running back until October. Baker had just 71 carries as a sophomore sitting behind current Texas A&M running back Tiger Riden.
“We develop our kids, and that’s one thing that I’m very proud of about our coaches,” Mathis said. “We develop our kids, so when they say we don’t have a DJ (Bailey) coming up, or we don’t say we have a Legend (Howell) or a Tiger (Riden) coming up, we know what we have.”
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Mathis, alongside South Oak Cliff head coach Jason Todd, became the first Black football coach to win three UIL state championships.
“It means that we’ve opened the door and continue to open the door for other coaches like ourselves that can do this,” Mathis said. “I’m just shaking my head like me, little old Claude Mathis from Bartlett, Texas, a country town, small town, and I’ve done something that nobody else has ever done before, except (Jason) Todd did a couple of hours before I did, so it means the world to me.”
Others considered: Duncanville’s Reginald Samples, Frisco Lone Star’s Jeff Rayburn and South Oak Cliff’s Jason Todd
Recent Coach of the Year winners
2018: Reginald Samples, Duncanville
2019: Dave Henigan, Denton Ryan
2020: Channon Hall, Mansfield Summit
2021: Jason Todd, South Oak Cliff
2022: Claude Mathis, DeSoto and Reginald Samples, Duncanville
2023: Seth Parr, Anna
2024: Ray Gates, North Crowley
Utility Player of the YearTrenton Yancey, Duncanville
Duncanville wide receiver Trenton Yancey (6) celebrates after scoring on a 27 yard touchdown run during the second half of a Class 6A Division I state semifinal.high school football playoff game against Allen on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Mesquite.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Positions: Wide receiver, quarterback
Height: 6-0
Weight: 180 pounds
He may not have the biggest statistical output, but if you want to talk about adding value to the team with versatility, there was one utility talent whose team’s offensive identity relied on him by season’s end.
Perhaps the biggest reason why Duncanville wasn’t knocked off course during the playoffs with the absence of quarterback Maximus The Great Denson, was due to junior Trenton Yancey taking his game to a new level.
After not taking a single snap behind center the entire regular season, Duncanville head coach Reginald Samples inserted his junior wideout as a gadget option at quarterback when the post-season started. But it wasn’t really until the team’s area-round win over Klein Collins when the four-star wideout proved his versatility when he ran for over 100 yards and recorded three touchdowns.
In fact, in the playoffs alone, Yancey recorded 14 total touchdowns, 10 on the ground, more than doubling his regular season total at receiver (4). He didn’t have a single rushing attempt during the regular season.
“We’re trying to get the ball to runners who can run, guys who can catch,” Samples said at the time. “So we’re just trying to get more guys involved.”
Yancey instantly became Duncanville’s most effective rushing threat, averaging 12.5 yards per carry, and still maintained his potency at receiver. Until the state championship, he averaged 77 yards on the ground and 60 receiving. Duncanville never hid the fact that Yancey was solely a rushing threat either. He didn’t attempt a single pass while behind center meaning that defenses knew exactly what was happening when he lined up at quarterback and still couldn’t stop him.
Other considered: Frisco Lone Star’s Karece Hoyt
Recent Utility Player of the Year winners
2018: Drew Sanders, Denton Ryan
2019: Drew Sanders, Denton Ryan
2020: Ja’Tavion Sanders, Denton Ryan
2021: Peyton Bowen, Denton Guyer
2022: Peyton Bowen, Denton Guyer
2023: Davian Groce, Frisco Lone Star
2024: Davian Groce, Frisco Lone Star
Newcomer of the YearTrey Wright, Frisco Lone Star
Lone Star’s quarterback Trey Wright (3) carries the ball as Aledo’s Kutter Harrell (15) tries to stop him in the first half of a Class 5A Division I state semifinal football game at Vernon Newsom Stadium, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in Mansfield.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
Position: Quarterback
Height: 5-11
Weight: 175 pounds
It’s hard to argue that anyone made more of an instant-impact on his team’s season than Frisco Lone Star sophomore Trey Wright.
How good was he?
Prior to even taking a live varsity snap, head coach Jeff Rayburn didn’t hesitate to insert him as the team’s starter before the season despite having an all-state Baylor commit in Karece Hoyt man the position in 2024.
“The kid’s special,” Rayburn said with a wide grin after Wright’s debut against Argyle on August 29 in which he threw for over 300 yards and ran for 140. “When the ball is in his hands, great things are gonna happen. He makes everybody better.”
Wright’s talent was on full display helping lead Lone Star to its second-ever state championship appearance with over 3,800 yards passing and 1,600 yards rushing.
And Rayburn was right, Wright also made everyone better in addition to his own production. His emergence allowed Hoyt to flourish on both sides of the ball and finish as the team’s second leading rusher and interceptions leader. Florida signee Davian Groce had his best statistical season going for over 1,500 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns.
Even though he shared the field with two Power Four commits, Wright was the primary focus of eventual state-champion Smithson Valley’s defensive gameplan.
“Our game plan was obviously to counter (Trey Wright) and to keep him contained,” Colton Hornsby said after the game. “I think our D-Line just dominated in that factor and it was just a matter of working.”
He’s already received offers from the likes of Cincinnati, North Texas and Texas State, according to 247Sports, so this could be only the start of a special high school career.
Others considered: South Oak Cliff quarterback Jayden Williams, Duncanville quarterback Maximus The Great Denson, Melissa quarterback Brett Holloway and Coppell quarterback Carter Zinglemann
Recent Newcomer of the Year winners
2018: Trysten Smith, Duncanville running back
2019: Quinn Ewers, Southlake Carroll quarterback
2020: CJ Rogers, Argyle, quarterback
2021: Alexander Franklin, Lovejoy quarterback
2022: Evan Bullock, Anna quarterback
2023: Davis Penn, Southlake Carroll running back
2024: Buck Randall, Highland Park quarterback
The DMN’s 2025 Defensive Player of the Year: South Oak Cliff’s Ja’Marion PhillipsSportsDayHS 2025 all-area football teams: See full first and second teams for offense
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.