Check out notable 2026 nondistrict football games, including state champions facing off<\/a><\/p>\nThe playoffs take place over six weeks during November and December. The rounds contested are the bi-district round, the area round, the regional semifinals, the regional finals, the state semifinals and the state championship. The state title games have been regularly held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington since 2010, a year after the Cowboys moved to the venue.<\/p>\n
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![\"DeSoto]()
<\/p>\n
DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis lifts the championship trophy after a victory over C.E. King in the 6A Division II football state championship game at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Key programs<\/p>\n
These are some of the most successful programs in D-FW:<\/p>\n
Aledo: Just moved up to compete in Class 6A, District 3. The school, located west of Fort Worth, is a record 12-time state champion across 3A, 4A and 5A (1998, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)<\/p>\n
Allen: Currently in District 6-6A. The largest school in the\u00a0UIL with more than 6,500 students. It’s a five-time state champion (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017).<\/p>\n
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![\"Celina]()
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Celina quarterback Bowe Bentley (1) celebrates after the final play of a victory over Kilgore in the Class 4A Division I state football championship game on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Celina: They have won nine state championships (1974,1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2024) across various levels. The school moved up to Class 5A-II in 2026 and will play in District 4.<\/p>\n
Duncanville: Currently competes in District 11-6A. Three-time state champion (1998, 2022 and 2023) and a seven-time state title game participant.<\/p>\n
DeSoto: The school just moved down to Class 5A-I after winning the 6A Division II state title in 2025. It is a four-time state champion (2016, 2022, 2023, 2025).<\/p>\n
Highland Park: This affluent Dallas enclave competes in Class 5A-I District 6. It has won six state championships (1945, 1957, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2018) and is the winningest program in state history with more than 900 victories all time.<\/p>\n
Plano: A historic D-FW powerhouse that has not been in statewide contention recently, this program now competes in 6A District 7. It is a seven-time state champion (1965, 1967, 1971, 1977, 1986, 1987, 1994).<\/p>\n
![\"South]()
<\/p>\n
South Oak Cliff poses a photo with the trophy after a Class 5A Division II football state championship game against Richmond Randle at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. SOC toppled defending champion Randle 35-19.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
South Oak Cliff: This Dallas ISD school competes in Class 5A-II District 5 along with a bevy of DISD opponents. They have been a dominant force of late, winning three state titles in 2021, 2022 and 2025 under head coach Jason Todd.<\/p>\n
Southlake Carroll: This program currently competes in 6A District 4. The program is an eight-time state champion (1988, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011).\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"ORG]()
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ORG XMIT: *S18B334AB* Highland Park quarterback Matthew Stafford (7)drops back to throw against Terrel in High School football action at Highlander Stadium in University Park Friday night, October 14, 2005.
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94782<\/p>\n
Notable\u00a0D-FW standouts<\/p>\n
Here is a look at some of the biggest football players who have emerged from Dallas-area high schools through the decades.<\/p>\n
Name, high school, final season<\/p>\n
Davey O\u2019Brien, Dallas Wilson, 1934<\/p>\n
Bobby Layne, Highland Park, 1943<\/p>\n
Doak Walker, Highland Park, 1945<\/p>\n
Tim Brown, Dallas Wilson, 1983<\/p>\n
Jessie Armstead, Dallas Carter, 1988<\/p>\n
Matthew Stafford, Highland Park, 2006<\/p>\n
Myles Garrett, Arlington Martin, 2013<\/p>\n
Kyler Murray, Allen, 2014<\/p>\n
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rockwall, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duncanville quarterback J’Coryon Rivers (14) celebrates with teammates after a victory over Allen in a Class 6A Division…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[300,5964,15680,27,29,28,4432,89283,109276,92871],"class_list":["post-351426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-football","tag-listicle","tag-newcomer","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-things-to-know","tag-tp-all-schools-school","tag-tp-tapps","tag-tp-uil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}