Stepp's Ten Thoughts from Week 7 of the TXHSFB Season

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Seven Unbeaten Matchups in Week 7
This week we had seven games featuring two undefeated teams hooking up and surprisingly, the results weren’t close in the majority of the matchups. We start in the DFW area in Class 6A where Allen, now 97-3 in its last 100 games, hit another gear in the second half and rolled past Plano East 74-36. In one of the games that was close, underdog Haltom stunned Euless Trinity 48-34. The Buffaloes haven’t gotten much respect around the DFW or statewide, but there’s zero question Coach Jason Tucker’s squad is on the radar at this point with a 6-0 record. Down in the Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg Vela left zero doubt that it's the Valley’s top team in a 17-7 defensive struggle victory over previously-undefeated Weslaco. If there was any question about the legitimacy of Frisco Reedy at this stage of the season, that was put to bed as the Lions once again physically dominated the line of scrimmage in a 51-0 demolition of Lovejoy. Moving to the small school ranks, Woodville staked its claim to a district title as the speedy Eagle defense completely shut down Buna in a 26-0 victory. In a playoff rematch from a year ago, Gunter got a much tougher test from Holliday this time, but the Tigers pulled away late for a solid 30-13 victory to remain unbeaten. Finally, out in East Texas Price Carlisle sent a message to Class 2A Division I with a 68-8 blowout over previously undefeated Cushing.

Lowest Scoring Game Of the Year
We had the lowest scoring game of the year on Thursday night in District 14-6A as Cy Lakes knocked off Bryan 3-0 in a defensive struggle. The only score of the game came when Jospeh Staiano nailed a 30-yard field goal early in the third quarter and the impressive Cy Lakes defense allowed that score to hold. The win also keeps Cy Lakes alive for its first playoff appearance in school history as its 4-3 on the season and 3-2 in district play.

Upsets Abound in DFW
There were several surprising results in the DFW area last night, most notably at the Class 6A level. Aside from Haltom’s big win over Euless Trinity, we saw Lewisville stun Coppell 13-6 in a district game. Coppell has to be thanking its lucky stars that the team blocked field goal in the waning moments last week against Hebron or the Cowboys' playoff hopes would be in serious danger. Undefeated Cedar Hill simply was unable to get its offense going Friday night as the Longhorns fell to Mansfield Summit 7-3. Winless McKinney also pulled an upset as the Lions knocked off Plano 17-7 to earn their first win for first-year head coach Marcus Shavers.

Cy-Fair’s Stumble
After seeing its 18-game winning streak end last week in a 14-7 loss to Cy Falls, most thought Cy-Fair was going to get back on track Friday night against Jersey Village. However, the Falcons are right in the thick of the District 17-6A playoff race and had other ideas as Jersey Village handed the defending 6A Division II state champions its second straight loss, 24-23. The Falcons scored 10 straight points in the game’s final four minutes with Jonathan Cervantes drilling a 24-yard field goal with 46 seconds left to lift JVHS to a massive win and the team is now 6-1 and 5-0 on the season.

Westlake Makes it Two in a Row
A year ago, Austin Westlake won a thriller over Lake Travis earning the Chaparrals their first win over the Cavaliers in 10 years, but most (self-included) didn’t give Austin Westlake much of a shot to make it two in a row over the No. 2 ranked Cavs. Austin Westlake’s defense put together one of the best game plans you’ll see holding Lake Travis’ attack in check and the Chaps got a massive game from QB Taylor Anderson in a stunningly lopsided 44-14 win Friday night at Chaparral Stadium. That win gives Westlake the inside track to the district title, local bragging rights in the capital city and certainly vaults Todd Dodge’s squad right to the top of the state title discussion.

McKinney North Puts Up 90
For the second time this season, we had a team in UIL 11-man football hit the 90-point mark as McKinney North’s offense exploded in a 90-32 win over Wylie East. The Bulldogs, even more shockingly, didn’t score a single point in the first quarter and then rang up 48 second-quarter points, 28 third-quarter points and 14 points in the final frame. North rolled up 662 yards of offense. QB Dillon Markiewicz tossed four touchdown passes and three backs combined for eight rushing touchdowns as well. All three runners Charles Grogan, Emmanuel Fincher and Hunter Chae all topped 148 yards on the ground as well.

Lufkin Dominates the Champs
In what was billed as the game of the year in the new District 8-5A Division I, Lufkin announced its entry to Class 5A with authority as Coach Todd Quick’s squad went on the road and drilled the defending 5A Division II state champions, College Station, 35-3. Lufkin’s offense did all of its damage in the first half jumping out to a 35-0 lead and then in the second half, putting it on cruise control. Lufkin’s defense put together what was clearly its best game of the year holding College Station to less than 200 yards of offense and just a single field goal very late in the game.

Hankins Shattering El Paso City Rushing Record
The records are falling in the Sun City as El Paso Parkland RB Deion Hankins (UTEP commit) last week broke the city’s 14-year old rushing record, which was set by Edward Britton from El Paso Montwood. Hankins, in Friday’s 56-28 win over El Paso Hanks, had another big night with 284 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He also chipped in a 64-yard receiving touchdown as well. For his career, Hankins has 6,114 yards rushing and still has four regular season games remaining in addition to any possible playoff games. Britton finished his Montwood career with 5,524 yards, so Hankins is putting some distance between himself and the field.

Two Weeks Off; No Problem for Liberty Hill
After two straight bye weeks, the Liberty Hill Panthers showed no signs of rust Friday night as the Panthers didn’t quite hit their 89-point output two weeks ago but it was more than enough as LHHS rolled past a good Fredericksburg squad, 69-7. Once again, head coach Jeff Walker’s Slot-T offense unleashed a brutally efficient attack and if the Panthers defense can put together consistent efforts like Friday night, this team is a title contender in 4A Division I.

Sundown Blasts Unbeaten Floydada
In one of the focus games in the South Plains, Sundown who had one close loss on the year easily dispatched of unbeaten and upstart Floydada 48-0 Friday night. Sundown’s defense made excellent use of its bye week and were more than ready for Floydada’s flexbone offense. WR/LB Gus Davis had a monster game on defense and chipped in 176 receiving yards and a touchdown to lead the Sundown attack as the Roughnecks improved to 5-1 on the year and more importantly 1-0 in district play.

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