1. Mid-County Madness
In one of the most heated rivalry games in the state of Texas, it was Nederland that came out on top over Port Neches-Groves in a 36-35 thriller. Port Neches-Groves took a 35-28 lead with 1:36 remaining in the game thanks to Texas quarterback commit Roschon Johnson and appeared to have locked up a victory. But Nederland dug deep and put together a quick scoring drive to pull within one. Instead of playing for overtime, Nederland went for two and converted on a Blaysin Fernandez pass to Colton Beeson. This was Mid-County Madness at its finest. By the way, both teams advanced to the playoffs.
2. Big D
Photo: Prentice James/TexasHSFootball.com
Looking for a sleeper team to make a state title run? Well, look no further than Angleton, which breezed by Port Lavaca Calhoun on Friday. The Wildcats have been playing phenomenal on defense, allowing a state-best 3.8 points per game. And the crazy thing is that Angleton hasn’t used Texas safety commit BJ Foster at all on defense this season — he has been heading up a powerful rushing attack. As the old saying goes, defense wins championships, and Angleton certainly has the potential to do so.
3. Turnaround
One of the best stories in the state this season has to be San Antonio Jay. The Mustangs went winless a year ago but completely turned things around this year, going 7-3 overall. Jay clinched its spot in the postseason in the most dramatic way possible on Friday night. The Mustangs rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime against San Antonio Brandeis and won the game 58-57 on a two-point conversion. With junior quarterback Jacob Zeno, who holds a couple of early offers, at the helm, Jay is downright dangerous on offense.
4. Moving forward
Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas gulf coast earlier this year and forced several seasons to be delayed. One of the areas hit the hardest was Rockport-Fulton. Several players were displaced, and practices started extremely late. The Pirates also got off to a late start to their season. But at the end of the day, Rockport-Fulton put it all together and forced its way into the playoffs with a 27-0 win over Robstown. This is exactly what this community needed.
5. Streak snapped
Clear Falls might not be going to the state playoffs, but the Knights have plenty of optimism for the future. After all, Clear Falls snapped a brutal 29-game district losing streak by knocking off Clear Creek in a wild 66-59 victory. Clear Falls’ last district win actually came all the way back in October of 2013 — a 24-7 win over Brazosport.
6. Another drought ends
Clear Lake will be going to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. The Falcons fell to Clear Springs on Friday but got some help and locked up second place in 24-6A with a 7-3 record overall. Led by junior defensive end Rian Davis, the Falcons have a stingy defense that doesn’t give up many points. Clear Lake will take on George Ranch in a tough first round matchup.
7. Powerhouse brewing
Frisco Reedy is only in its second year of existence, but the Lions are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in Dallas-Fort Worth. After going 3-7 in Year 1, Reedy turned things around in a timely manner, going 9-1 this season, highlighted by a 47-14 destruction of Frisco Liberty on Friday. The Lions are in the playoffs now and should be a major threat in 5A DII.
8. Forfeit
In one of the weirdest stories of the weekend, the Itasca vs. Riesel game was forfeited due to the Waco Chapter forgot to send officials out to the game. The games will not be rescheduled, creating unfortunate circumstances. For Itasca, it was one last chance for seniors to experience playing high school football as the Cats did not make the postseason. Luckily, Riesel is in the playoffs and will play Crawford in the opening round.
9. State champions
Two state champions were crowned this weekend at the private school level. Houston Kinkaid took home the SPC large school championship by topping Houston Bellaire Episcopal, 38-21. Meanwhile, Fort Worth Trinity Valley secured the SPC small school title with a 24-14 victory over Greenhill. Both teams have now cemented their place in Texas high school football history.
10. Special moment
After spending time on the pep squad for three years, Eiler Buck finally got his chance to make a play on the football field. Buck was born with clubfeet, can’t speak and has several seizures a week. But that didn’t stop him from rushing for a first down for Flower Mound Marcus in Friday’s game against Euless Trinity. Check out the video.
The play of the night..Eiler Buck, a special needs senior at Marcus HS, runs for about 15 yards..everyone was on their feet cheering! @FOX4 News at 9 pic.twitter.com/3qAmSZGqPR
— Brandon Todd (@BrandonToddFOX4) November 11, 2017
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