District 9-4A Season Insider

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District 10-4A Preview

Predicted Order of Finish
(Area) (Rank) (Team)
#15 (1) Denison
#18 (2) Sherman
#30 (3) McKinney
#36 (4) Frisco
#40 (5) McKinney North
#47 (6) Frisco Centennial
#53 (7) Frisco Wakeland
#62 (8) Frisco Liberty

Enrollment Rank
1) McKinney (1802)
2) Sherman (1771)
3) Frisco Centennial (1628)
4) Frisco Liberty (1618.61)
5) McKinney North (1523)
6) Frisco (1477)
7) Frisco Wakeland (1455)
8) Denison (1340)

District Overview
Merging what was left of 9-4A with old 5-4A makes a nice 75 corridor rivalry. Unfortunately for the southern part, the northern part is where most of the talent and tradition is. Only four of these schools even existed 10 years ago. Can the new schools step up? Denison and Sherman will be expected to battle for the district title, but McKinney is a team that warrants watching. Their poor performance against Greenville might lead one to believe (especially in light of Denison and Sherman's respectable scrimmage performances) that McKinney is not only third, but a distant third. I think there will be some scrambling for the last spot. Only 11 spots seperate 4th from 6th in the area rankings, so certainly any of these teams can jump up. Wakeland is expected to be a surprise team by some as is Liberty - so something has to give. I think there will be some very competitive second tier games, but I like McKinney's returning starters and Frisco's program consistency as reasons I take them as the last two teams in the playoff picture.

Team by Team


Denison

Strengths: Denison returns 17 starters last year and that is a huge strength. There are a lot of sophomores that played last year that will be juniors this year. A lot of the positions are solid, and some move-ins should provide even more stability to a loaded team.
Weaknesses: The team hasn't won in a long time. They have had good talent but beat up in a solid 5-4A district. Do they know how to win consistently? Do they have the depth? Or like in the Corey Robertson days, are they a one man show - and if you can stop the QB, you can stop the team? Will the team be diversified enough?
Chance of making playoffs: 90%

Sherman
Strengths: Waymon James is one of the best running backs in the area. The offensive line has some beef and the defense is strong and athletic. They swarm to the ball. The team is athletic and has limited depth if needed to combat grades, personal issues or injuries.
Weaknesses: Waymon James decided last season to go shopping instead of school. Will his off-season antics be controlled? A lot of people think they don't feed James the ball enough. Does the coaching staff trust him enough to make him a focal point of the offense? These are some questions that will have to be addressed.
Chance of making playoffs: 85%

McKinney

Strengths: Team started a lot of sophomores last season. The quarterback has a great arm and can put up a season of big yards. Matt Likpa is a top flight receiver. The linemen are very solid for McKinney. The offense will be absolutely great.
Weaknesses: The defense is weak and doesn't have a lot of depth. How much can McKinney win shootouts? The offense will have to be perfect to win a lot of games. That is going to be a major issue for McKinney. Also - they haven't learned how to win.
Chance of making playoffs: 75%

Frisco

Strengths: The coaching and tradition in this program has been solid. They have continually made the playoffs and challenged Highland Park usually in the first round fairly well. Frisco has had good senior talent return year after year, and they do have some speedy talent.
Weaknesses: How many schools can open before Frisco is affected adversely? How many great senior classes can be replaced at a playoff level intensity? These are questions that we have to ask about Frisco - but they've earned the right to be considered a playoff team.
Chance of making playoffs: 70%

McKinney North

Strengths: McKinney North has had good young coaching, but they have fallen apart lately at the end of the season. They have some good linebackers and good size this season. The speed is also pretty good.
Weaknesses: Depth is not there for McKinney North. A lot of their talent graduated last season and a lot more talent has moved over to McKinney Boyd. They have been somewhat bipolar and they could trend downward this season.
Chance of making playoffs: 40%

Frisco Centennial

Strengths: Despite a sixth place prediction, Frisco Centennial is not far off from a playoff spot. They arguably have the best quarterback in the district on a recruiting basis and they have a great defensive end as well as a speedy running back.
Weaknesses: In all the games I've seen, Mossakowski has always been on a different page than the receivers. Most of their yardage comes in short spurts where the receiver makes a big play. The team doesn't have much depth, size or team speed.
Chance of making the playoffs: 30%

Frisco Wakeland

Strengths: The team has experienced success. The team gave Royse City a run for it in the 3A playoffs last season and they had a fairly winning season all and all. The QB is the head coach's son and he is highly thought of - and he will make plays this season.
Weaknesses: The team got blown out by Celina and still lost to Royse City. They haven't really proven they can beat good teams. What will change at the 4A level? They are still a young program and they had the enrollment advantage over everyone in 3A. 4A should be a different story.
Chance of making the playoffs: 5%

Frisco Liberty

Strengths: The coaching staff is excellent and does not accept losing. The team went 9-1 as a JV team and has the sense of winning. The team has some good size and some good athletes. They return just about everyone from last season as well.
Weaknesses: The lack of experience will be very bad for Frisco Liberty. Their only loss was to Wakeland, the team we project seventh. I think new teams have to pay their dues - there have been very rare 4A/5A teams that have won games its first season. Even Hebron, the model for start-up programs, took some lumps.
Chance of making the playoffs: 5%