Mighty Mansfield ISD: Four football teams still in playoff hunt

The UIL football playoffs have reached the third round, and no one stacks up with Mansfield Independent School District.

Mansfield ISD has four teams in this the regional round: Mansfield High, Summit, Legacy and Lake Ridge.

No other ISD comes close. Arlington, Cypress Fairbanks, Humble and Lubbock school districts have two apiece.

“It speaks to the quality of coaches and student athletes that we have, and the support from this community,” said Mansfield ISD Athletic Director Philip O’Neal. “We’re real excited and very proud of our student athletes and coaches. We have the best ones in the state.”

But this wasn’t an overnight occurrence.

Include this year’s quartet, and Mansfield ISD can boast of 12 football teams since 2011 that have advanced at least three rounds deep.

“What’s been the most impressive is that over 15 years, our football is getting better and with four teams still in the playoffs, it continues to get stronger,” said Assistant Director of Athletics Tammy Lusinger, whose been a part of the district since 2002.

Class 6A Mansfield High has quickly become a state contender with a trip to the regional round each of the past three seasons.

The Tigers (11-1) play Waco Midway (12-0) in a 6A Division II game, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Baylor’s McLane Stadium.

Entering the season, Mansfield had to replace 7,000-yard rusher Kennedy Brooks, who’s now at Oklahoma.

The Tigers have done that with a community of runners, who have combined for 3,000 yards, and a defense that’s allowing just under 13 points per game.

“This team is post-Kennedy Brooks and needed to create their own identity and they did that with a statement game last week,” O’Neal said of Mansfield’s 55-37 win over previously undefeated San Angelo Central.

While Mansfield High is a 6A standout, Mansfield’s 5A contingent survived an arduous grind to get this far. Competing in a one of the toughest districts in Texas, District 10-5A is often referred to as the “District of Doom.”

Along with Summit, Legacy and Lake Ridge, Waxahachie is also playing in the regional round. Even Timberview, Lancaster and Midlothian were in it until the final week of the regular season.

The Summit Jaguars (8-4), who are in the playoffs for the 11th time since their inaugural UIL varsity season in 2003, face defending 5A Division I state champ Dallas Highland Park (11-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday at SMU.

It’s Summit’s first regional appearance since 2004 and ‘05.

The Legacy Broncos (10-2) opened next in 2007 and have been making strides the past five seasons — with their third trip to the regional round.

Legacy, which went to the state quarterfinals last year, gets North Forney (10-2) in 5A Division II contest, 2 p.m. Saturday at Allen.

The Lake Ridge Eagles have had the most success in the shortest period of time.

After the program started 2-18 in its first two seasons, Lake Ridge has reeled off 42 wins in the past four years with title-game appearance in 2015 and regional-round games the other three times.

Lake Ridge (11-1) takes on Prosper (10-2) in 5A Division I game, 7 p.m. Friday at Carrollton’s Standridge Stadium.

“That’s what makes this job so rewarding,” said Assistant Director of Athletics Tammy Lusinger. “You get to go support four playoff teams and to go 4-0 two weekends in a row is very exciting.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Mighty Mansfield ISD: Four football teams still in playoff hunt."