With only two teams making it to the playoffs from each district in six-man football, the state semifinals come a week earlier than their 11-man counterparts. That means the first four tickets to AT&T Stadium will be punched come the end of Saturday.
Both of last year’s state champions are still alive. Can they make it back to defend their titles?
Here’s what to watch for in the six-man state semifinals.
1A Division I
Happy Cowboys (12-1) vs. Westbrook Wildcats (12-1) Friday 6:30 p.m. @ Lubbock Christian
For the third-straight year, Happy and Westbrook will play with a spot at AT&T Stadium on the line. In each of the past two seasons, the Wildcats have gotten the best of the Cowboys, going on to win the state championship in each of those years.
Happy will be hoping that this is the year it makes it to the state title game for the first time in school history. Last week, Happy edged Miami in overtime 30-22. However, its 62-34 area round victory over Knox City was arguably even more impressive. Coming into that game, Knox City was 11-0 and boasted a week one victory over Westbrook.
Look for Happy to rely on a three-headed monster in the backfield with quarterback Noe Juarez, running back Joey Blackmon, and running back Jaxon Stoker. They combined for 242 yards and three touchdowns on the ground last week.
Westbrook has been on a tear since that week one loss to Knox City. It has 45’d 11 of its last 12 opponents. The one time it didn’t win a game by mercy rule was its 68-24 victory over Buena Vista in the area round. Last week, its offense lit up the scoreboard in a 110-65 win over Borden County.
For the Wildcats, they may not have Cedric Ware anymore, but they do have senior Keegan Gilbreath and junior Grayson Jeffrey to carry the football. Gilbreath had 294 rushing yards and five touchdowns last week, while Jeffrey had 231 yards and six touchdowns.
Happy will need to find a way to slow down those two backs if it is going to pull the upset and finally breakthrough to a state title game.
Gordon Longhorns (13-0) vs. Jonesboro Eagles (12-1) Saturday 1 p.m. @ Weatherford
Gordon made a statement last week with a 48-point victory over Abbott, last year’s 1A Division I runner-up. The Longhorns will be looking to snap a 24-year drought since its last state title game appearance on Saturday.
It will be facing a Jonesboro team that made back-to-back state title game appearances in 2016 and 2017 but lost both of those games to Borden County. The Eagles took care of business last week with a 86-39 victory over May.
For Gordon, much of their offense will run through their dynamic sophomore duo of Riley Reed and Stryker Reed. They’ve helped propel the Longhorn offense to average nearly 60 points per game.
If Jonesboro needs a touchdown, it will likely turn to DeMarcus Acoff. He has 12 total touchdowns in Jonesboro’s three playoff games and has finished with over 100 yards rushing in each of those contests. When it’s not Acoff, quarterback Nathan Forrest has had a knack for connecting a couple of big passes a game. Senior running back Jacob Cisneros also eclipsed the century mark on the ground last week.
Gordon’s Reed duo has proved tough to slow down. It will likely take a big game from Acoff and company offensively if the Eagles are to pull the upset and deny Gordon its first state title game appearance this century.
1A Division II
Klondike Cougars (11-1) vs. Benjamin Mustangs (13-0) Saturday 4 p.m. @ Sweetwater
A year ago, it was Benjamin breaking through for its first-ever state title game appearance and eventually its first-ever state title. Can Klondike achieve that same feat this year?
It’s not easy to send Vance Jones and Balmorhea packing in the playoffs, but that’s exactly what the Cougars did in a 100-62 victory last week. Benjamin, meanwhile, side-stepped a potential trap in Jayton in its regional final as it dispatched the Jaybirds 85-40.
It’s no secret that Benjamin has the best player in six-man football in Grayson Rigdon. He’s putting up video game numbers again this season with 2,079 rushing yards and 62 total touchdowns. Freshman Keegan Hayes can also make his presence felt. He had 236 total yards and four touchdowns against Jayton.
Last year for Klondike, Creed Warren won the district’s Offensive MVP and Jared Quintanilla was the district’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year. Both players have been doing their thing again this year. Last week, Quintanilla rushed for 115 yards and two scores, while Warren added another 84 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Quintanilla also threw for 171 yards and three scores in the win over Balmorhea. He now has 15 touchdowns in Klondike’s three playoff games.
Klondike certainly has weapons, but the question will be whether it can stop Benjamin’s main man. In six-man football, one player can sometimes make all the difference. We’ll see if that line of thinking holds up on Saturday at 4:00.
Oglesby Tigers (12-0) vs. Richland Springs Coyotes (13-0) Saturday 4 p.m. @ Dublin
In each of the past three seasons, Oglesby had fallen in the second round of the playoffs. Now, with the Tigers finally having cleared that hurdle, they have their eyes set on earning the first state title game appearance in school history. However, to accomplish that feat, they’ll have to beat the premier six-man program in the state.
Richland Springs has won nine state titles, all in the last 19 years. After a disappointing end to last season where the Coyotes fell in the second round of the playoffs, they have relied on a young core to lead them this season. Sophomore quarterback Billy Perry and freshman running back Cohen Ethridge will likely be the Coyotes’ two most important offensive playmakers on Saturday afternoon.
For Oglesby, their offense runs through junior running back Kyler Fossett. He has carried the ball this year 126 times for 2,328 yards and 47 touchdowns. That’s good for a whopping 18.5 yards per carry. In Oglesby’s 62-16 win over Iredell last week, he rushed for 216 yards and five touchdowns. When the Tigers turn to the air, senior Luke Williamson will likely be their go-to receiver. He had three catches for 91 yards last week.
Oglesby 45’d May, a 1A Division I regional finalist, at the end of September, but this will be its stiffest test so far this season. Fossett will likely need to run wild if Oglesby is to knock off a Coyote program that has had its season end with a state title game appearance more times than not across the past 19 seasons.
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