Stepp's 6A Region II Picks: District Projections and Playoff Outlook

There was some hope among the teams in this district that maybe the Realignment Gods would be favorable and move this district away from 11-6A. However, a little bad luck and geography played a part and once again the playoff teams in this loop have to knock heads with the monsters in the southern sector of DFW. Harker Heights has dominated in this loop the past few seasons and they’ve been the one team that has had some playoff success; they were a regional finalist in 2022 and last year were a play or two away from a trip to the third round. Offensively, the Knights are loaded and if the young defense can step up they should hold off a strong Midway squad led by one of the state’s top RB’s in Lathan Whisenton, a Notre Dame commit. Copperas Cove was a surprise playoff team a year ago and should be even better in Year 2 under HC Rodney Southern. They get the nod over Temple also under a second year head coach in Chad President. Lake Belton was a consistent playoff team in 5A and they make the move to 6A under former Austin Westlake assistant coach Kirk Rogers.

College Park rolled to their first district title a year ago and although a lot of key pieces are back, there’s a new leader on the sidelines after Kyle Coats’ departure for Humble Atascocita. The Cavaliers still have the personnel to make a deep run led by QB Camden Hughes and WR Julian Cromartie, and one of the top interior defensive lines in the state. Willis pushed all the way to a regional final last year with a freshman QB leading the way. Now five-star ATH Jermaine Bishop is gone, but QB Lincoln Fazier still has a talented cast of playmakers around him and the Wildkats expect to better on the defensive side of the ball. The Woodlands has dominated the district historically, and although the Highlanders expect to be very strong, a third place finish isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Grand Oaks made their first playoff appearance a year ago and then proceeded to win their first playoff game in school history. The Grizzlies should have enough to hold off Conroe, whose enrollment has skyrocketed to well over 5,000 students; the Tigers will soon see their talent pool shrink as Conroe ISD’s seventh high school as Timber Mills will open next August and play varsity football in 2028.

A year ago Westfield, Nimitz and Davis all had a share of the district title and those three look to be the cream of the crop in this district that hopes to have better playoff showing after getting swept out of the bi-district round by 13-6A in 2025. Spring Westfield, who actually has 5A numbers, looks to be the team to beat as the Mustangs feature what may be one of the top defensive units in the Houston area. Davis has slowly improved each year under head coach Kelvin Chatham and the Falcons could be primed for a breakout campaign with a some explosive skill talent on hand. Nimitz should be very good on defense, but the Cougars offense has questions. That should be enough to hold off tough challenges from Eisenhower and Dekaney. If you want a sleeper to dream on, don’t sleep on Aldine MacArthur. Blake Ware has the Generals believing they can contend for a playoff spot this year.

As competitive as this district typically is from top to bottom, it is equally full of questions heading into 2026 as there’s as many as seven teams who can make a legitimate claim for a playoff spot. Klein Collins, who won the district a year ago, didn’t escape with an unblemished record, but they did push to the regional semifinals before being eliminated by Duncanville. They are the team of record in this loop winning nine of the last 11 district titles, but they lost a huge senior class. Klein brings back a lot of talent from last year’s team that started strong but faded late, getting their QB back who missed all of last year will be big and getting WR Mike Brown eligible is a major boost. But off the field concerns with the coaching staff has cast some bad light on the program. How will the team respond is unknown. Klein Oak is uber-talented and they bring seven back on both sides, but the Panthers stumbled out of the playoff race a year ago. Can they bounce back after a surprise playoff run in 2024? Tomball is very young on offense, but they may have the best pair of backs in the Houston area in Ian Thomas and Trevon Johnson. Can the other questions on offense get answered? Klein Cain returns 14 starters from a team that missed the playoffs a year ago. The Hurricanes will be in the mix along with Magnolia who still has QB Chase Lowrey leading the charge. But the Bulldogs defense was hammered by graduation.

Lots of change in Cy-Fair ISD as several of these teams have spent the last few alignments paired in Region III. Now many have moved over to District 16 where there could be some road trips inside of the region if they make a playoff run. Cy Falls is loaded with speed and experience after posting a 9-4 record while playing a sophomore heavy lineup. The Golden Eagles are ready to soar and could be a regional contender in 2026. Cy-Fair has a strong group of seniors, a veteran QB and two FBS caliber WR’s on the outside, so the Bobcats could be quite explosive on offense and the defense should be improved with seven starters returning. Things get murky after that, but I really like Langham Creek for that three-seed. The Lobos were 6-4 a year ago and return a stout defense that has eight returning starters. If the offense can mature, they’ll be in the mix. Cy Lakes not only made the playoffs for the first time in school history last year, but they hung around and advanced to the area playoffs. Tyrone Carter’s squad was hammered by graduation. We’ll give the benefit of the doubt over Cy Woods because the Wildcats were also hit hard with 44 seniors departing.

We could be on a real crash course for an 11-6A rematch in the regional finals much like last year as Duncanville and Waxahachie look the part as top dawgs. Klein at the top of the bracket and maybe Cy-Fair at the bottom of the bracket look best equipped to contend with the DFW monsters, but they’ll enter a possible regional final as multiple touchdown underdogs.

Because of their district alignment, North Crowley gets shifted into Division II, which is odd to see a team in Fort Worth going to Region II in 6A. The Panthers will have a tough road with that third round game likely against an explosive College Park squad that went three deep a year ago. The bottom of the bracket is anyone’s guess. Area round games with Longview vs. Harker Heights and Willis vs. Cy Falls are extremely interesting matchups.

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Stepp's 6A Region II Picks: District Projections and Playoff Outlook

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