Despite a shaky 0-4 start this season, the Kennedale Wildcats turned it around and won five straight. The Wildcats completed the season second in District 6/4A and earned a second seed in the UIL 2024 Championship playoffs. Of note, no Kennedale team under Head Coach/Athletic Director Richard Barrett has ever gone 0-4 to start the season or missed the playoffs. This will the 24th year in the playoffs.
About the football playoffs …
The UIL playoffs for Class 4A start with 64 teams (16 districts spread across Texas enter their top four teams). In the first round, labeled Bi-District, individual districts from one district are paired with teams from a neighboring district. The matchups pit the #1 seed against the #4 seed in the two districts, while the #2 and #3 seeds play in the other contest.
On paper, the teams are much alike …
Kennedale is in District 6/4A and will play the #3 seed Fort Worth Southwest High School Raiders of District 5/4A. Both teams finished their seasons at 5-5 but the Wildcats had a 4-1 district record while the Raiders were 4-2.
The two teams have other similarities besides their season record. Kennedale has averaged 22.7 points this season, while Southwest has a 21.0 average. Two hundred fifty-three points have been scored against the Cats and 259 against the Raiders.
The only common opponents this season were both losses, Springtown (Kennedale by 17 and Southwest by 68) and Frisco Panther Creek (Kennedale by 39 and Springtown by 37).
Both teams will be entering the playoffs after losing the final game of the season. Southwest was downed by Decatur 45-0, and Kennedale lost to Alvarado 42-7.
A little about Southwest …
Southwest High School was another Fort Worth school affected by declining enrollment in recent years. A longtime 5A school, the Raiders were assigned to 4A in the recent realignment with a reported enrollment of 1253 students. The cutoff number for 5A is 1314. Fort Worth now has 7 campuses competing in Class 4A sports. Seven campuses remain in 5A. *See a complete list below.
Southwest started competing in varsity football in 1968. It has struggled over the years to establish a consistent winning record. However, since 2003 the Raiders have gone 133-113-0 and made the playoffs 15 times.
Joseph Turner has taken over the Raiders’ head coaching duties this year, moving over from Fort Worth Northside. He had been the head coach for the Steers for the last nine years. Under Turner, Southwest has returned this season to the playoffs after a 3-year absence.
Cats will host in first-round action …
Perhaps with the lucky flip of the coin, Kennedale earned the right to host the game. This is unusual as most postseason games are played at neutral sites. The Wildcat are 4-1 at home this season.
Game time is set for Friday 7:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium. Expect a crowd.
*Fort Worth Schools in 4A: (Division 1) Carter-Riverside, Eastern Hills, Southwest, Western Hills, and Diamond Hill-Jarvis, (Division 2) Benbrook, and Dunbar. In Class 5A: (Division 1) Arlington Heights, Northside, Paschal, Polytechnic, South Hills, Trimble Tech, O.D. Wyatt.
