South Oak Cliff starts its defense of the Class 5A Division II state championship on Thursday night at Kincaide Stadium, and two other Dallas ISD programs open the playoffs against teams from the same East Texas district.
The Golden Bears (8-2) host Whitehouse (5-5) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the bi-district pairings compiled by HS Football Nation. Samuell (5-5) plays at Terrell at 7 p.m. Thursday, with a site still to be announced, and Hillcrest (8-2) hosts Hallsville at 7 p.m. Friday at John McClamrock Stadium.
The Golden Bears went 8-0 against district opponents and outscored their full schedule 506-97, according to MaxPreps. Their only losses came in the first two weeks against two of the state's best programs: 20-14 against Richmond Randle, the team South Oak Cliff beat 35-19 in last December's final, and 23-21 against Galena Park North Shore, the reigning 6A Division I champion.
Four district wins came by shutout.
Whitehouse finished fourth in its district, which also produced the opponents for Hillcrest and Samuell. The Wildcats lost 61-29 at Terrell on Oct. 23 and 20-8 to Hallsville on Oct. 30, then closed the regular season with a 24-20 win at Marshall. Whitehouse has scored 321 points and allowed 313.
Hillcrest finished second behind South Oak Cliff in district play at 6-2. The Panthers' losses were a 55-0 defeat at South Oak Cliff on Sept. 18 and a 21-16 loss to Seagoville on Oct. 16.
They have won three straight since, including a 52-12 win at Jefferson on Nov. 5, and have four shutouts this season, among them a 7-0 win over Wilson on Oct. 2. Hillcrest has allowed 137 points, and 55 of them came in one night.
Samuell took the district's fourth spot after a midseason run of five straight wins, from a 55-7 result at Molina to a 54-0 win at Jefferson. The Spartans' regular season ended with a 55-20 loss to South Oak Cliff. Terrell, which scored 61 points against Whitehouse, will host the Spartans.
Lake Highlands, the Richardson ISD school in northeast Dallas, also plays at home. The Wildcats (8-2) won District 7-6A at 7-0 and open the 6A Division II bracket against Haltom at 7 p.m. Friday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium. After a 1-2 start that included losses to Wylie and Rockwall Lake Ridge, Lake Highlands won seven straight, including 27-19 over Coppell and 38-21 at Plano.
The 5A Division II bracket's later rounds run on consecutive weekends: area games Nov. 19-21, regional games Nov. 26-28, then quarterfinals and semifinals in December. The 5A Division II state final is scheduled for 11 a.m. Dec. 18 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
