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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.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
A lot has changed in Texas high school football for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
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It goes beyond the fact that four Dallas-area top-10 recruits<\/a> won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n February\u2019s realignment caused the most change \u2014 and in some instances the most chaos \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Who faces the biggest challenges? Here are the five toughest districts in the Dallas area this season.<\/p>\n 1. District 11-6A<\/p>\n The \u201cDistrict of Doom\u201d lost 2025 Class 6A Division II state champion DeSoto<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Duncanville won Class 6A Division I state titles in 2022 and 2023 and was the state runner-up last year<\/a>, while North Crowley was the 6A Division I state champion<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t deep enough, Lake Ridge won nine games last year and Crowley and Mansfield made the playoffs.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 2. District 8-5A Division I<\/p>\n 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\u2019Adrian Redmond on the defensive line and added Penn State pledge Dhillon McGee as a transfer at cornerback.<\/p>\n Lancaster drops down from 6A to 5A Division I and is ranked No. 10 in the Dallas area<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.)<\/a>. Cedar Hill should still have a strong defensive line, as three-star seniors Jalen Price and Jeron Allen II are committed to Kansas State.<\/p>\n 3. District 6-6A<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n