Dallas, TX

Weather adds to Dallas-area drama in final week, with 26 playoff berths up for grabs

Published

2 months ago

November 9, 2024

Weather adds to Dallas-area drama in final week, with 26 playoff berths up for grabs

The final week of the regular season is always crazy in Texas high school football, with points tiebreakers and sometimes even coin flips determining playoff spots. It can get complicated because every district has its own tiebreaker rules, instead of the UIL having one universal format for the entire state.

But one of the wildest endings to determine a playoff spot unfolded outside of Houston on Thursday night. A Hail Mary put Pasadena Dobie in the playoffs — in a game it led by 14 before the quarterback threw a 38-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play to win 54-34.

Dobie couldn’t take a knee because the team had to beat Manvel by at least 17 points to make the postseason, so it needed a miraculous finish when it got the ball at its 26-yard line with 18 seconds left to play. Pearland Dawson, which beat Dobie by 15 earlier in the season, missed the playoffs as a result of the shocking finish that produced a three-way tie for third in District 22-6A.

The playoff picture wasn’t quite that crazy in Dallas-area districts, but there was still plenty of drama with 26 playoff berths up for grabs in Week 11.

Friday’s inclement weather created havoc, too, leading many schools to move their games to Thursday or start early or late Friday. Garland Naaman Forest moved its start time to 4 p.m. Friday, and DeAngelo Perales threw four touchdown passes to beat South Garland 39-14, setting up a first-round playoff game against Longview a year after going 1-9.

A tornado watch was issued for Mansfield until 9 p.m. Friday, but Mansfield High started its home game against Weatherford only 15 minutes late, while knowing it would make the playoffs with a win or a loss by one or two points. The score was tied at 14 in the second quarter before Mansfield pulled away for a 49-34 win behind three touchdown passes from Braxton Van Cleave. A first-round matchup with Euless Trinity awaits.

For some, the path to earning a playoff berth was simple. Arlington and Haltom simply had to win Thursday to get in, and both District 8-6A teams took care of business and avoided complicated multi-team tiebreakers.

Arlington ended Arlington Martin’s 18-year playoff run with a 49-31 win and will face Richardson Pearce in the first round next week. Haltom opens the playoffs against Richardson after routing Arlington Sam Houston 42-8 to make the playoffs just two years after finishing 0-10.

South Grand Prairie lost is district finale 48-28 to Arlington Bowie on Thursday, but both 8-6A teams were celebrating on the field after the game. Bowie won its first district title since 2012 and will face Jesuit in the bi-district round, while SGP reached the postseason for the 11th straight season because Martin lost.

“I told them I know it’s kind of weird. It’s not a great feeling, because we just lost a game where we could have played better,” said South Grand Prairie coach Laban DeLay, whose team plays Lake Highlands next week. “But we get to advance, where a lot of other teams are putting their stuff up Monday morning. We’re happy to be in the tournament. I reminded them that everybody is 0-0 now. We get to hit reset and start a new season.”

DeLay was so focused on his game that he didn’t realize updates from Martin vs. Arlington were being posted on the scoreboard at SGP’s game. With SGP losing, a Martin win by eight or more would have kept South Grand Prairie out of the playoffs.

Richardson had made the playoffs just once in the past 11 seasons, after a fourth-place district finish in 2020. All it had to do to get in this year was win its district finale against Irving MacArthur on Friday or have Richardson Berkner lose to Richardson Pearce on Thursday, and Pearce made the outcome of Richardson’s game moot by beating Berkner 34-21.

Instead of attending Berkner’s game, Richardson coach Kendrick Holloway went to scout Haltom. Several of his players were following the Berkner game online and excitedly texted him once they knew they were playoff-bound. Berkner’s loss gave Richardson a chance Friday to relax and just focus on clinching the program’s first winning season since 2010, which it did with a 37-7 victory.

“My seniors were in the eighth grade the last time Richardson went to the playoffs,” Holloway said. “I talked to them [Friday morning] about the history of Richardson football over the last 21, 22 years. I wanted them to understand the magnitude of being able to get to the playoffs.”

Prosper Rock Hill made the playoffs for the first time and clinched its first winning record in school history, beating McKinney 21-14 to improve to 6-4 in its fifth season of varsity football. Rock Hill was 12-26 before this year and lost students to Walnut Grove when Prosper ISD’s third high school opened last year. All three of Prosper ISD’s teams made the playoffs this season.

“It’s really special for this campus,” Rock Hill coach Mark Wilkinson said. “The campus opened during COVID, then we undergo a coaching change when I take over, then we get bumped up to 6A. And when they open up Walnut Grove High School, we lose some numbers to them. We had to kind of rebuild, and just the adversity this campus has gone through and bringing them this experience, it’s huge.”

Rock Hill’s win kept seven-time state champion Plano from making the playoffs for the third time in 10 years. Rock Hill had to wait until late Friday night to find out who it would play in the first round, but it will be Hebron, which got in with a 59-21 win over Flower Mound in a game that started an hour late because of the weather.

Terrell faced the pressure of a win-or-go-home game against Mesquite Poteet and won 35-14 to punch its playoff ticket and end the season for Poteet and five-time state champion Ennis. Terrell opens the playoffs against South Oak Cliff, which has reached the Class 5A Division II state championship game the last three years.

Notable bi-district playoff games

TC Byron Nelson at North Crowley, 1:00 Saturday at Crowley ISD
Prosper at Coppell, 7 p.m. Friday
Lewisville at Allen, 7 p.m. Friday
Arlington Seguin at Prosper Walnut Grove, 7 p.m. Friday at Children’s Health Stadium
Frisco Emerson at Argyle, 7 p.m. Friday

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Dallas, TX

Public Editor: A valued interaction with Dallas readers

Published

4 hours ago

January 1, 2025

Press Room

Public Editor: A valued interaction with Dallas readers

(DMN)

Nine months have swept by since I became public editor. In that time, I’ve received and read hundreds of your emails, and I have learned a lot about you and your relationship with The Dallas Morning News. As we launch into a new year, it seems like a good time to reflect on our interaction. Here are a few observations:

When I refer to “your relationship” with The News, I mean it. Many of you have subscribed for decades, and you are invested in our work. I am always impressed by your knowledge of our reporters and columnists and by your smart analysis of their journalism. You understand the value and influence of our work and you want us to succeed.
You consume our work closely. Some of you rely on us for specific news (often sports), but many readers spend considerable time with our content. (One told me it usually takes him an hour to get through the paper.) Your critiques target everything from major national stories to photos to public-safety briefs. And you sweat the small stuff. Many of you (especially teachers in our audience) are not shy about sharing errors you spot — including mine — involving usage, punctuation, misspellings, missing words and grammar. You are helping to hold us to our own high standards.
You reflect our culture’s larger tensions. We are a divided nation. That certainly comes through in your emails. Many of you see The News as an extension of a media ecosystem that seeks to upend American ideals, although my experience with our journalists defies that suspicion. Some readers perceive every topic through the prism of politics, from our work on tolls and fentanyl to our choices about which comics to publish (and which ones to halt). And no political wing has a purchase on rage. Readers who identify as liberals are just as conspiratorial in their attacks as those who call themselves conservatives. Perhaps all those elections in 2024 fomented your anger. I hope 2025 is a calmer year.
You applaud The News for being forthcoming about its mistakes — and some of you want us to do more. In fact, several of you have suggested that we run corrections on the front page of our print edition instead of near the bottom of Page 2A. My take: Unlike many news outlets, we take our mistakes seriously and are generally quick to issue corrections. That’s important in and of itself.

Grant Moise, publisher of The News, hired me to help reinforce trust with our audience via transparency, humility and accountability — and you appreciate this. Even when you and I disagree, you inevitably respond with: “Thanks for listening.” I see this as a reflection of your belief that we are all ultimately on the same team, fighting to preserve and strengthen our fragile democracy. This always leaves me surprised and heartened.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying: Thanks. Please do continue to email me with your questions, observations, concerns and kudos at public.editor@dallasnews.com. In the meantime, Happy New Year.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

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Dallas, TX

Police investigate jewelry heist at family owned business in East Dallas

Published

12 hours ago

December 31, 2024

Press Room

Police investigate jewelry heist at family owned business in East Dallas

DALLAS — Dallas police are investigating a large-scale jewelry heist in East Dallas over the weekend. The family who owns the store claims the thieves stole more than $600,000 worth of merchandise from the business.

Angel Cuenca, who was working at the time, says he chose not to engage with the thieves in case they were armed. “Any type of movement like that, it may have escalated,” he added.

Angel Cuenca

Surveillance video shows how a quiet Sunday for Angel Cuenca shattered in just 30 seconds after four men started smashing his family’s jewelry displays inside the El Rancho supermarket in East Dallas.

“I felt completely helpless. They went for the two showcases with the most valuable jewelry,” Cuenca told CBS News Texas.

Three of the suspects wore masks and one showed his face. Cuenca said the men walked away with about $600,000 worth of merchandise.

“A $15,000 chain. We had $13,000 bracelets that were taken,” he explained.

He says the heartbreak of the crime was hard for his mother, Lucy, who opened the store in 2009 and built it from the ground up.

“It’s very heartbreaking, obviously, because, you know, my mother put her blood, sweat and tears into this, and she came to this country at 17,” Cuenca said.

Cuenca says he chose not to engage with the thieves in case they were armed.

“Any type of movement like that, it may have escalated,” he added.

Angel Cuenca believes a suspect captured on video in Houston is one of the men who robbed his family’s business in Dallas.

Angel Cuenca

Investigators said earlier this month a similar jewelry heist happened near Houston at the same grocery store chain. Police say the two could very well be related. Cuenca believes a suspect captured on video in Houston is one of the men who robbed his family’s business.

“Just to come in there and steal, steal the American dream from us. It’s just it’s hard. So, this must have been planned out,” Cuenca suspected.

Cuenca suspects a fifth person could have also been acting as a lookout. He posted the surveillance video to social media, catching the attention of thousands across the county. He hopes the crooks can be caught soon so they can start the new year with piece of mind.

“We need the surrounding community at Dallas to hopefully help us bring them to justice because, it’s not right,” said Cuenca.

Dallas police have not made any arrests in the case yet and are ask anyone with information to come forward.

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Dallas, TX

Mailbag: Is Dowdle the lead back in 2025?

Published

21 hours ago

December 31, 2024

Press Room

Mailbag: Is Dowdle the lead back in 2025?

(Editor’s Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in ‘Mailbag’ presented by Miller Lite.)

After seeing Rico Dowdle really come into his own during the season, do you think he deserves the lead running-back position next year? I think drafting a back is needed, but Dowdle deserves his shot. – Steve Hrasch/Streator, IL

Nick: I think he deserves a chance to get the ball a lot in 2025. Remember, he’s a free agent at the end of the season and he’s probably earned himself a decent payday, whether it’s here or somewhere else. I’ll say this, staying in Dallas might be the best option for him, considering they probably won’t be signing a free agent back better than him, and even if they draft someone, it will be a good spot for him to play.

I think all backs need some help. Gainwell gets the ball quite a bit for an Eagles offense that has a 2,000-yard rusher. Derrick Henry isn’t the only one getting carries in Baltimore. So whoever is running the ball, there should be more than 1 primary runner. That being said, I think Dowdle has earned the chance to be one of those guys in Dallas, along with someone else – probably a draft pick. Again, Dowdle has to be re-signed but assuming the offense doesn’t change too much, it at all, I would think it makes sense to bring him back.

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