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When Mansfield Lake Ridge opened, head coach Kirk Thor had to assign a special job to some of his assistants.
In that 2012 season, Lake Ridge lost nine of its 11 games by 35 points or more and was shut out six times. After a few games, some of the players were paralyzed by fear.
“We had to assign coaches to be at the tunnel to make sure our kids wouldn’t step on the field and run back up the tunnel because they were so scared and so young,” Thor said. “It was like, ‘No, you’ve gotta stay there and play, guys.’”
Over a decade later, Lake Ridge now finds itself in arguably the state’s most talented district, 11-6A, which returns two reigning state champions: Duncanville (Class 6A Division I) and DeSoto (Class 6A Division II).
For the first time since 1997 — and the first time ever in Class 6A — a single district in Texas won two state football titles. With that daunting schedule ahead, for the district’s other coaches such as Thor, it’s hard not to have some of those same feelings from his first season rush back.
“Sometimes 11-6A feels like that,” he said. “You walk down the tunnel, and you go, ‘Oh man, can I sneak out of here?’”
District 11-6A is a competitive race year in and year out, but for some of Duncanville and DeSoto’s opponents, entering this season comes with added stakes.
“We knew we had two very strong teams, but now we just know how strong they are,” Lake Ridge senior offensive lineman Joey Glendenning said.
While some are uneasy, others are excited about the challenge and the possibility of pulling off one of the state’s greatest upsets.
In Class 6A, the four teams that qualify for the playoffs are split between the two divisions, with the two largest enrollment schools going to Division I and the two smaller schools going to Division II. This setup provides a possibility for two teams from the same district to sweep the state titles. Since Class 6A is the only classification that splits divisions after the regular season, many coaches in the district are hoping the University Interscholastic League will soon change these rules so that a similar situation cannot unfold again.
“It’s just rich in tradition. It’s rich in great athletes,” DeSoto coach Claude Mathis said. “It’s just very unfortunate that we’re in the same region and have to beat up on each other.”
‘The SEC of high school football’
Mansfield Legacy coach Jeff Hulme didn’t sugarcoat what it’s like to face teams such as Duncanville and DeSoto each year.
“Playing those teams, it’s not a lot of fun,” he said.
For Thor, it’s painful even thinking about it.
“If I look at District 11-6A and my opponents, I’ll never sleep,” he said. “I’ll have ulcers for a year.”
Hulme, Thor and four other coaches across the district had to watch as Duncanville and DeSoto extended their seasons to 17 weeks and captured titles for the first time since 2016 for DeSoto and 1998 for Duncanville. Three of the district’s four teams that advanced to the playoffs reached the third round or further.
Each coach from the district who spoke with The Dallas Morning News said they weren’t surprised in the slightest to see the two teams bring home the state’s top prizes.
Waxahachie coach Shane Tolleson said within the district, they refer to 11-6A as the “SEC of high school football.” He made the argument that 11-6A isn’t only the best district in Texas, but the best in the nation.
Among the current 11-6A teams — Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, Mansfield, Mansfield Lake Ridge, Mansfield Legacy, Skyline and Waxahachie — five of the eight have reached a state championship game in their programs’ history, and four have won a title.
“It’s hard to find five schools in one district that have played in the state championship game, no matter how long ago or how recent it was,” Thor said. “That’s a tough deal to do.”
A reality check
Surviving in District 11-6A takes talent, luck, and a bit of a reality check, coaches say.
While anything can happen on any given Friday, it’s safe to assume Duncanville and DeSoto will claim the top two spots, with the district winner likely being decided on Oct. 27 when the two teams meet.
“It would be naive to think otherwise,” Legacy’s Hulme said. “You take those two teams out of the rotation, and you’ve got Waxahachie, Mansfield, Cedar Hill, Lake Ridge, Skyline and us. You’re looking at, ‘Who do you gotta beat to be one of those other two teams in the playoffs?’”
Coaches say when it comes to their district, making the playoffs is really the only goal on their minds. Even for the team that finishes fourth, hope.
“I believe if you come out of this district, you’re gonna have a chance to win it all,” Tolleson said.
In many districts, it’s unrealistic to think a team can win state without sweeping its district opponents. In fact, DeSoto was the only of last year’s 12 state champions that lost a district game (41-17 to Duncanville on Oct. 28). Coaches and players in 11-6A insist the situation is different for them.
Waxahachie, for example, held a one-touchdown lead over Duncanville at halftime of their district game last season. It ultimately fell 24-7, but nearly got a second shot at the Class 6A Division I champions in regional finals. Waxahachie came up one game short.
With that chance of a rematch in the regional finals more likely for 11-6A teams than others, the regular-season matchup isn’t the be-all and end-all for the teams that finish third and fourth in the district.
Even when it does come to those regular-season battles, the other programs accept that their talent and depth may not be comparable to Duncanville and DeSoto — teams with four top 100 Dallas-area recruits in their senior classes alone. However, upsets are possible, and in 11-6A, could shake up the entire state.
“Every team is beatable,” Glendenning said. “You don’t necessarily have to be better than that team to beat them. You just have to play better than them. There has to be some kind of hope.”
How did we get here?
Skyline coach Jacody Coleman said his strategy in 11-6A is focusing internally.
“You just control what you can control,” he said. “We control what we do every day.”
But some coaches still can’t help but question how the district got to where it is.
With Waxahachie making the playoffs at an enrollment 50 students larger than DeSoto, Mathis’ program was sent to Division II, which allowed for the dual state champions.
Class 6A is the only classification where it would still be possible to crown two state champions in the same district. But with enrollment numbers in District 11-6A ranging from 2,467 for Mansfield Legacy to 4,642 for Duncanville, some coaches say that discrepancy is unfair.
“I don’t know how they can figure it out from 5A on down and then you can’t figure it out for 6A,” Hulme said. “It would make sense for DeSoto and Duncanville to play at the same level because of their enrollment. It’s starting to not make a lot of sense when you have a team that’s 3,000 kids, and they’re playing Division II. Why the UIL can’t figure that out is beyond me.”
The last time two teams from the same district played in state championship games was in 2018, when District 21-6A had Galena Park North Shore and Beaumont West Brook in the two 6A games. However, West Brook lost to Longview.
The two 4A state champions from 2021 — Stephenville (4A DI) and China Spring (4A DII) — ended up in the same district in realignment in 2022.
Otherwise, Texas City (4A DI) and La Marque (4A DII) were the last to win from the same district in 1997.
Since the UIL says no new classifications will be introduced in February’s realignment, and Class 6A playoff brackets wouldn’t be adjusted until an alignment beyond that, the other 11-6A programs will have to focus on finding a way to dethrone Duncanville and DeSoto in the meantime.
With a sense of uncertainty for some entering the season, coaches such as Thor are trying to take it one day at a time.
“I think if you focus too much on the past, it can cause you to be arrogant or depressed,” he said. “If you focus too much on the future, it brings anxiety that’s unneeded. And if you just focus on today, it gives a sense of relief.”
But through the uncertainty, there was one thing about which the district’s coaches felt fairly confident: that another state champion from 11-6A will be crowned in a matter of months.
On Twitter: @Lassimak
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