Craven: Thoughts on Thursday night's high school action

[caption id="attachment_18771" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Will Leverett Photo by Will Leverett[/caption] Thursday games usually take a backseat to the main course on Friday in Texas high school football, but Week 4's slate was full of great matchups and performances this week. Here are a few things we learned. 1. Cibolo Steele can compete with any team in this state because of a strong defensive line. The Knights were one game away from playing for a state title in 2014 and there is little doubt Steele can make a run towards that game in 2015. On Thursday night in Belton, Steele knocked off DeSoto, 35-33, in a game that never seemed as close as the final score would indicate. The Steele defensive line of Texas A&M commit Mark Jackson and juniors Joshua Crosten and Quincey Williams dominated the line of scrimmage and had Ohio State commit and DeSoto quarterback Tristen Wallace running for his life in the pocket throughout the game. DeSoto drops another game against a big-name opponent and becomes the best 1-3 team in the state. Wallace looked better than he did against Arlington Martin and IMG Academy, but it wasn’t enough to complete a second half comeback. 2. Sachse is home to one of, if not the, best sophomore quarterback in the state. In a win against Tyler Lee, sophomore signal-caller Jalen Mayden threw for six touchdowns and 554 yards. In 33 pass attempts, Mayden had fewer incompletions (5) than touchdowns (6). He also added 64 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. His brother Jared, an Oregon commit, got most of the preseason press, but the younger Mayden is making Sachse a real contender. 3. In feel good news of the week, Bastrop Cedar Creek won by its largest margin ever when it beat Austin Travis, 45-15. Before the win, Cedar Creek had only won a football game against Austin Lanier. 4. The Converse Judson offense found its groove in a 31-7 victory over San Antonio Brennan. The Rockets had struggled offensively in two of their wins this season, but got back to running the football with effectiveness. Another team that looked good early in the season but hadn’t excelled on offense, Pflugerville Hendrickson, won 42-7. Both of those teams could make some noise in the playoffs if the offenses find a rhythm.