SOC seniors win state before closing out their high school careers

South Oak Cliff High School has set a standard for their football team: make it to the state championship. The Golden Bears set even higher goals when they became a back-to-back state champion team, the first to do so in Dallas ISD history in 2021 and in 2022.

That was the program that this year’s team seniors entered as freshmen. They fought hard throughout a two-year title drought, but before closing their high school football career in 2025, they were able to earn another championship title.

Brison Ramsey-Brooks, Ja’Marion Phillips and Mikail Trotter were three of those seniors. Each of them felt the highs and lows of the pressure that came with fighting for a state title, but ultimately came out of their time at SOC with a story of victory to tell.

Brison Ramsey-Brooks, No. 55

Known to his teammates as PEABO, Ramsey-Brooks says that coming into the program as a freshman was really fun.

“It was hard work, fun, but we just knew that it was work that was going to have to be put in for us to come back and win just like our older brothers did,” he says. “So we put in that hard work. Blood, sweat and tears.”

Hard work coming without the ultimate reward of another state championship was tough throughout his high school career.

“That first loss, it hurt, but it didn’t hurt me at the same time because I was just now coming up. I got years left,” he says. “Then that second loss, that hurt me bad because I was like, ‘Come on, what up?’ It’s all I got. We can’t go out like this. Then we came into this year (2025), and we came out on top.”

He credits his success at SOC to the staff that pushed him: linebacker coach Domenic Spencer, offensive line specialist Zach Collins, assistant coach Kyle Ward and of course, head coach Jason Todd, just to name a few.

“They played a really big part of this. And I believe in them. I feel like they’re going to come back next year and do it again.”Ramsey-Brooks says the brotherhood as teammates helped the Golden Bears reach the ultimate goal.

“The hard work we put in together, the blood we shed together. Everything we went through together, that made us. That made our bond closer,” he says. “The stuff on the field, off the field, we always bonded to make sure we all were locked in.”

Ramsey-Brooks finished up his senior year graduating early in December 2025, with a commitment to join the offensive line at Texas Southern University in Houston.

“It’s always the underdog, if you’re an underdog, always believe in yourself,” he says as parting advice for the SOC freshmen coming into the program next year. “Bet on yourself no matter who (is) against you.”

Mikail Trotter, No.2

The 2025 state championship game earned Trotter the Offensive MVP title, but coming into the SOC program he says he didn’t know what he was really getting into.

“I knew it’s from my ’hood and stuff like that. But I ain’t really know too much about state,” the running back says. “I just know I came to be a dog because I came from Duncanville. And I ended up coming over here to have better opportunities.”

Trotter is currently earning his associate’s degree early through the P-Tech dual credit program at SOC and will graduate in May. As of National Signing Day, he will be playing for the Northeastern State University Riverhawks next season.

From his time playing football here at SOC, he says that the 2025 state game was probably one of his best and that team brought him more than just a title.

“(To the freshman coming in) I would say South Oak Cliff, they’ll be your man, and you always have a family no matter what. They got your back,” he says. “Argue, fight us — at the end of the day, y’all still going to be brothers, and the culture is just like your fathers’.”

Ja’ Marion Phillips, No.7

When the linebacker known as “The Joker” came into his senior season this year, he started out with a low moment. What Phillips thought was a jammed thumb at a preseason practice ended up needing surgery and led him to miss three months.

“Throughout the season, like when it first happened, I was down … I ain’t never had no real injuries so I didn’t know what to feel like,” he says, “I thought it was over.”

However, when it came to playoffs, he was finally able to play six games for his senior year leading up to his early graduation in December to head to Baylor University. Because of those games, he was named The Dallas Morning News’s 2025 Defensive Player of the Year.

“After a while, I gave it to God. I started reading the Bible, started praying to him every day, started going to church sometimes,” he says. “And then I just started putting in the vital rehab work and stuff and getting ready to come back. And then it worked out.”

Being able to get back on the field meant even more with the state championship on the line for the fourth time in his high school career.

“All the hard work that we put (in),” he says. “All the long nights, the fussing with the coaches, arguing with each other, the fights on the field, everything that we have done for the past year, leading up to that point, has paid off, and it helped us win.”