A trip to the state championship game will be on the line when South Oak Cliff (13-1) and Lubbock-Cooper (13-1) face off Friday night in the UIL 5A-Division II semifinals.
For South Oak Cliff, reaching this stage of the playoffs is historic. It is only their second-ever trip to the state semifinals, the first coming in 1970 when they lost to Odessa-Permian. A win over Cooper would give South Oak Cliff their first-ever trip to the state championship game.
Additionally, South Oak Cliff is the only one of the 22 Dallas ISD schools still alive in the playoffs, and if they win state, would be the first DISD team to win since 1958 when Booker T. Washington High School won in the Prairie View Interscholastic League.
A DISD team has not won a UIL championship since the 1950 Sunset High team. Dallas-Carter won in 1988 but later had the title stripped after an investigation into a grade change for a player on the team. A team from the school district has not even made the state semifinals since Skyline did in 2014, and one had not appeared in a state championship game since Lincoln in 2004.
Despite entering the playoffs at 9-1 and ranked fifth in the final regular-season rankings, South Oak Cliff was not expected to make such a deep run, mainly due to another team in the same region of the bracket, Aledo.
Aledo has won state championships ten times overall, including nine of the last 12. They finished the season undefeated, ranked number one overall, and were favorites to win state again. The teams were on a crash course and met in the third round of the playoffs two weeks ago when South Oak Cliff pulled off a stunning 33-28 win to put the rest of the state on notice.
The monumental win for South Oak Cliff over the 10-time state champions Aledo could have made them too confident and easily led to a downfall in the next round, but it did not.
South Oak Cliff matched up against eighth-ranked Lucas-Lovejoy in the quarterfinal round and dispatched them handily, winning 42-21 to get to the semifinals.
South Oak Cliff’s offense is led by senior quarterback Kevin Henry-Jennings, a Missouri State commit. Against Lovejoy, Henry-Jennings threw for 250 yards on 18-25 passing with one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. He has 35 passing touchdowns on the season compared to two interceptions. He also has added seven rushing scores.
However, it has been the defense that has brought South Oak Cliff to this point. South Oak Cliff’s defense has allowed the third-fewest yards per game (179.7) and the second-fewest points per game (13.88) of any Dallas-area 5A team.
Their defense is littered with Division I recruits across the field, none more coveted than junior defensive back Malik Muhammad, who holds offers from Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and others. He is joined in the secondary with senior Kyron Chambers, an Arizona commit, and junior Abdul Muhammad, who holds offers from five Division I football programs.
Junior defensive end Billy Walton can single-handedly be a game-changer on the defensive line. Walton holds offers from TCU, Arizona, and SMU and leads South Oak Cliff with eight sacks, according to MaxPreps. Against Lovejoy, Walton had two sacks.
Now, South Oak Cliff’s attention turns to Lubbock-Cooper in the semifinal. Both teams have had incredible seasons and come in on long winning streaks. South Oak Cliff’s only loss came in the season opener against 6A’s Duncanville. Since then, they have won 13 straight games and outscored opponents 664 to 131.
Cooper is on an 11-game win streak of their own. They were ranked fourth in the final rankings, and their lone loss came in September against a 6A opponent, Wolfforth Frenship.
Cooper defeated Wichita Falls Rider 22-0 in the quarterfinal game last week and is also looking to make history behind a dominant defense. Friday’s game will be Cooper’s second trip to the state semifinals in the previous three seasons, but they have never played in a state championship game.
They are led by linebacker Kobie McKinzie, who is committed to Texas, and defensive lineman Kyler Jordan, a Baylor commit. Behind them, Cooper has allowed just 14.3 points per game this season and shut out two of its four opponents in the playoffs.
The two teams will square off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Abilene’s Shotwell Stadium. The game will be broadcast live online on WFAA.com. The winner will play in the December 18 championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington against the winner of Crosby (12-2) and Liberty Hill (12-2).
“We wear it on our shirts. The end date is 12-18-2021. Anything besides that is just – it’s not the final goal,” Head Coach Jason Todd told WFAA. “I think these kids have what it takes to get the final job done this year.”