Three years ago, Walnut Grove High School didn't exist. Now the Wildcats enter UIL Class 6A for the 2026-27 school year carrying a 5A Lone Star Cup, back-to-back district football championships and a 60-game boys soccer unbeaten streak that set a UIL record.

The jump from 5A Division II to 6A is the largest single-cycle leap available in UIL realignment, and it puts Walnut Grove in the same district as cross-town rivals Prosper High School and Rock Hill for the first time. All three Prosper ISD campuses will face each other in district play during the 2026-27 season.

Head football coach Tommy Allison, who won a Class 1A Division II state title at Cayuga in 2009, has guided the Wildcats to a 23-3 varsity record since the program began UIL competition. In a profile published by Dave Campbell's Texas Football on Wednesday, Aug. 5, Allison described the challenge of building a culture from scratch.

"That was a big challenge for us that first year, was to try to make a name for ourselves. Try to make something that is cool to be a Walnut Grove Wildcat," Allison told the publication.

When the campus opened in 2023, upperclassmen could choose whether to attend Walnut Grove or stay at Prosper High or Rock Hill. The football team had no UIL district assignment that first year and played an "outlaw" schedule, traveling to Arkansas, Lubbock and San Antonio to fill 10 games.

The identity took hold fast.

Beyond football, Walnut Grove's boys soccer team went 31-0 in 2025-26 under head coach Trent Kutch, claiming back-to-back 5A D1 state championships with a 2-0 win over College Station on April 10. The girls basketball team reached the UIL state semifinals, a first for any Prosper ISD basketball program. The boys golf team won a state title. Lauren Carrothers swept gold in the long jump and triple jump at the 5A state track meet. And the culinary arts barbecue team, competing under teacher Brett Claypoole, won a state championship in the dessert category at the Texas High School Barbecue State Championships in Granite Shoals with a carrot cake entry.

Prosper ISD Athletics announced June 12 that Walnut Grove earned the 2025-26 UIL Lone Star Cup for Class 5A, recognizing the top-performing school in the classification across athletics, academics and fine arts.

The cross-town matchups add personal stakes. Junior wide receiver Chase Jolley's brother Mason played as a First Team All-District outside linebacker at Prosper High. Offensive lineman Jackson Hooker's family moved to a new house specifically to land in the Prosper High attendance zone before learning Walnut Grove was being built.

The 2026-27 school year also marks a broader milestone: no new comprehensive public high school will open in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, ending a six-year streak that included Walnut Grove itself. Prosper and Frisco ISDs drove most of that boom. Three additional high school campuses are planned for 2027.

Walnut Grove's first 6A district football game date has not been publicly confirmed. As we reported Aug. 4, UIL football practice opened Tuesday, Aug. 4, across Prosper ISD.