As we turn the page on 2024, 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 football in the Dallas area in 2024.
More of our year-in-review
High School Sports
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The latest news, analysis, predictions and more for each season.
— Boys, girls basketball
— Baseball, softball
— Boys, girls soccer
— Volleyball
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— Track, golf, others
North Crowley head coach Ray Gates poses with his players after a victory over Austin Westlake in the Class 6A Division I state football championship game on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Arlington.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)
D-FW can claim Texas’ best high school football team in an otherwise down year for Dallas
ARLINGTON — North Crowley showed out on Saturday in its dazzling 50-21 victory over Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I state title game, winning the program’s second state championship and putting Fort Worth high school football on the map in front of 36,120 fans at AT&T Stadium.
Until North Crowley took the field at 7:30 p.m., there was a possibility the Dallas-Fort Worth area might boast only one state champion in 2024. Celina routed Kilgore 55-21 in the 4A Division I state championship to capture the program’s ninth state title and its first under coach Bill Elliott.
But North Texas teams came up short in the next three title games, the region’s worst showing at state since 2021, when South Oak Cliff became the first Dallas ISD school to win a recognized state championship since 1958, but Denton Guyer and Duncanville fell in the 6A state championship games.
Two-time state champion South Oak Cliff missed a last-second field goal, falling 38-35 to third-year program Richmond Randle in the 5A Division II state title game Friday night. It was SOC’s second straight loss in the state championship game.
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“The future is still bright,” South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd said. “We just gotta find out what’s going to get us over this hump.”
— Click or tap here to read the rest of Myah Taylor’s story —
More 2024 state coverage
— Texas high school football central: 2024 state championship game stories, photos and more
— Gunter grabs third straight crown in dominant 3A-II state title win over Woodville
— Celina routs Kilgore in 4A-I state final, joining elite Texas high school football club
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— North Crowley becomes new king of Class 6A with state title win over Austin Westlake
— Celina is a state champion once again, thanks to Bowe Bentley and a little air superiority
— Quentin Gibson broke an NFL player’s Dallas-area record in North Crowley’s state title win
— North Crowley, coach Ray Gates didn’t ‘duck any smoke’ in bold state championship season
— Attendance down for UIL state title games at AT&T Stadium for second straight year
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— Full 2024 statewide UIL Texas high school football playoff, state championship results
Conrad football coach Josh Ragsdale cheers on students in a beginner’s class at the 9th Street Gym, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Garland. Ragsdale is working toward his black belt while learning forms of taekwondo in classes.(Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer)
Player’s death inspires Dallas football coach to finish goal: a black belt in karate
GARLAND — Josh Ragsdale thinks he resembles Will Ferrell.
Not from a physical standpoint, but during karate classes at the 9th Street Gym in Garland. That is where the 44-year-old Ragsdale towers over boys and girls a quarter of his age who are learning the same punches, kicks and self-defense moves — such as how to throw an attacker to the ground — as Conrad High School’s head football coach.
Picture Ferrell’s character Buddy in the movie Elf, except he’s wearing a traditional karate uniform called a gi and doing tornado kicks and fighting instead of making toys.
“I’m Elf,” Ragsdale said. “I’m the adult amongst a bunch of smaller folks, but it’s been neat for me to connect with them.”
— Click or tap here to read the rest of Greg Riddle’s story —
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Kailer Pettijohn, left, Riley Pettijohn, and Cam Pettijohn pose for a photograph at the McKinney High School practice field in McKinney, TX, on Oct 14, 2024.(Jason Janik / Jason Janik)
More notable reads from 2024
— First-year DeSoto quarterback Kelden Ryan is rolling ahead of showdown with Duncanville
— Plano East starters had to sit and wait in 2023. It’s made all the difference this season
— Argyle Liberty Christian’s transformation spurred by brotherly bond of CJ, Cooper Witten
— With trip to state title on the line, Denton Ryan’s Quin Henigan was raised for the moment
— Dealt an unimaginable loss, Lewisville star RB Viron Ellison Jr. is focused on healing
— The Dallas Morning News’ 2023 Offensive Player of the Year: Duncanville’s Caden Durham
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— With his leukemia in remission, Lovejoy’s Sam Reynolds signs to play college football
— Keelon Russell is latest football star to bolster Duncanville track’s state title hopes
— Texas high school coaches call for rule changes amid staggering number of transfers
— ‘Match.com for high school football’: How Dallas-area teams find out-of-state opponents
— ‘It’s pretty amazing’: How video, data technology is changing Texas high school football
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— Legendary Ennis football coach Sam Harrell to retire as battle with MS becomes too much
— Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore on track for Oregon, then NFL, but first goal is a three-peat
— Coaches frustrated with how UIL determines punishment, player eligibility for schools
— Jesuit football ‘Buddy Walk’ tradition uplifts honorary team members with Down syndrome
— Why coaches like Todd Dodge returned to Texas high school football after brief retirement
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— After his football career ended, Dallas’ Rawleigh Williams found a different NFL path
— Why Texas HS football dynasties are tough to achieve in state’s highest classification
— How football coaches prepare backup quarterbacks to be game-ready when starters go down
— A family affair: Inside the life of current Cedar Hill, future UT Coleman triplets
— There’s more to Byron Washington than being ‘Big Baby’, DeSoto’s powerful offensive tackle
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— Generational Euless Trinity offensive line has size and athleticism
— Texas high school football living up to hype for some of state’s top newcomers this season
— Quentin Gibson’s life-changing senior season helping power North Crowley’s 6A playoff push
— What goes into the inexact science of rating a 3-, 4- or 5-star football recruit?
— With sons by his side, Bill Elliott has Celina near doorstep of state championship glory
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— Rivals on Friday, friends off the field: DeSoto and Duncanville players share strong bonds
— The family business: How Riley, Kailer and Cam Pettijohn help anchor the McKinney defense
— How DeSoto’s Deondrae Riden Jr. followed football from the backyard to Texas A&M
— Like father, like son: Dallas-area players with NFL pedigree making impact on field
— Influx of Nigerian-born athletes bringing new culture to Texas high school football
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— Which Dallas-area playoff teams are winning with old-school offenses?
— Parish Episcopal’s Sawyer Anderson closing in on passing record, eyeing fourth state title
— Does defense win championships? Dallas-area teams riding strong defenses to state semis
— 2024-2026 UIL realignment: Analysis, district lists and must-read stories from SportsDayHS
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— How D-FW high schools host commercials for major brands, from Subway to State Farm
— Texas colleges spend big money on official visits for top high school football recruits
— The Dallas Morning News’ 2023 Defensive Player of the Year: DeSoto’s Keylan Abrams
— The Dallas Morning News’ 2023 All-area teams, football awards and more— Why Cedar Hill, other Dallas-area schools have been hit hardest by decreasing enrollment
— On Conrad High’s football team, no one will wear No. 12 again. Unless they earn it
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— Following in footsteps of NFL veteran father gives Hebron’s Patrick Crayton Jr. focus
— Cameroon native Ben Ebeke catching on to American football at W.T. White
— After late-season injury last year, Plano East’s Travis Agee back better than ever
— Byron Nelson QB Grant Bizjack making own mark in rich athletic family legacy
— Father-son, coach-QB combo living out lifelong dream while leading unbeaten Richland
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— Parish Episcopal’s Sawyer Anderson humble as he closes in on all-time passing mark
— When it comes to kicking, Plano East standout Blake Letourneau has been a sure thing
— Professional composure has made Sachse’s Brendon Haygood a record-setting running back
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
A popular Mexican singer, Julión Álvarez, says he and his band have had to cancel a show in Texas on Saturday night after the singer’s visa to enter the United States had been allegedly revoked.
The band, called Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda, was due to play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, around 30 miles west of Dallas, for a sold-out concert with nearly 50,000 tickets sold, the artist’s team said in a statement Friday.
The artist, show promoter CMN and management company Copar Music said that the show had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” and that Álvarez was “unable to enter the United States in time for the event.”
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Álvarez also announced the news on his Instagram account, saying in a video that he and his team were notified that his work visa had been revoked by US authorities earlier Friday.
“It is not possible for us to go to the United States and fulfill our show promise with all of you. It’s a situation that is out of our hands. That’s the information I have and what I can share,” he said in the video.
Álvarez said the stage had already been built and that his production team was already in Texas preparing for the show.
“I apologize to all of you, and if God permits, we will be in touch to provide more information,” he said.
The show’s promoter and Copar Music said they were working with Álvarez’s team to reschedule the performance. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date and refund details will be provided for those who cannot attend, it said.
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A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Álvarez’s case, telling CNN that visa records are confidential and that, by law, they cannot comment on individual cases.
Álvarez and his band are the latest Mexican artists to allegedly have their US visas revoked amid Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Last month, the State Department revoked the tourist visas of members of the Mexican band Los Alegres del Barranco, after they projected the face of a drug cartel boss onto a screen during a performance in the western state of Jalisco.
The Trump administration has also cracked down on foreign nationals allegedly linked directly or indirectly to drug cartels. This includes revoking the visas of artists whose work depicts drug cartels that the administration has deemed foreign terrorist organizations.
In 2017, Álvarez had his US work visa revoked after the US alleged he and around 20 other people – including soccer player Rafael Márquez – had ties to a drug trafficker linked to major cartels and were put under sanctions, according to a US Treasury statement.
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Álvarez denied those allegations and said he was only connected to the trafficker over a real estate purchase.
Álvarez was removed from the sanctions list in 2022 and was able to regain his visa, making a return to the United States earlier this year with three sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in April.
With nearly 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Álvarez is renowned in Mexico for his traditional music style with elements of banda, norteña, and mariachi. Some of his top hits include heartbreak hits like “Póngamonos de Acuerdo” and “Te Hubieras Ido Antes.”
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SEC baseball predictions: Tennessee and Vanderbilt could get hot at the perfect time
The Montgomery Advertiser’s Adam Cole makes his predictions for which team will win the 2025 SEC baseball tournament, highlighting Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Arkansas and more.
(This story was updated with new information)
As Texas A&M baseball continues to fight for its NCAA Tournament hopes, the Aggies have lost a key member of their team.
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In the top of the fifth inning of Thursday’s SEC baseball tournament game vs. No. 10 Auburn, Aggies star outfielder Jace LaViolette exited the game with an apparent hand injury after taking a pitch off his hand from Tigers’ left-hander pitcher Carson Myers.
After Thursday’s win vs. Auburn, Texas A&M manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament, confirming an earlier suspicion once LaViolette returned to the Aggies’ dugout in the seventh inning wrapped up in a split.
REQURIED READING: SEC Baseball Tournament games today: Scores, TV schedule, bracket for second round
LaViolette is one of the more recognizable names in the Aggies’ offense, and entered Thursday’s game with a .259 batting average and 18 home runs. He is ranked as the No. 7 prospect in this year’s upcoming MLB draft by MLB Pipeline.
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Texas A&M staved off a solo ninth-inning home run to beat Auburn 3-2 at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The Aggies’ win advanced them to Friday’s quarterfinals vs. No. 3 seed LSU, the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country.
Here’s the latest on Laviolette’s injury:
LaViolette left Texas A&M’s second-round game vs. Auburn on Thursday with an apparent hand injury. The SEC Network Broadcast showed LaViolette attempting to swing at a pitch before the ball came in on him and hit him off his knuckles and the knob of the bat.
After initially taking a pitch to his hand during an at-bat, LaViolette trotted down to first base while showing signs of pain. The SEC Network broadcast then showed LaViolette signaling to the Aggies’ dugout that he couldn’t stay in the game.
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He was replaced at first by pinch runner Jamal George, who would then enter the game in LaViolette’s place in the lineup the next half inning. After a lengthy time away from the dugout for X-rays, LaViolette was shown on the SEC Network broadcast returning to the dugout in the seventh inning with his left hand all wrapped up with a splint.
ESPN’s Kris Budden reported earlier on the SEC Network’s broadcast that LaViolette left the Aggies’ dugout for further testing after initially entering and going to sit on the bench once he came off the field.
“There is an X-Ray machine onsite so he does not have to leave and go to the hospital to have it checked out. He has not come back here in the dugout,” Budden reported. “When that happened, this place was so silent that from across the field that I could hear Jace screaming out in pain.”
Michael Earley on Jace LaViolette’s injury
After Texas A&M’s 3-2 win against Auburn on Thursday, Aggies manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament.
“I’m not sure if I can say but he will be out for the remainder of the tournament,” Earley said.
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What is Jace LaViolette’s injury?
While it has not been confirmed by Texas A&M, it appears that LaViolette sustained a hand injury in Thursday’s SEC tournament game.
