ARLINGTON – South Oak Cliff won’t care if you call them brash. Or flashy. Or unabashed. Just call them champions. Again. 

Dallas ISD went over 60 years without a state champion in football. The Golden Bears won their second Class 5A Division II championship in a row on Friday night, knocking off Port Neches-Groves, 34-24. And they did it the hard way. 

"We were trying to test ourselves," SOC head coach Jason Todd said about the early-season schedule. "The 0-3 record didn't bother of us. We played some heavyweights that were out of our division. We knew that once we played in our division, only one or two teams could hang with us." 

Teams filled with five-star talent don’t always earn a reputation as a tough-minded, physical football team, but that is exactly what SOC proved itself to be in the comeback win over PN-G. The Golden Bears didn’t take their first lead until 2:05 was left in the third quarter when a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Will Little made the score 24-17. Little began the year as the third string quarterback. He ended the season as the Offensive MVP of the title win. 

A few plays later, Malik Muhammad intercepted a pass and returned it 41 yards to give the Golden Bears a two-score cushion and a firm grip on back-to-back crowns. The defense and special teams contributed 11 points to SOC thanks to that pick-six and two safeties. 

SOC coasted to a title in 2021, winning 15 straight after a Week 1 loss to Duncanville, claiming its historic state title in a win over Liberty Hill. The team outscored opponents by an average of 47-12 and the offense accounted for 758 points in 16 games. 

The road wasn’t as easy in 2022. SOC started 0-3 with losses to Duncanville, Lancaster, and DeSoto. The alarm wasn’t sounded, however, as those games – against much bigger schools – served as a reminder to the players that the hard way is the best way. The Golden Bears scored over 200 points fewer than last year and allowed nearly 40 more. 

"We deal with some real life situations that make us not panic about a football game," Todd said. "Our kids don't get down. We used the experiences from early in the season to fight through the adversity." 

Beaten and battered, the SOC offense scored fewer points in each successive game in the playoffs. The Golden Bears scored 42 against Lovejoy, 33 versus Midlothian Heritage, 30 in the win over Melissa, and only 14 in the semifinal victory over Argyle a week ago. 

But an explosive offense isn’t required when a defense lives up to the hype. As the offense’s output lessened over the playoffs, the defense’s improved. Lovejoy scored 37 in the first round. Midlothian Heritage turned in 27. The unit held Melissa to 16 points and then Argyle to just six in the semifinal win. 

The win over PN-G mirrored the season for SOC. The Indians jumped out to a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game thanks to a 53-yard touchdown pass that beat Muhammad. PN-G then led 10-3 and 17-5 at different points in the second quarter. The halftime deficit was cut to 17-12 thanks to a second-quarter touchdown. PN-G didn’t score from the 3:32 mark in the first half to the one-minute mark in the fourth quarter. SOC scored nine non-offensive points in that span, and the offense eventually came alive enough to win in impressive fashion and solidify the Golden Bears’ place in Texas high school football history.