South Grand Prairie (4-1, 1-0) at Arlington Martin (3-2, 1-0): The District 8-6A title should be on the line at Choctaw Stadium as South Grand Prairie tangles with Arlington Martin, both teams are fresh off dominant wins to open up district play a week ago. SGP rolled past Arlington Bowie 46-28 as the Warriors got a monster night from RB A.J. Newberry who ran for 281 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. Arlington Martin absolutely annihilated Arlington High 65-17 as RB Sergio Snider accounted for 147 yards of offense and three rushing touchdowns to lead the Warriors offense. QB Cydd Ford gave Bob Wager’s squad plenty of balance throwing for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well. As is often the case, Martin’s special teams chipped in as well with the Warriors returning a kickoff for a touchdown. This will be a physical, low scoring game, both teams are loaded with speed and playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, Martin’s got a bit more to work with on offense and that combined with their special teams excellence gives Arlington Martin the edge. Stepp’s Pick: Arlington Martin by 10

Spring (4-0, 1-0) vs Spring Westfield (4-0, 1-0): A year ago, this game made national news when Spring stunned Westfield with a Hail Mary touchdown, that propelled the Lions to a district title and a trip to the regional semifinals before being eliminated by DeSoto. Both teams are flying high to start the year and SISD and District 14-6A bragging rights are on the line in this one. Spring rolled past Spring Dekaney 56-7 to open district play last week as the Lions offense led by QB Bishop Davenport put up 37 first half points and cruised to the easy win. Westfield made statewide headlines two weeks ago when they stunned Galena Park North Shore and they showed no signs of let down last week in a 56-0 rout of Aldine Davis last Thursday. Tulsa commit QB Cardell Williams threw for three touchdowns and ran for another score and the Mustangs defense totally dominated an overmatched Davis squad. This is going to be a fun one at Planet Ford Stadium, no love lost between these two rivals who are clearly evenly matched. I’m playing the odds here and taking Westfield to get a bit of revenge after the Hail Mary loss a year ago. Stepp’s Pick: Spring Westfield by 2

Katy (5-0, 1-0) vs Katy Tompkins (5-0, 1-0): It is a top ten ranked matchup in 6A, with number two Katy facing off against number seven Katy Tompkins. This has been a close game in the past two years as five points was the difference maker on both occasions. Katy is coming in strong after a couple of less than stellar weeks against The Woodlands and Dickinson, but they remain undefeated at 5-0. They properly dispatched a Katy Seven Lakes squad last week 45-3. Junior quarterback Caleb Koger threw for 141 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Junior running backs Dallas Glass and Seth Davis ran for a combined 177 yards, with Glass getting more yardage and two touchdowns. Tompkins also comes in undefeated but had to pull out a close win against Cinco Ranch, 32-28. Senior quarterback Cole Francis threw 12 of 19 for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Caleb Blocker had the bulk of the carries, rushing for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Wyatt Young had five receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. Tompkins was the one to win this matchup last year, but Katy won it in 2019. There are a lot of similarities coming into this. Like last year, both teams are coming in perfect. Will we see the same result as last year? One thing we know for sure is that someone will get a blemish on their record. DCTF Intern Joshua Price’s Pick: Katy by 5

San Antonio Roosevelt (3-2, 2-1) at San Antonio Brandeis (4-1, 2-1): The big games just keep coming for Brandeis in District 28-6A as the Broncos look to bounce back from their first loss of the season against a playoff caliber team in Roosevelt. The Rough Riders rolled past San Antonio MacArthur last week 41-14 as RB’s Brennan Carroll and Dontay Seay combined for 239 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the charge. Brandeis ran out to an early 14-0 lead on San Antonio Johnson last week but the offense faded down the stretch, resulting in a disappointing 28-22 defeat. The Broncos will need to be more consistent on the offensive side of the ball this week, especially when it comes to the passing game. Look for that to be a central theme of game prep this week and it’ll pay off as Brandies rebounds and gets a key district victory. Stepp’s Pick: San Antonio Brandeis by 7

Colleyville Heritage (3-1, 1-0) at Midlothian (2-2, 1-0): Colleyville Heritage passed their first test of the district race with flying colors as last week the Panthers took care of previously unbeaten Richland 45-28 behind an incredible effort from their defense and special teams. In fact, of the 45 points scored by Heritage 39 came courtesy of defense and special teams, including five touchdowns. CHHS had two interception return touchdowns, two kickoff return touchdowns and they returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a score, just an incredible performance from Heritage. Midlothian, behind 388 yards on the ground was able to overcome four turnovers and escape North Richland Hills with a 31-7 win over Birdville. Leading the way for MHS in the win was RB Jordon Richburg who ran for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Colleyville Heritage is too good of a team for Midlothian to overcome the turnover bug this week, Coach Wendel’s squad will take better care of the football without question, but Colleyville Heritage has the look of a team that’s ready to challenge for the Region I title in 5A-Division I. Stepp’s Pick: Colleyville Heritage by 10

Angleton (5-0, 3-0) at Fort Bend Hightower (3-1, 2-0): Can Fort Bend Hightower avoid a letdown after the Hurricanes nabbed one of their biggest wins in years as they upset Manvel a week ago? Hightower will have their hands full at home with a vastly improved and unbeaten Angleton squad. Hightower’s defense rose to the occasion time and time again last week in their 16-12 win over Manvel. HHS limited Manvel’s vaunted rushing game and totally took away anything in the passing game and in the fourth quarter two touchdowns proved to be the difference. Angleton rolled past Rosenberg Terry 48-13 in a Thursday game last week as the Wildcats rolled up an impressive 542 yards of offense. QB’s Adrian Ewells and Kaden Brooks combined for 388 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air in the victory. Angleton’s offense is much more balanced than in their Wing-T days and this is a team that should challenge in this brutal district, but finding room against this tough Hightower defense will be a chore all night. Stepp’s Pick: Fort Bend Hightower by 14

Frisco (4-0, 2-0) vs Frisco Liberty (5-0, 3-0): It's a district 7-5A Division II matchup, as undefeated Frisco takes on undefeated Frisco Liberty for a share of the number one spot in the district. Frisco comes off a win against Lebanon Trail, putting them away 48-13. Running back Dylan Hardin helped lead the way with his total 102 yards and three touchdowns. But it was a team effort for the Raccoons. Six players had double digit rushing yards as well as running in five touchdowns. The Frisco defense also forced two turnovers, one interception and one fumble. Frisco Liberty had a surprising close game with Lake Dallas last week, as they were able to pull away 41-24. Liberty also does not have one of their best players, DCTF four-star wide receiver Evan Stewart. Quarterback Keldric Luster filled that star role with a monstrous dual-threat performance. Luster threw for 241 yards and a touchdown, while on the ground he ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The Liberty defense also forced a fumble from Lake Dallas.  Although Liberty will be without their best, don’t count them out. Luster proved that he is the real catalyst behind this offense. The problem will be stopping the run of Frisco. Since they have a bevy of backs, it's hard to focus on just one player. Forcing a turnover will be the key for Liberty. DCTF Intern Joshua Price’s Pick: Frisco Liberty by 7

Quick Picks

Prosper (3-2, 0-1) at Denton Guyer (5-0, 1-0) Stepp’s Pick: Denton Guyer by 17

Cypress Bridgeland (4-1, 1-0) vs Cypress Woods (2-2, 1-0) Stepp’s Pick: Cypress Bridgeland by 14

San Antonio Jay (3-1, 1-1) vs San Antonio Marshall (4-1, 2-1) Stepp’s Pick: San Antonio Marshall by 9

Edinburg Vela (5-0, 3-0) vs Edinburg (3-2, 3-0) Stepp’s Pick: Edinburg Vela by 19

Lubbock Coronado (1-3, 0-0) at Amarillo Palo Duro (4-1, 0-1) Stepp’s Pick: Lubbock Coronado by 8

Austin Anderson (2-2, 1-0) at Pflugerville Weiss (3-1, 1-0) Stepp’s Pick: Pflugerville Weiss by 13

Victoria East (3-2, 2-1) vs Victoria West (2-2, 1-1) Stepp’s Pick: Victoria East by 2

El Paso Austin (2-2, 0-0) at El Paso Andress (3-1, 1-0) Stepp’s Pick: El Paso Andress by 17