The Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School Wildcats and the Kennedale High School Wildcats have met eight times in recent memory. This Thursday night, September 26, will mark seven straight matchups. The last six times were in district play. Two other games were part of a two-game non-district series played in the 2014 and 2015 football seasons.
Kennedale has dominated the overall series with a 9-0 record, largely by lopsided scores. Last year’s game was by far the closes game in the series when the KCats came away with a 14-7 win. It was the last game of the season, and Kennedale (7-0, 7-4) secured a 1st place district finish while Dunbar (6-1, 7-4) settled for second place. Dunbar now sees a chance for revenge.
Dunbar’s backstory …
Dunbar’s first football season was in 1967 after the FWISD campus opened on Ramey Avenue near Loop E820. It finished a strong 7-2-1. It would be another dozen years before the DCats would match that record. But it was not until 1988 that a consistent winning reputation would develop. From that point on the DCats have won 10 district titles, and 6 runner-up finishes while making the playoffs 27 times. Todd Lawson has been the head coach for Dunbar for 21 years, winning 52% of his games.
The match-up …
Entering the game Thursday, Dunbar has the better record at 2-2 while Kennedale is heading into the game at 0-4. Dunbar’s wins have come at the expense of 4A FtW O.D. Wyatt (1-3) 14-13 and 3A Dallas Madison (1-3) 55-20. The DCats have lost to 4A Wilmer-Hutchins (3-1) 29-22 in the season opener and to 5A Wichita Falls Memorial (3-1) 55-27.
The Dunbar Wildcats have put the ball across the goal line more often with an 18-point-per-game average compared to Kennedale’s 11 points. Kennedale’s defense compares favorably with DCats. The defense may be the tell.
Of note, the DCats have not met one ranked team and just two of the four teams played have winning records. Kennedale’s four opponents were winning programs and ranked (MaxPreps).
A challenge to win …
The two teams are more comparable than the records might indicate, but it is on Kennedale to prove it can win one.
