Tepper: Thursday HS games to watch

[caption id="attachment_18734" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Joe Perez Photo by Joe Perez[/caption] Week 4 of the Texas high school football season kicks off tonight with a large slate of Thursday night games across the Lone Star State. Here are a couple you should definitely keep your eye on. Cibolo Steele (3-0) vs. DeSoto (1-2), 7 p.m. at Belton's Crusader Stadium The latest in the recent slew of inter-regional showdowns, this game pits what many (including DCTF) consider to be the best team in San Antonio — Steele — against what many (including DCTF) thought would be the best team in Dallas-Fort Worth — DeSoto. Steele has lived up to their considerable hype so far, rolling to 3-0 behind a sensational defense led by Jacy Ivory and Mark Jackson (though the offense of QB Xavier Martin and company has been pretty good, too). DeSoto, meanwhile, has stumbled out of the gate, dropping its first two games before finally getting in the win column last week against South Oak Cliff. All eyes will be on DeSoto QB Tristen Wallace, but more importantly, can the Eagles defense find consistency? Tepper's pick: Cibolo SteeleConverse Judson (3-0) at San Antonio Brennan (2-1), 7 p.m. at San Antonio's Farris Stadium Staying with the Alamo City theme, how about this one for a Thursday night? Converse Judson's defense has been extraordinary behind DE Alton Robinson and LB Shane Calvin, but the offense has yet to reach cruising speed with sophomore QB Julon Williams and RBs Jay Miller and Mi'Kel Jackson. The funny thing about Brennan is, they've made their name as a defensive powerhouse...but this year, the offense has led the way thanks to RB Jahmyl Jeter and dual-threat QB Taveon Tolefree. In fact, the Bears' defense has only been OK so far. So it's strength-on-strength and (relative) weakness-on-weakness in this fascinating non-district tussle. Tepper's pick: Converse JudsonCanyon Randall (2-1) at Lubbock Coronado (2-1), 7 p.m. at Lubbock's Lowery Field at PlainsCapital Park Hey, so, have you noticed what Lubbock Coronado is doing? Coach Seth Parr's Mustangs are looking very solid offensively with RB Jeffrey McCutcheon and QB Qua Gray...and have a chance to match their win total from last year tonight. It won't be easy, though — Randall is a seasoned program with plenty of weapons themselves, and they're coming off a confidence-building last-second win over Lubbock Monterey last week. The key to this one will be Coronado's defense: can the Mustangs bottle up Randall RB Paul Terry? Tepper's pick: Canyon Randall