This will be a good one to watch.


Cedar Hill to play DeSoto on ESPN

10:48 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 19, 2009


The DeSoto-Cedar Hill football game on Aug. 29 will be a battle of neighbors, but it will be shown to a national television audience.

The game matching the former district rivals will be televised live by ESPN as the Old Spice High School Showcase presented by Gatorade. The kickoff at Cedar Hill's Longhorn Stadium will be at 6 p.m. instead of 7:30.

A plan to broadcast the game has been in the works for a few months, and ESPN confirmed Wednesday that the game will be televised live. Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said ESPN representatives visited Longhorn Stadium recently to make sure it would work for the broadcast.

"I think this is going to be great for both communities," McGuire said. "It's great exposure for DeSoto and Cedar Hill."

The schools are only six miles apart but were placed in separate districts in the UIL's last two-year realignment in 2008. DeSoto and Cedar Hill last played in 2007, when DeSoto won, 37-30. A year earlier, Cedar Hill beat DeSoto twice – once during the regular season and a second time during the Longhorns' march to a Class 5A Division II title.

Cedar Hill finished 12-2 last year and advanced to the 5A Division II Region I final. DeSoto was 6-6 and made it to the area round in 5A Division I. Both teams are expected to be among the best in the area this season.

Matt Wixon



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