Midland High (3-7) at Montwood (9-1), Thursday at The SAC, 6:30 p.m. MST
Montwood wide receives Tury Cepeda (3), Edward Garibay (5), and Tyreese Andrus (4) have all played a big part of the Rams’ success in 2017. (Adrian Broaddus/Texas HS Football)
After a strange weekend where Montwood’s perfect season was put to an end with an upset to Eastwood (41-21), the Rams will have to regroup as they play host to Midland High on Thursday at the Socorro ISD Student Activities Complex.
Midland High has won three of their last five games, including close wins against Odessa and Amarillo Tascosa, and a very close loss to 2-6A force San Angelo Central. So even though their record doesn’t show it, Midland might be a team to watch out for against Montwood.
On the other hand, the Rams beat out Midland earlier this season, 58-5e, in a back-and-forth battle. Montwood’s standout quarterback Andrew Fernandez will be essential in this game and will need to hook up with his favorite target, Tyreese Andrus.
Bel Air (5-5) at Andress (8-2), Thursday 7:00 p.m. MST
Photo: Melynda Venegas/TexasHSFootball.com
With Canutillo’s loss last week and Bel Air’s win over Ysleta, the Highlanders squeezed in the 5A playoffs, but, unfortunately for them, they will be taking on one of the hottest teams in El Paso in Andress.
Andress is coming off a seven-game winning streak, including a defiant 51-7 win against Burges and 48-22 win over Chapin to win the 1-5A district championship.
They’ve been prided on their running game, especially through running back Dorian Lewis, who averages 117 yards per game. Recently, Lewis had a 300-plus yard game against Chapin and has looked sound paired with junior Jalen Joseph.
Bel Air, on the other hand, will have to hope quarterback Isaac Ybarra has a strong game through the air, and that their defense can hold Andress’ explosive attack.
Midland Lee (8-2) at El Dorado (7-3) (SAC), Friday 4:30 p.m. at The SAC
El Paso El Dorado quarterback Cedarious Barfield accounted for nearly 500 yards and seven touchdowns in the win over Pebble Hills. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
With the exception of Andress, El Dorado has been the hottest team in El Paso. They have won six of their last seven games, including a huge 49-44 win over Pebble Hills to secure a share of the 1-6A district championship trophy.
Midland Lee is coming off a big loss to Odessa Permian, 42-7 and a significant loss to San Angelo Central two weeks ago, but they’re still a force to be reckoned with. They have put up more than 500 yards of offense through seven of their 10 games this season and average 43 points a game.
Earlier this season, like Montwood and Midland High, these two teams clashed and it went Midland Lee’s way, winning 48-34.
If El Dorado wins this game, they will have to hope star quarterback Cedarious Barfield and the offense can basically outscore Midland Lee. This game will more than likely become a shootout and might come down to the very end.
El Paso Coronado (5-5) at Odessa Permian (8-1), 6:30 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium
Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com
Fortunately for Coronado, they’ve been playing their best football towards the end of their season, beating out Franklin and Socorro to win out their season and clinch a playoff spot.
Unfortunately for them, however, is the fact that they play one of the state’s finest in Odessa Permian. Permian blew through everyone on their schedule except San Angelo Central, who beat them 31-20.
What makes Permian so hard to beat is their unique wishbone style offense. It makes them hard to defend and even more so, hard to beat. This team has a good chance at making a strong run at the state title if they continue to play the way they have.
Pebble Hills (8-2) at San Angelo Central (10-0) 6:00 p.m. MST at San Angelo Stadium
El Paso Pebble Hills running back Caleb Gerber (9) runs for a touchdown in the first quarter against El Paso Montwood. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
Pebble Hills was just two touchdowns away from a 1-6A district title. But in the final seconds, they fell to Montwood (49-46) and El Dorado (49-44) in back-to-back weeks.
Head coach Mark Torres will have to regroup his troops and get them ready for one of the toughest teams in all of Region I that is San Angelo Central.
San Angelo Central is ranked no. 23 in all of Texas according to Maxpreps and they pretty much handled every opponent this season. Their quarterback Maverick McIvor, son of legendary Texas Longhorns quarterback Rick McIvor, has commanded his troops with 2,718 passing yards this year and 35 touchdown passes.
Burges (7-3) at Parkland (8-2), 7:00 p.m. Friday at Matador Stadium
El Paso Burges quarterback Matteo Serrano finished with three rushing touchdowns in the win over El Paso Austin (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
These two teams come into Friday’s game with a lot of similarities. Both teams lost to the no. 1 and no. 2 teams in their respective district, as Burges lost to Andress and Chapin, while Parkland lost to Del Valle and Eastlake. Both of these teams are the third place team in their district and are trying to get to the next round of the playoffs.
Parkland finds its force through a balanced attack, but more importantly, they’re led by one of El Paso’s best running backs Dieon Hankins. So far, Hankins has rushed for 1,594 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. The 6-foot-1 junior has already received offers from the likes of San Diego State, Utah, Texas Tech and other schools in the area.
Burges on the other end brings a team that is playing with something to prove. They’re able to score through the air with quarterback Mateo Serrano or keep it on the ground with Quan McNeil.
Chapin (8-2) at Del Valle (9-1), 7:00 p.m. Friday at Conquest Stadium
El Paso Del Valle quarterback Ray Montez (Photo via Tony Venegas, TexasHSFootball.com)
Since losing a surprising 35-28 loss to Americas, Del Valle has been rolling on all cylinders and is now on a eight-game win streak.
On the other end, Chapin is coming off two up-and-down games, barely winning against Burges and losing the 1-5A district title to Andress.
If Chapin hopes to win this game, they will have to make sure that they slow down Del Valle quarterback Raymond Montez, who has thrown for 2,177 yards and 16 touchdowns.
For Del Valle to hold on, they have to watch Chapin’s balanced attack through quarterback Anthony Baird and running back Matthew Zubiate.
Jefferson (3-7) at Eastlake (8-2), Friday 7:30 p.m. at The SAC
El Paso Eastlake running back Ezekiel Jones ran for his 10th touchdown of the year on Thursday night in a win over Clint Horizon. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
The Jefferson Silver Foxes won the coin toss in the five-way tie for the last playoff spot in 1-5A. More so, they’re coming off two huge victories against El Paso High and Bowie to squeeze themselves in the playoff spot.
Jefferson now has the tough task of taking on one of 5A’s best in Eastlake. Since their close 25-21 loss to Del Valle, Eastlake has won three straight by 22 points or better and they are as healthy as they started, regaining running back Ezekiel Jones after he was sidelined for an injury.
If Eastlake holds onto an early lead, this one could get out of hand quick and fast.
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