Duncanville wide receiver Trenton Yancey breaks away on a 55 yard touchdown run during the first half of the Class 6A Division I Region II final high school football playoff game against Waxahachie on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Midlothian.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
A lot has changed in Texas high school football for the 2026 season.
It goes beyond the fact that four Dallas-area top-10 recruits won’t be playing high school football in Texas this season, either because they transferred out of state or they reclassified so they could start college a year early.
February’s realignment caused the most change — and in some instances the most chaos — heading into Week 1 games for UIL schools that will be played Thursday through Saturday. There are new district alignments that fans will have to learn and that coaches and players will have to adapt to.
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Who faces the biggest challenges? Here are the five toughest districts in the Dallas area this season.
1. District 11-6A
The “District of Doom” lost 2025 Class 6A Division II state champion DeSoto, which moved down to 5A Division I in realignment. But there is no tougher district in D-FW with Duncanville, Waxahachie, North Crowley and Mansfield Lake Ridge expected to claim the four playoff spots.
Duncanville won Class 6A Division I state titles in 2022 and 2023 and was the state runner-up last year, while North Crowley was the 6A Division I state champion in 2024 and reached a regional final in 2025. Waxahachie was a regional finalist last year, losing to Duncanville, and enters this season ranked No. 1 in the state.
Those three teams are all ranked in the top six in the state this year, with North Crowley at No. 4 and Duncanville at No. 6. If that wasn’t deep enough, Lake Ridge won nine games last year and Crowley and Mansfield made the playoffs.
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2. District 8-5A Division I
Any district that includes four-time state champion DeSoto is going to be tough. DeSoto has won three state titles in the last four years, it has won at least 10 games in six consecutive seasons, and it returns Texas Tech pledge SaRod Baker at running back, Texas Tech pledge K’Adrian Redmond on the defensive line and added Penn State pledge Dhillon McGee as a transfer at cornerback.
Lancaster drops down from 6A to 5A Division I and is ranked No. 10 in the Dallas area, and it has the talent to win a lot of districts, maybe just not this one. Five-star junior James Foster III is rated the second-best safety in the nation in the Class of 2028, junior linebacker Amir Adkinson lists 17 college offers and three-star running back Victor Scott is committed to North Texas.
Cedar Hill is ranked No. 11 in the area, but that was before five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster decided to transfer to Buford (Ga.). Cedar Hill should still have a strong defensive line, as three-star seniors Jalen Price and Jeron Allen II are committed to Kansas State.
3. District 6-6A
Five-time state champion Allen, Prosper and 6A newcomer Prosper Walnut Grove headline this district. Those three teams combined to go 37-4 last year, including Walnut Grove finishing 12-1 in its final season as a 5A school.
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Allen is coming off a 14-1 season and state semifinal appearance in 6A Division I. It has a four-star quarterback in sophomore Ty Snell, who already has 35 college offers, and three-star wide receiver Zach Williams — a transfer from Bishop Lynch — lists 34 offers.
4. District 4-5A Division II
Two of the state’s best 4A programs jumped up to 5A and joined this district. Those are nine-time state champion Celina and Frisco Panther Creek.
Celina was a 14-1 state semifinalist last year and Panther Creek is coming off a 9-3 season. Celina has won 11 or more games each of the last five years, and Panther Creek is 30-7 over the last three years.
Anna is the favorite to win the district title and starts the year ranked No. 5 in the state in 5A Division II. When adding Frisco to the mix, this district has four teams ranked in the top 20 in the Dallas area.
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5. District 5-5A Division I
Frisco Lone Star was a 15-1 state runner-up last year, and it returns a wealth of talent on offense, including USC pledge Trey Wright at quarterback, four-star Baylor pledge Karece Hoyt as an athlete who will play all over the field and Michigan State pledge Zach Forbish at wide receiver. But a program that has won 10 or more games in eight of the last 11 seasons will be tested in this district.
Melissa is coming off a state semifinal appearance in 5A Division II before moving up to 5A Division I, and it has a new quarterback in Turner Wilkie, a transfer from Lincoln (Neb.) East who lists offers from Baylor and UT-San Antonio. Frisco Reedy was 8-4 last year and nearly beat Lone Star, losing 28-26.