After five weeks of games, we’ve reached the midpoint of the 2024 Texas high school football season. With district play in full swing across the state, it’s time to press pause and acknowledge some of the top teams and performers of the year so far.
Read our other midseason reports here:
Midseason report: Which teams have surprised the most?
Midseason report: What are the most intriguing storylines?
Midseason report: Which teams can win state, who are the dark horses?
Here are the players we think have the best shot at winning Dallas-area MVP:
Which two players are your frontrunners for Dallas-area MVP?
Colin Capece: On offense, it would be Highland Park quarterback Buck Randall. You wanna talk about a valuable player? How about stepping in as a first-time starter as a sophomore and leading class 5A in passing yards through five weeks. Highland Park is 4-1 and looks like the frontrunner in district 7-5AI. On defense, it’s Fort Worth All Saints defensive end Dalton Knapp. He leads TAPPS in sacks with eight for a team that has started 5-0.
Ronald Harrod Jr.: North Crowley put the Dallas area on notice in Week 2 with a 57-51 upset of DeSoto, and so did Quentin Gibson, who had 180 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Gibson leads area 6A wide receivers with 692 yards and has 15 touchdowns. On defense, it would be Duncanville’s linebacker Nehemiah Borner, a Lamar pledge who has 46 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in four games.
Greg Riddle: On offense, it would be five-star Alabama pledge Keelon Russell from Duncanville, who is the nation’s third-ranked senior quarterback. He has 20 touchdown passes in four games for the nation’s fourth-ranked team, and he is averaging 359 passing yards per game for an undefeated team that is seeking its third consecutive Class 6A Division I state title. It could go down to the wire between Russell and North Crowley senior wide receiver Quentin Gibson, who has 29 catches for 692 yards and 15 touchdowns for a 5-0 team that is ranked No. 11 nationally. Gibson is on pace to break the state record for most touchdown catches in a season, which is 39. On defense, it would be Skyline four-star linebacker Elijah Barnes, a Texas pledge who has 62 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and five sacks in five games. The nation’s ninth-ranked linebacker is averaging 12.4 tackles per game.
Myah Taylor: Duncanville quarterback Keelon Russell has thrown an astounding 1,437 passing yards and 20 touchdowns through four games for the defending back-to-back 6A Division I state champion. The five-star Alabama pledge threw six touchdowns in each of Duncanville’s last two district games, wins over Waxahachie and Skyline. Russell will have competition for the Dallas-area’s offensive MVP from North Crowley wide receiver Quentin Gibson, who leads the area’s 6A players in receiving with 29 catches for 692 yards and 15 touchdowns. North Crowley’s Jonathan Cunningham is making a case for himself as the area’s defensive MVP. The three-star linebacker committed to Texas has posted big performances this season (9 tackles, 2 TFL, sack, QB pressure in a 70-17 win against Rockwall) and has helped lead a defense that has allowed opponents an average of 23.4 points per game.
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