For the second consecutive year, all roads in District 6-6A football ran through Marcus. The Marauders swept their conference schedule once again, posting a 6-0 district record and leaving no doubt in doing so. After winning four of its seven district ballgames by 10 points or less in 2019, Marcus’ margin of victory in 6-6A skyrocketed to 30.2 points this season.
From its upset-fueled opening night on Oct. 22 until the Dec. 4 regular-season finale where five different teams were contending for playoff spots, there wasn’t a dull night on the District 6-6A football schedule.
With the book having closed on 2020, it’s time to look back on the year that was in Plano-area athletics. This year was like no other in recent memory, with high school sports around the country feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first round of the Texas high school football playoffs is in the books for the state's 6A and 5A programs, and Star Local Media discusses what transpired at the start of the postseason for its local teams.
For the first quarter-and-a-half, the Plano West football team had as much success imposing its grinding tempo on state-ranked Allen as it could have hoped for. In a matter of minutes, the Eagles rendered it all for naught.
During high school football season, the Star Local Media sports staff will predict the winners of up to 10 in-market games each week as part of its annual Pick-It Line. Below are the staff's predictions for the season's bi-district playoff round round of The Pick-It Line.
Despite playing in separate districts for the first time in more than two decades, Allen and Plano ISD can’t escape each other on the football field. The Eagles opened their 2020 campaign with a 49-26 win over Plano East back in September and will begin the postseason against another former conference foe when they welcome Plano West to Eagle Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs.
Texas high school football's postseason begins this week in Classes 6A and 5A, and Star Local Media discusses what's in store for its playoff-bound teams.
Just one year and 35 days removed from snapping a 34-game losing streak, the longest drought in program history, the Plano West football team is back in the playoffs. It didn’t come easy — West head coach Tyler Soukup wouldn’t expect it any other way given the Wolves’ 2020 season — but as Plano’s last-second Hail Mary sailed incomplete, West could celebrate at last.
For the second straight week, the Plano West football team’s playoff hopes rest on a win Friday night. The Wolves fell short under similar circumstances last week, unable to keep pace with Hebron in a 27-13 loss.
District titles and playoff berths are up for grabs all around the area in this week's high school football slate, and Star Local Media sizes up what's on the line in their local districts.
In 2019, Tyler Soukup inherited a Plano West team mired in the longest losing streak in Plano ISD football history. In just his second season at the helm, he has a chance to lead the Wolves back to the playoffs.
The past week was a wild one in District 6-6A, with Hebron and Plano announcing cancellations of the next two games on their respective schedules due to COVID-19 issues within both programs. In a league where district wins are the ultimate currency in determining the four playoff teams, not being able to play two of a potential seven district ballgames is significant.
During high school football season, the Star Local Media sports staff will predict the winners of up to 10 in-market games each week as part of its annual Pick-It Line. Below are the staff's predictions for the season's Week 9 round of The Pick-It Line.
In a contest featuring the top two teams in District 6-6A, Marcus (7-0, 4-0), behind the arm of LSU pledge Garrett Nussmeier, beat host Plano West, 46-24, at Clark Stadium in Plano on Friday night.
For a moment on Friday, the Plano West football team nearly found itself on the wrong end of some deja vu. Just over one year removed from erasing an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter for an emotional 36-35 victory over Plano East, the Wolves nearly fell victim to some late heroics by the Panthers in Friday’s rivalry renewal at Kimbrough Stadium.
During high school football season, the Star Local Media sports staff will predict the winners of up to 10 in-market games each week as part of its annual Pick-It Line.
Just over one year removed from one of the more thrilling installments of the rivalry’s 20-plus years on the gridiron, Plano West head coach Tyler Soukup admits plenty has changed since the last time his Wolves squared off with Plano East.
Coppell senior Canon Peters was recently moved from cornerback to outside linebacker to fill a gap in the Cowboy defense. It appears that he is going to remain in his new position for the foreseeable future.
With high school football's district schedule in full swing, Star Local Media looks back on a week that produced a number of upsets around the area.
For all the emotion that encompassed the Plano West football team’s stunning, come-from-behind victory over Plano East last season, a win that snapped a 34-game losing streak, Thursday’s District 6-6A opener sparked a completely different feeling for the Wolves.
Thursday marks the first night of the District 6-6A football schedule — the first of seven weeks where Plano ISD, Lewisville ISD and Coppell will lock horns in pursuit of one of the conference’s four playoff spots.
After a week to heal up and reset, Plano ISD and the rest of District 6-6A take to the gridiron this week for the beginning of their conference schedule. The three PISD schools are making the move back to 6-6A to rekindle old rivalries with Lewisville and forge new ones with Coppell. Several of those schools will be making the trip to Plano this week, with Plano West hosting Lewisville on Thursday, followed by a pair of Friday matchups that include Hebron visiting Plano East and Plano welcoming Coppell.
By the next time all three Plano ISD football teams take the field, business will have officially picked up. Next week marks the beginning of the District 6-6A football schedule, with PISD, as well as Coppell and the four Lewisville ISD schools vying for one of four playoff spots in the conference. All eight programs concluded their non-district schedules last week, with all but Plano and Hebron playing their entire three-game preseason docket.
Plano West wasn’t the only football team inside Little Elm Athletic Complex that had pitched an early-season shutout this year. Just as the Wolves began their 2020 campaign with a 28-0 victory over Wylie, host Little Elm broke in the season by blanking L.D. Bell, 37-0, in its opener.
The Plano East and Plano football teams enter Friday in search of their first wins of the season. Getting them will require overtaking two teams projected to contend for a district title. The Panthers look to put an 0-2 start to rest with a 7 p.m. kickoff from Kimbrough Stadium against longtime rival Jesuit, while the Wildcats will set up shop at Clark Stadium that same time for a meeting against a surging Lake Highlands squad.
After posting the program’s first shutout in more than a decade last week against Wylie, Plano West’s defense picked up where it left off Friday against visiting North Mesquite.
Not long removed from having to go 34 games in between wins, Plano West is 1-0 to begin Year Two of the Tyler Soukup era. The Wolves started their season on a high note on Friday, shutting out Wylie for a 28-0 victory at Clark Stadium. It was the first time West had blanked an opponent since September 2008 against North Crowley.
During high school football season, the Star Local Media sports staff will predict the winners of 10 in-market games each week as part of its annual Pick-It Line.
For months, high school athletics programs around the state have had to adjust to a new way of doing things while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. That will also apply to the fans hoping to see their teams in action this season.
Last season was about starting anew for the Wolves, who managed to exorcise the stigma of a multi-year losing streak with a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over rival Plano East — a 36-35 victory that doubled as West’s first notch in the win column since September 2016.
After two years of relatively top-heavy football, where the Lewisville ISD schools and Coppell jockeyed for the four playoff spots, 6-6A exchanges the Irving ISD trio for three of the four largest high schools in the state. The 2019 season admittedly wasn’t one to remember for Plano ISD, which didn’t have a representative in the postseason for the first time in 30 years, but a renewed sense of optimism during the offseason — highlighted by the hiring of Todd Ford as Plano’s next head coach — has the school district hopeful of a bounce-back year.
One of the more entertaining aspects of covering high school sports in the Metroplex are the interactions – both personal and as a spectator – with athletes. During my time as a reporter, I have had the opportunity to profile and follow the career paths of some noteworthy athletes in Plano ISD and surrounding areas, and it’s time to look at a handful of students who impressed this past season and could be in line for even bigger roles in 2020-21.
Monday marked the first day of football practices for several Class 6A and 5A high schools around the state. For the first five days, programs will work out their student-athletes in helmets, T-shirts and shorts as part of the UIL-mandated acclimatization period before lacing up the pads for the first time since the end of last season.
The end of one chapter gives way to the start of another, and such is the case as teams around the state begin preparations for the 2020-21 school year. For many, that’ll mean making the move to a new district, and schools like Plano ISD, Lewisville ISD and Coppell are no different. The PISD trio broke away from their longtime rivals in Allen and McKinney and link up with LISD and Coppell in a revamped District 6-6A.
Just as the UIL’s July 21 announcement outlining plans for high school football offered some much-needed direction, it sent teams all around the state into a frenzy revising their schedules for the upcoming season.
For the Dallas-area high school football coaches who were caught in the storm of realignment back in February, scrambling around the Birdville ISD Fine Arts and Athletic Complex in search of games for the 2020 season, last week brought some feelings of deja vu.
On Tuesday, the UIL revealed its much-anticipated plans for the 2020-21 school year, delaying the start of the athletics calendar for the state’s 6A and 5A high schools. Speculation has waged for months on the state’s approach to the upcoming school year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the spread of the virus forcing local orders to close campuses until at least Sept. 8 in a number of major metropolitan areas around the state such as Dallas, Houston, Austin and El Paso — where many of the UIL’s largest high schools are located — the UIL has put its two largest classifications on a separate timeline from schools in classes 1A through 4A.
Throughout the summer, Star Local Media will recognize some of the premier football players from the Metroplex with its inaugural all-decade team. Players eligible for consideration must have played at least one season between 2010-19 for one of the high schools within Star Local Media’s coverage area: Allen, Carrollton, Celina, Coppell, Flower Mound, Frisco, Lake Cities, Lewisville, Little Elm, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Rowlett and The Colony. This is the seventh of a multi-part series, continuing with linebackers.
With high school summer workouts on hold for the week, the UIL has updated parts of its strength and conditioning guidelines in advance of a return to the practice field on July 13. The UIL released its revisions on Tuesday, stating all student-athletes ages 10 or older, as well as all employees, parents and visitors at a workout site must wear face coverings upon entry, except for those who are actively practicing or exercising.
With COVID-19 numbers on the rise in recent weeks, the UIL issued a statement on Thursday recommending the closure of summer workouts between July 3-12. The state's chief athletics body cited the upcoming Fourth of July holiday and the potential for increased social interactions that could spread coronavirus as motivations behind the temporary suspension, stating that teams could resume workouts on July 13.
Although the Plano West football team’s season isn’t scheduled to begin until Aug. 28, the Wolves are still finding plenty of ways to instill competition into their time on the gridiron.
Throughout the summer, Star Local Media will recognize some of the premier football players from the Metroplex with its inaugural all-decade team. Players eligible for consideration must have played at least one season between 2010-19 for one of the high schools within Star Local Media’s coverage area: Allen, Carrollton, Celina, Coppell, Flower Mound, Frisco, Lake Cities, Lewisville, Little Elm, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Rowlett and The Colony. This is the second of a multi-part series, continuing with running backs.
At the Plano ISD Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, Jeff Smith was approved to become Plano ISD’s next athletic director, replacing Gerald Brence who retired in December. Most recently serving as assistant athletic director in Prosper ISD, Smith brings 24 years of experience to the position.
After competing in the same athletic district for the past 20-plus years, Allen and Plano ISD are going their separate ways. For the first time since 1997, the four largest high schools in the state will share a different district in what was one of numerous ripple effects across the Metroplex stemming from the UIL’s biennial realignment on Monday.
Monday marks the UIL’s biennial reclassification and realignment, where high schools around the state will learn which athletic districts they’ll compete in from 2020-22. It’s an event rife with suspense and speculation — one that essentially lays the groundwork for the next two years in high school athletics.
