Liberty Hill (11-0) vs Mission Pioneer (8-0)

5 p.m. Saturday at San Antonio’s Heroes Stadium

If you like points and matchups featuring contrasting styles, then this is definitely the game for you as Slot-T Liberty Hill meets up with the Valley’s last hope, the high-octane spread offense of the Pioneer Diamondbacks.

After blowing through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Liberty Hill got pushed in a big way, but passed the test as the Panthers held off Leander Rouse, 56-42.

Blake Simpson led the Panthers’ offense rushing for an impressive 325 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

Liberty Hill’s defense, which had played really well in recent weeks, did show they were vulnerable to a good passing attack last week and that has to be a concern this week going against Pioneer and UT-San Antonio signee Eddie Lee Marburger.

Marburger had the game of a lifetime last week in the Diamondbacks wild 77-64 win over Georgetown East View, throwing for 444 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 247 yards and six touchdowns. His top target was WR Joseph Graham, Jr. who hauled in two touchdown passes, but WR’s JJ Snyman and Tristan Castillo are also more than capable of doing damage as well.

This will be a shootout, no question about it, but in the playoffs the longer you go the more you need the defense to step up and make plays and Liberty Hill’s defense has shown more an ability this year to get stops in key moments.

Stepp’s Pick: Liberty Hill by 15