Week 7 of the Texas high school football regular season is in the books, and all but one of the top-ranked teams in the DFW area held on to win their game.
Denton Ryan was the No.3 team in the state in 5A Division II before falling 23-16 to Burleson Centennial. The loss ended Ryan’s 52-game district winning streak, dropping them out of the state rankings entirely.
Meanwhile, Centennial breaks into the state rankings for the first time at No.6 this week after moving to 6-0 for the first time in program history by upsetting Ryan.
Below is a recap of Centennial’s win over Ryan and some of the other biggest games from Week 7 featuring DFW-area schools ranked in the Texas state high school football rankings.
6A:
No.3 Duncanville 24, Waxahachie 7
Duncanville was on upset alert at home against Waxahachie, trailing 7-0 at halftime, but once the third quarter started, the No.3 team in 6A turned on a switch.
Duncanville (5-0, 3-0 District 11-6A) scored 24 second-half points to defeat Waxahachie (4-2, 1-2) and maintain first place in District 11-6A.
Three fourth-quarter interceptions turned into 17 Duncanville points, which was enough to seal the win. Duncanville opened the scoring following a 55-yard return on the opening kickoff of the second half by Lontrell Turner, which led to a Zachary Turner touchdown to tie it at 7.
With the offense struggling, Duncanville’s defense came up big, as Tyren Polley returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown to give his team its first lead of the day. Two more turnovers in the fourth led to another 10 points for Duncanville, widening the margin.
Waxahachie got on the board first via a 93-yard touchdown run by Jayden Becks, giving them a 7-0 lead that held until halftime.
Next, Duncanville will compete for sole control of first place in the district next week as it faces Mansfield, the only other remaining undefeated team in 11-6A.
No.4 Southlake Carroll 38, Keller 35
Southlake Carroll was jumped by Duncanville in this week’s rankings, sliding one spot to No.4 after hanging on for a narrow home win against Keller on Friday night.
Keller led 28-24 at halftime and had a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown with under two minutes remaining, but Carroll’s Logan Lewandowski made a game-saving interception.
With 1:15 left in the game and with Keller at its 42-yard line, Lewandowski intercepted a pass from Keller quarterback Tre Guerra to seal the narrow, come-from-behind win for Carroll (6-0, 3-0 District 4-6A).
It was the first taste of adversity for Carroll, which had five blowout wins in five games, including back-to-back shutouts, before their matchup with Keller.
Keller (5-1, 2-1), which has lost its last 12 games against Carroll, with the last win coming in 1999, looked like a different team from previous seasons. Keller lost to Carroll by 36 points last year and by 32 the year prior but held the lead at halftime, putting Carroll behind at halftime of a regular season game for the first time since Week 2 last season.
Senior running back Owen Allen (230 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns) carried the load offensively for Carroll, which won its 29th consecutive district game and has started the season 6-0 for the fourth time in five years.
5A Div. I:
No.6 Burleson Centennial 23, Denton Ryan 16
Burleson Centennial moves to 6-0 for the first time in school history, and 4-0 in district play, thanks to the home upset over previously state-ranked Denton Ryan.
Ryan (4-2, 4-1 District 3-5A Div. I) had not lost a district game since 2014 when it fell to crosstown rival Denton Guyer 52-27.
Centennial took a 14-13 lead after a 17-play drive that took over 10 minutes of the second quarter was capped with a 1-yard touchdown run by Elijah Zeh, who finished the night with 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Ryan answered by driving to the Centennial 1. But on the last play before halftime, Texas A&M commit Anthony Hill Jr., the No.3 recruit in the state, according to 247Sports, was stopped just inches short of the goal line allowing Centennial to keep the lead going into the break.
It was the second of three red zone stops in the game for Centennial’s defense, which came into the matchup allowing an average of just seven points a game.
Ryan was shorthanded, playing without Kalib Hicks, a four-star starting running back and Oklahoma commit who was injured two weeks ago, and without starting quarterback, Khalon Davis, who suffered a shoulder injury on the first series of the game.