The stories that defined Texas high school sports in the Dallas area in 2025

As we turn the page on 2025, The Dallas Morning News is looking back at the stories that defined high school sports in the Dallas area over the past 12 months.

Our staff considers it a privilege to write about schools in the Dallas area, and our coverage goes far beyond gamers and stats. Every year, we get to tell stories of incredible triumphs, heartbreaking defeats, tragedy, resilience and hope. These are your stories. Thank you for allowing us to tell them.

Below are the stories that defined Texas high school sports in the Dallas area in 2025.

Football

Football may be king in Texas, but is its grip on some North Texas communities weakening?

Growing up in West Texas, where Friday Night Lights was a way of life, Argyle coach Todd Rodgers couldn’t wait to don the purple and gold.

He knew the names of the Crane High School football players and eventually became one.

“I was conditioned that purple and gold was the thing to be,” said Rodgers, who won state titles as Argyle’s coach in 2013 and 2020. “We had good athletes in my grade and we talked about how many games we were going to win… it was very unifying.”

In Argyle, a boomtown about 40 miles northwest of Dallas, community members value high school football just like Rodgers did in his youth. Voters approved a new football stadium that is scheduled to be completed this fall, and an indoor facility on campus is under construction.

“One of our mission statements in athletics is to meet the kid where they are and grow them to their full potential,” Rodgers said. “ In my mind, that should be a goal for every school district, but it’s important for us.”

Since 2006, at least eight school districts statewide have opened stadiums that cost $35 million or more. Some Dallas-area athletic booster clubs have reported annual revenue topping $2 million, and most high school football coaches in North Texas earn six-figure salaries, often making them the highest earners on their campuses.

But taxpayers in some North Texas communities have said no to new stadiums and rejected upgrades to decades-old structures. Most booster clubs have trouble maintaining consistent funding from year to year, especially if their teams aren’t winning. And in large districts with multiple high schools and diverse demographics, it can be hard to rally community support around athletics with so many competing interests, from academics to non-sports extracurriculars.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Myah Taylor’s story —

Burnout, mental health issues spark high turnover among Texas high school football coaches

Matt Swinnea’s career seemed to be taking off in 2021, when he led Frisco Liberty to a 10-2 record in just his third year as a head coach.

That was the second-most wins in school history, and Swinnea had produced one of the great turnarounds in Texas high school football. The Class 5A Division II school shared a district title three years after going 0-10 in 2018, the year before Swinnea took over as coach.

But with the first practices of the 2025 season just weeks away, Swinnea is out of coaching.

Dire circumstances drove him to retire this offseason after Liberty was 1-29 the last three years. The low point came this past October in a 64-7 loss to second-year varsity program Prosper Walnut Grove, when Liberty listed just 28 players on its varsity roster — a number usually found at schools in smaller classifications and that accounted for fewer than 2% of the total enrollment of Liberty.

“I’m a competitive person, and we were really no longer competitive,” Swinnea said. “I lost 29 games in a row. I had a 10-win season in 2021 and then boom, we fell off the face of the earth. Everything was screaming it’s time to go, because I wasn’t going to be able to get a lateral job with that kind of record. The amount of energy that it would take to go and start over, I just didn’t have it.”

Swinnea coached for 35 years before he called it quits at the age of 56, with the only head coaching job of his career lasting six years.

The coaching profession has changed dramatically in recent years, and it is taking a toll across the state, especially for the many head coaches who have dual responsibilities and also serve as their school’s athletic coordinator or the school district’s athletic director.

“It is truly a 365-day-a-year job,” Swinnea said. “There is no doubt that the time constraints are much greater.”

This offseason, 21% of 11-man public schools statewide brought in a new football head coach. That doesn’t surprise Joe Martin, executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association, who said there is about a 20% attrition rate in the coaching profession each year.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —

Jason Todd, Claude Mathis become first Black head coaches with three UIL football titles

ARLINGTON — On Dec. 18, 2021, head coach Jason Todd tweeted that South Oak Cliff’s story was written before the team had even kicked off in the Class 5A Division II state championship.

Todd successfully added another chapter to that book Saturday, becoming the first Black head coach to win three Texas high school football UIL state championships when South Oak Cliff defeated Richmond Randle 35-19 in this year’s 5A Division II state final.

Eight hours later, there were two Black head coaches with three University Interscholastic League football titles.

DeSoto coach Claude Mathis added his name to the record book when his team defeated C.E. King 55-27 in the 6A Division II state championship game.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Ishmael Johnson’s story —

Boys and girls basketball

Kimball adds to storied hoops history with 4A-I state title win over Houston Washington

SAN ANTONIO — Kimball’s mascot is a knight, but the school reigns among the kings of Texas high school basketball.

The storied Dallas ISD program conquered Houston Washington 71-48 in the 4A Division I UIL state championship on Friday at the Alamodome to win its eighth state title, two behind the state record.

Kimball, which won its first state title in 1990, made its 14th state final appearance Friday and improved to 8-6 in the big game. It entered the contest already claiming the most state titles in Dallas ISD history.

“It’s surreal,” said Kimball coach Nicke Smith, now a two-time state champion. “I’m happy for them, like I was in 2023. But just to get two of them now, I think I’ve etched my name in UIL history.”

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Myah Taylor’s Story story —

‘Trust and vision’: How Dallas-area prep schools attract Texas’ elite basketball talent

Tucked away in an isolated strip of West Camp Wisdom Road in Dallas sits a burgeoning basketball powerhouse that is relatively unknown.

But walk inside Kingdom Collegiate Academy, and you’ll see plenty of signs showing why the Christian private school has been able to attract high-profile girls basketball recruits as transfers in its first year with a team.

Banners outside the gymnasium read “Walk by faith” and “God is with you in your wilderness.” A sign near the entrance to the school lists what it has to offer, and just after “Dual credit courses and advanced college offerings” and “15:1 student-teacher ratio” it says “Nurturing Christian learning environment.”

As she prepared to sign with Texas Tech last week, four-star point guard Gianna Jordan talked about why she left Oak Cliff Faith Family — a charter school that played in the prestigious Chipotle Nationals last year — for an obscure academy that has about 500 students ranging from 18 months old through 12th grade.

“It’s how much they love God,” she said. “It really grew me closer to him. They read their Bible every day, we do Bible study in every class. It’s great to be able to grow closer to God.”

The chance to grow their faith, play a national schedule against better competition, prepare for the rigors of college athletics and have more time to work with trainers and coaches have led nationally ranked area recruits to give up their dreams of chasing UIL state championships with longtime friends in their hometowns. The elite players have left public schools and chosen to attend prep, private or charter schools, dramatically changing the landscape for girls basketball in North Texas over the last few years.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —

Baseball and softball

What is behind D-FW’s lack of representation at UIL state softball, baseball finals?

When the Forney softball team had its first two hitters reach base in the top of the seventh in Saturday’s Class 6A Division II state championship game, it looked like it might be the start of a miraculous comeback.

The nation’s 18th-ranked team trailed No. 21 Humble Kingwood 4-0 at the time, but this was a Forney offense that averaged 9.9 runs per game. The rally was short-lived, as Kingwood sophomore pitcher Hunter Quentel reasserted her dominance and showed once again why Houston-area softball is the best in Texas right now.

Quentel allowed only a harmless sacrifice fly in that seventh inning as Kingwood wrapped up a 4-1 win and the first softball state title in school history. Houston-area softball teams have won nine of the 14 state titles in the UIL’s top two classifications and 12 state championships in all from 2019 through 2025, with Montgomery Lake Creek claiming its third championship in four seasons by going 37-0 this year and winning the 5A Division II title.

“I’ve been around the travel ball world for a long time, and Houston is just packed with talent,” said Melissa softball coach Cassie Crabtree, whoseNo. 1 nationally ranked team won its second straight state title this year by capturing the 5A Division I championship to finish 38-1. “Those Houston teams are so good, and softball in general is just growing and becoming so popular.”

Forney coach Pat Eitel added, “Around Houston, they play a different brand of ball. The kids really take it seriously.”

Forney (2018) and Melissa (2024 and 2025) are the only Dallas-area softball teams to win a UIL state title in the last eight years, and D-FW hasn’t produced more than one baseball state champion in a season since 2019.

This year, even though there are twice as many state titles available in both sports with the UIL crowning two champions in each classification for the first time in its new split-division playoff format, D-FW had only three softball state finalists and Grapevine is the only Dallas-area baseball team playing in a state final this week in Round Rock. Aledo, located 50 miles west of downtown Dallas, is also playing for a baseball state title.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —

Boys and girls soccer

History for Celina as it becomes first UIL girls team to win four consecutive state titles

GEORGETOWN — Hours before the Celina girls soccer team looked to make history, Ryleigh Stifflemire had a big task.

Stifflemire had a line of about 25 girls in the team’s hotel lobby looking to get their hair slicked down with glitter gel. The junior midfielder had perfected the technique so well that after the state title game, her hair still stayed flat while sparkling. So her team tasked her with helping them sparkle in their biggest game of the season.

The team’s good luck charm paid off.

Celina beat Davenport 2-1 in the Class 4A Division I state championship on Thursday at Birkelbach Field.

“We bought a whole bunch of glitter gel, but I sat there for 45 minutes in the lobby just painting everyone’s hair,” Stifflemire said.

The victory made Celina the first girls soccer team in UIL history to win four consecutive state titles. This was the team’s fifth straight state tournament appearance, but the win didn’t come easy.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Ronald Harrod’s story —

Volleyball

Byron Nelson’s dominant season ends with 13th consecutive sweep, second state title

GARLAND — Trophy Club Byron Nelson completed one of the most dominant seasons of volleyball in UIL history with one more rout Saturday.

It wasn’t without adversity, as the nation’s No. 1 team played without one of the best players in Texas for much of the season. But Byron Nelson was rarely challenged on the court while winning its second state title.

Led by a combined 43 kills from All-Americans Kylie Kleckner and Ashlyn Seay, Byron Nelson swept nationally ranked Houston Stratford 25-20, 25-13, 25-14 in the Class 6A Division II state final. A kill by Seay on match point led to a dogpile on the court at the Curtis Culwell Center as Byron Nelson (40-1) closed the season on a 36-match winning streak, with the last 13 wins all being three-set sweeps.

“It’s a testament that we didn’t lose a set in the playoffs. That in itself is so hard to do, especially in 6A,” Byron Nelson coach Brianne Groth said. “This group is so special. This has to be my favorite group, not only because they are extremely talented and skilled, but because they are just great humans and they are great teammates and they put others first.”

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —

How Byron Nelson’s Brianne Groth balances pregnancy, identity and a chase for history

It’s hard to soak it all in when you’re working against time. And although Brianne Groth has everything on her mind and little energy to spare, it’s her goal for the next two weeks.

The head volleyball coach, who has a 319-52 career record, is on the cusp of history with Byron Nelson, which is trying to become only the second Texas volleyball team to win back-to-back titles in the state’s top classification while losing only one match during its run. She’s also 36 weeks pregnant with twin girls on the way and two boys at home.

Groth has to take naps during her lunch break to make it through the day. She’s thankful the athletic director let her borrow a stool with wheels so she can sit down and coach, but she’d prefer to stand.

Although she’ll say she can’t wait for the pregnancy to be over, Groth remembers her goal. One that seemed impossible three years ago when her family was putting the pieces back together. When, right after that, her reputation was called into question. She considered stepping away from volleyball altogether, the only thing she’d known her whole life.

Instead, she’s on the rolling chair, her belly feeling especially heavy, smiling as half the team falls to the gym floor after winning a set, celebrating as if they just won another state championship.

“As I coach, I fully believe that I wouldn’t be here,” Groth said. “And we wouldn’t be this successful if we didn’t go through the things that we went through.”

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Emma Moon’s story —

Track, golf, swimming and more

Cooper Lutkenhaus is a normal teenager. Except he’s the best high school 800m runner ever

JUSTIN — Cooper Lutkenhaus is your typical All-American teenager.

He’s a former quarterback. He mows yards. He likes to dance, sleep and play video games. He’s a huge country music fan.

The track prodigy doesn’t consider his life all that unique, despite his newfound global fame.

“I’ve run fast at a young age, but also I’m still 16, so it’s not like I’m doing anything crazy,” he told The Dallas Morning News in a recent interview. “I train in the morning, I go to school, I go home, I play video games whenever I have the chance and I do homework. It’s just standard things like that.”

He’s being modest. The junior at Justin Northwest High School will be the youngest American to ever compete at track’s World Championships when he runs in the first round of the 800 meters Tuesday in Tokyo.

In 1 minute, 42.27 seconds, his life changed forever.

After he ran that unfathomable time on Aug. 3 to place second in the 800-meter final at the USATF Outdoor National Championships and qualify for the World Championships, Lutkenhaus is the fourth-fastest American man to ever run the 800 and came within two seconds of the world record of 1:40.91.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —

Other must-reads

A Texas football coach took over a cheerleading squad. Then they won a state championship

ARLINGTON — David Green’s world involves playbooks and pads, not pompoms and pyramids.

But that all changed for the football coach and athletic director at Newman International Academy Gibbins campus in Arlington who found himself thrust into a new role just before Christmas.

When Green couldn’t find a replacement for the charter school’s cheer coach, who had to resign just weeks before the cheer state championship because of pregnancy complications, he did what he could to save their season.

“The last resort was their football coach was going to be a cheer coach,” said Green, who is in his second year at the school.

Green put the 21 girls and five football players he recruited from his team through “football” style practices, including two-a-days. Unfamiliar with modern cheer terminology and technique, Green did a lot of learning on the spot. He had help from assistants, one of whom had cheer experience, and guidance from the squad.

With only four weeks of practice to prepare, Green and the team weren’t sure what to expect heading into the Jan. 18 Texas Charter School Academic & Athletic League cheer state championship.

At the end of the competition, the judges awarded Newman the state title, bringing Green to tears.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Myah Taylor’s story —

Twin brothers find home at Southlake Carroll, but not on varsity football team

Since Laione and Mapa Vainuku moved to Southlake late last year, the 16-year-old twins have learned a new way of life.

Back home in Utah, seeing fights at church functions and shootings at football rivalry games became normal. So did losing loved ones to gang violence in their Tongan community.

“When we were in middle school, our cousins got shot up by the gas station right next to our house,” Laione said.

In Southlake, where the juniors stay with their uncle, Rich Taholo, and attend Carroll High, they no longer live in fear. Their grades and physical health have drastically improved. They’re learning to speak up for themselves, they started landscaping with one of their classmates, and they’ve become involved with Carroll’s prestigious football program.

West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City, has a rich Tongan community, but gangs in the area have absorbed many members of the Vainukus’ family. As they’ve grown older, Mapa and Laione have become prime targets for gang recruitment and also potential victims of gang activity.

Their parents, who have six other children and can’t afford to move to North Texas, sent them to live with their uncle because they are at a high-risk age.

“We’re just trying to be different,” Mapa said.

Mapa, 6-3, 325 pounds, and Laione, 6-1, 270 pounds, mostly played junior varsity football in Utah and hoped to play varsity for eight-time state champion Carroll this fall — another way to get integrated into their new community — but the University Interscholastic League ruled them ineligible this week.

The UIL said the Vainukus didn’t transfer for athletic purposes, which the Texas high school sports governing body has been cracking down on, but the boys did not meet guardianship rules that require students participating in UIL activities to live with their parents within the school attendance zone.

— Click or tap here to read the rest of Myah Taylor’s story —

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