As has become a sign of the season, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football (DCTF) magazine is on store shelves and their pre-season predictions are in.
West Grayson County area teams show varied rankings in the early polls.
Whitesboro Bearcats
The Whitesboro Bearcats are very much in the conversation among the top of District 6-3A DI in the DCTF standings. They are ranked second behind the Pottsboro Cardinals.
Palmer is third, Dallas Madison is fourth and Dallas Life Oak Cliff is ranked fifth. Pilot Point and Dallas A+ Academy round out the district at sixth and seventh.
Whitesboro is coming off a strong finish to the post-season as last year landed them as Area Finalists. They lost some talent to graduation and will lean on some promising young talent in their sophomore class. Colt Fagan will take over under center and will surely seek a key target in Brayden Bomar.
Linebacker Collin Phillips enters the season as DCTF District 6-3A DI Defensive Player of the Year.
The Bearcats kick-off the 2024 season at home against North Lamar on Friday, Aug. 30. Read more about them in the annual North Central Texas Football preview that will be on store shelves Thursday, Aug. 29.
S&S Rams
The S&S Rams enter the 2024 campaign ranked at the bottom of the DCTF standings for District 7-3A DII. They are last in the standings behind Howe and Blue Ridge at fifth and sixth.
The back-to-back State Champ Gunter Tigers are ranked first, Bells is second, Leonard is third and Callisburg is fourth.
First year head coach Dan Pike is tasked to turn the Rams around after an 0-10 season last year. To do so, he’ll rely heavily on the experience of upperclassmen like Hunter Courville and Kenny Melton.
The Rams kick-off the 2024 season on the road at Comanche, Oklahoma on Friday, Aug. 30. Read more about them in the annual North Central Texas Football preview that will be on store shelves the day before.
Collinsville Pirates
After two years of stellar post-season runs, the Collinsville Pirate football team finds themselves ranked third in the pre-season standings— a few notches below where they’ve been in
recent years.
DCTF picks Collinsville to finish third in District 8-2A DII behind Lindsay (second) and Muenster (ranked first). Santo is picked fourth, Era is fifth and Chico rounds out the rankings at sixth.
After running the table in district last year and ending 2023 at 12-2 with a trip to the regional finals, Collinsville is in rebuild mode after losing much of its top talent to graduation.
They will take the field with sophomore Jaxon Jenkins under center and look for leadership from veterans like Garrett Trevino and Cash Morgan. Trevino is slated as the DCTF District 8-2A DII Defensive MVP.
The Pirates kick-off the 2024 season on the road at Tioga on Thursday, Aug. 29. Read more about them in the annual North Central Texas Football preview that will be on store shelves that same day.
Tioga Bulldogs
The Tioga Bulldog football team finds themselves among the top of the DCTF predictions ranked first in the District 6-2A DI preseason standings. Wolfe City is ranked second, Tom Bean is third and Alvord is fourth. Nocona, Whitewright and Trenton round out the predictions in fifth, sixth and seventh place.
A rebuild year last year under new head coach Zach Birdwell found the Bulldogs playing football on Thanksgiving week. They ended 2023 9-4 overall and 4-1 in district.
Birdwell’s passing game scheme will likely persist in 2024 with the return of key targets Austin Norwood and Johnny Dorphinghaus. Both of whom have been productive in their prior three years as starters.
The Bulldogs kick-off the 2024 season at home against Collinsville on Thursday, Aug. 29. Read more about them in the annual North Central Texas Football preview that will be on store shelves that same day.