South Oak Cliff falls at state for the second year in a row, this time to Richmond Randle

The Richmond Randle football team was making its first trip to the UIL state championships, but the Lions weren’t intimidated, at all, by Dallas South Oak Cliff which was No. 1 in the state and making its fourth consecutive appearance in a state title game.

SOC and No. 5 Randle battled back and forth in the second half, but in the end the Golden Bears were unable to execute a rushed 45-yard field goal attempt allowing the Lions to escape with a 38-35 win in the Class 5A Division II championship on Friday, Dec. 20, in front of 15,032 onlookers at AT&T Stadium.

“There could have been a bit of an intimidation factor coming here and playing South Oak Cliff, but our biggest focus and what I told the kids was that it’s all been done before,” said Randle coach Brian Randle, who’s father is the namesake of Dr. Thomas E. Randle High School. “It’s just our turn. People win state every year so let’s go out there and win it.

“Don’t flinch, don’t allow anybody to punk you. You’re playing in front of your mom, your family, your grandparents and I don’t know about you, but I’m not losing in front of my mom and them, it’s not going to happen.”

South Oak Cliff took a 35-31 lead with 9:02 left in the game on a perfectly run zone read by quarterback Carter Kopecky from 22 yards out. But Randle never flinched.

The Lions got the second of two kickoff returns for a touchdown, this time being a 72-yard scamper by Sean Smith, that gave the lead right back to Randle at 38-35.

Sincere Timpson had taken the opening kickoff of the game back 82 yards for a TD for Randle. The two kickoff returns for scores tied an all-classes record set in 1976 by Beaumont Hebert.

The teams traded punts after the second return touchdown with SOC getting the ball back at the Randle 44 with 3:36 left in the game. The Golden Bears had to convert a fourth and 10 on the drive, getting 11 yards on a pass play from Kopecky to Reggie McNeal with 1:25 left.

South Oak Cliff called a pair of running plays before taking a time out with and ran another running play after the stoppage, but had to hurry out the field goal team. The kick got off just before time expired but failed to hit its mark to send the game to overtime.

“I thought we played a very competitive, great game, but we just came up a little short,” said South Oak Cliff coach Jason Todd, whose team lost a late lead a year ago to Port Neches-Groves in the 2023 5A DII championship game. “Hats off to Randle. I thought they did a good job of coaching and playing.”

Todd lamented the fact that his teams are notorious for getting and stretching a lead, but that Randle just wouldn’t allow them to do it.

The Golden Bears trailed 24-14 at the half, but rallied after the intermission, scoring twice on a 75-yard touchdown run by Mikail Trotter and an 85-yard TD run by Damond Williams that gave SOC a 28-24 lead with 9:28 left in the third quarter.

South Oak Cliff did get a couple of stops after that, but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone to extend the lead. An interception by Randle’s Perry Kindred at the SOC 38 allowed the Lions to retake the lead, 31-28, four plays later when Keilan Sweeny ran it in from 21 yards out.

Randle running back Landen Williams-Callis, a sophomore, earned Offensive MVP honors with 23 rushes for 101 yards. His one-yard scoring run gave Randle a 14-0 lead at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter.

Ryan Mallory was the Defensive MVP for the Lions. The linebacker finished with 10 tackles, three solo, with two tackles for losses.

South Oak Cliff out gained Randle 461-211 in total yards and had two 100-yard rushers in Trotter, a junior, who carried 19 times for 170 yards and two scores and Williams, a senior, who picked up 138 yards on 13 tries. Kopecky, also a senior, threw for 106 yards completing 10 of 21 passes and added 42 rushing yards on six carries.

“I think that I’ve had the greatest senior class in Dallas ISD history,” said Todd of his group of seniors that has helped lead and build his program to where it is today. “I think that they’re in the ranks with a lot of other phenomenal programs that have had kids go to state four years in a row. I told these kids that the memories and the bonds that we’ve made over these four years are going to last a lifetime.”