Regional Outlook

Denton Ryan had their way in a loaded Region II on the way to a state title and although the Raiders once again enter 2021 as the favorites, their road will be much more challenging as several of the top teams in the region come into the season with more experience than a year ago, while Ryan comes in with a few more questions.

Denton Ryan is the lead horse in the 5-5A Division I race, but a lot of new faces on the offensive side of the ball will need to mature quickly against a challenging non-district slate, including the season opener against a Longview squad that could challenge for regional supremacy. Frisco Lone Star, who fell to Ryan in the state semifinals in 2019 brings back plenty of offensive experience and is best suited to push Denton Ryan inside of the district. This could be Lone Star’s last big push for a few years as a new high school opening in Frisco this fall will start to slowly eat away at their depth and talent pool. Things get much murkier after the top two teams when it comes to figuring out the final two playoff spots in the district as The Colony with eight back on both sides of the ball expects to be a force, while Frisco Wakeland is always a consistent playoff contender despite not having as much fanfare as other Frisco programs. Frisco Reedy and Frisco Independence also will be contenders as well, but both have a lot of question marks.

Lancaster despite an off-season filled with uncertainty and the transfer of several key players is still a heavy favorite in 6-5A Division I and there won’t be much intrigue in any of the Tigers district games, they’ll be 3-4 touchdown favorites at minimum in all eight games. The real battle in this district will be for the final three playoff spots where Woodrow Wilson and their fifteen returning starters gets the early nod as the district runner-up. Newman Smith, WT White, Bryan Adams and Molina all return at least fifteen starters and expect to be massively improved, especially considering all will have a more normal practice routine after dealing with numerous issues due to the pandemic.

7-5A Division I will be much stronger top to bottom, but once again the district title will come down to Longview and Highland Park. A year ago Highland Park went out to East Texas and won a close game against the Lobos, this year’s game will be in Highland Park can Longview return the favor against the Scots? McKinney North took a step back a year ago, but still got into the playoffs, the Bulldogs return seven starters on both sides of the ball and get the early edge over a Tyler squad that expects to be one of the most improved teams in the state. Wylie East under new head coach Marcus Gold is right there in the playoff mix as well, while West Mesquite in year two under Frank Sandoval also expects to be improved. Sherman, who has made the playoffs the last two seasons will still be competitive, but heavy graduation losses and an off-season coaching change could be too much for the Bearcats to overcome.

College Station comes into the season with extremely high expectations as the Cougars earned a number three pre-season ranking, but is that enough to propel them to contending for a regional title in a region that features three other teams in the top five rankings and four top ten teams? Magnolia ISD’s two teams should finish right behind College Station, while we expect a competitive battle for the fourth playoff spot between Lufkin and the two New Caney ISD schools.

District Predictions

District 5-5A Division I

1. Denton Ryan
2. Frisco Lone Star
3. The Colony
4. Frisco Wakeland
5. Frisco Reedy
6. Frisco Independence
7. Frisco Centennial
8. Frisco Heritage
9. Denton

District 6-5A Division I

1. Lancaster
2. Dallas Wilson
3. Carrollton Smith
4. Dallas White
5. Dallas Adams
6. Dallas Molina
7. Dallas Samuell
8. Dallas Sunset
9. Carrollton Turner

District 7-5A Division I

1. Longview
2. Highland Park
3. McKinney North
4. Tyler
5. Wylie East
6. West Mesquite
7. Sherman

District 8-5A Division I

1. College Station
2. Magnolia
3. Magnolia West
4. Lufkin
5. New Caney
6. New Caney Porter
7. Waller
8. Cleveland
9. Conroe Caney Creek

Predicted Playoff Matchups

W5 Denton Ryan vs F6 Dallas White

R8 Magnolia vs. T7 McKinney North

W6 Lancaster vs. F5 Frisco Wakeland

R7 Highland Park vs. T8 Magnolia West

W7 Longview vs. F8 Lufkin

R6 Dallas Wilson vs. T5 The Colony

W8 College Station vs. F7 Tyler

R5 Frisco Lone Star vs. T6 Carrollton Smith

Regional Winner

Denton Ryan over Longview