Matt Wixon

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Donovan Bonner ran on to the field Friday night wearing a purple helmet scrawled with "Tigers." His familiar blue helmet, with the big red "S" on it, is somewhere over at Spruce with a bunch of other sports equipment that won't be used this year.

Spruce dropped varsity athletics in June after the Dallas ISD decided to reorganize the school because of its poor academic performance. Sophomores and juniors were sent to Madison and Lincoln, and seniors were allowed to transfer.

Knowing he would have to leave Spruce to play football was disappointing, Bonner said. At least at first. But last week the senior free safety said he feels comfortable suiting up in the colors of Spruce's former district rival.

"When I got over here, they treated me like family," he said. "I'm a Tiger now."

So are eight other former Spruce players who were on the field for Lincoln's season-opening 47-0 victory over Roosevelt at Forester Stadium. Bonner, who has orally committed to Colorado State, started with three other former Spruce players: defensive lineman Marc Leejay, receiver Daniel Mayberry and offensive lineman Phillip Cook.

"I welcome all of them," Lincoln senior defensive back Kadeem Ray said before the game. "Talent over there, plus the talent over here, that's a lot of talent."

The talent showed early. Leejay and Bonner combined for a sack in the first quarter, and Lincoln's first play from scrimmage was a 57-yard touchdown pass from Don Canyon to Mayberry, who has orally committed to North Texas. By halftime, Mayberry had caught three passes for 115 yards, scored two touchdowns and showed he was faster than anyone else on the field.

Yes, Lincoln looks loaded. But three seasons ago, the same thing was said about South Oak Cliff. That was after SOC absorbed more than a dozen talented players from Wilmer-Hutchins when its school district went belly up.

SOC then went belly up in its first two games, and the internal struggles began. The SOC and former Wilmer-Hutchins players never meshed well, and despite talk of a state title before the season began, SOC was bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

Lincoln coach Jerry Sands hopes to avoid a repeat.

"We had to do a lot of team-building activities and make sure these guys really feel at home," he said. "We think it's going pretty well, but you never know until you face some adversity."

Class 4A Lincoln didn't face any of that Friday against an overmatched 3A foe. It was a night of celebrating, playing time for the backups and flying chest bumps on the sidelines. It's what Mayberry hoped it would be when he joined his new "family."

"Not to put down Spruce, because that's the school I love, but there's more competition over here," Mayberry said. "We can be better than Spruce. I'm happy to be here."