Highland Park’s football team continues its preparation for the District 6-5A Division I season Friday when it plays up a classification for the second consecutive week and goes on the road to take on Rockwall-Heath at 7 p.m. from Wilkerson-Sanders Memorial Stadium.
Like last week’s opponent, Lewisville, the Hawks are perennial playoff qualifier and are one of the area’s top-ranked 6A teams by The Dallas Morning News (No. 12).
Last year, Heath went 8-4 and reached the area round of the playoffs, but the Hawks have taken on a new look in 2026 under first-year head coach Casey Dick.
Dick, an Allen alum who played collegiately at Arkansas from 2005-2008, arrives after leading Fayetteville (Ark.) to a 7A state title last season.
The Hawks came up shy in Dick’s opener, falling on the road to No. 6 Denton Guyer, 45-20.
Heath got out to a slow start, falling behind, 24-0, before waking up late and scoring 20 fourth-quarter points.
A year ago, Heath topped HP in a season-opening thriller, 52-49.
“They’re a really good team with a lot of players back from last year,” said Randy Allen, HP head coach. “Their quarterback is back and had a really good game last year, and they have a really good linebacker that kind of leads their defense.”
The quarterback referenced by Allen is Prosper Neal, who threw for 171 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 33 yards and an additional score in last year’s victory.
For the year, Neal threw for 2,018 yards and 20 touchdowns against seven interceptions while rushing for 575 yards (5.7 per carry) and 13 scores.
Carter Zahm also returns at running back after racking up 1,220 yards and (7 per carry) and 15 touchdowns on the ground to go with 22 catches for 302 yards receiving.
Last year against HP, Zahm rushed for 100 yards on nine carries and found the end zone twice while also returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
Heath’s biggest question offensively comes in the trenches where four of five starters graduated.
Defensively, linebacker Carson Adams is an Air Force commit and racked up six sacks and 103 tackles (30.5 for loss), while Landon Foster also chipped in six sacks.
The Hawks struggled to contain Guyer on Friday, however, allowing 276 yards through the air and 111 on the ground.
“They have some great players over there,” Allen said. “It should be another good test for us.”
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