Friday Night Five: Shock City

Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 8.55.41 AMRefugio 42, Mason 7 This is far and away the craziest score of the night, and the four that will follow it seriously have nothing on it. Mason was the prohibitive favorite in this one, coming in undefeated, and mostly unchallenged this year, and following a season where the Punchers reached the state championship game and beat Refugio along the way. With plenty of bodies returning and impressive performances all year, it all made sense. Then the Bobcats came in and blew away the Punchers. A Refugio win wouldn’t have been surprising. It’s the rout that makes your jaw drop. It’s been an up and down year for the Bobcats, with two losses to tough opponents in Shiner and Cameron Yoe, and consistency has been an issue. But now? The Bobcats are gunning for NRG, and this result put the rest of 2A DI on notice. Denton Guyer 48, Southlake Carroll 35 The Wildcats racked up 544 rushing yards against a Dragons team that seemed all but destined for the state semifinals after outlasting Cedar Hill in the bi-district round. A night dealing with Shawn Robinson later, and the Dragons are joining Cedar Hill on the sidelines for the rest of the playoff stretch. Did we think Guyer could win? Absolutely. Did we think it would be this pronounced. No way, and that’s a credit to the Wildcats, who are now in the driver’s seat in 6A DII Region I, along with another team we’re about to mention. White Oak 24, Pottsboro 9 Another team that deserves a heap of praise is White Oak. Pottsboro has been virtually untouched all season, putting up some staggering offensive numbers, and while it’s clear Cardinals QB Zane Pritchett wasn’t 100-percent, the only thing that matters is that the Roughnecks got the job done. We expected this to be a higher scoring affair, and White Oak’s dominance caught us by surprise. Mansfield 48, Flower Mound Marcus 21 In Week 1, the Marauders walked away with a 27-17 win over the Tigers, and became an intriguing pick for playoff success after pushing Allen harder than anyone else during the regular season. What a difference 11 weeks makes. Kennedy Brooks ran for 341 yards as the Tigers blew away their former oppressor. At this point, it’ll be stunning if it’s not a Guyer-Mansfield final in 6A DII Region I. Grandview 42, East Chambers 14 East Chambers has been ranked almost all year in our DCTF 3A DI polls. Grandview has never cracked the Top 10. Consider this our apology. Everybody makes mistakes, and the underestimation of the Zebras as a team that’s just flashy numbers and no substance is clearly way off. Granted, their reward is now a Cameron Yoe team on a quest for a fourth straight title, but the Yoemen looked a little shaky at times in a 45-44 win over Malakoff. Grandview’s looked anything but. Bonus sleeper alert: Don’t look now, but Lake Dallas’ big 35-14 win over Burleson was probably evidence enough that the Falcons just may be able to snag the very winnable 5A DII Region I crown, and if they make it that far, they’ll meet a stiff foe with whichever team emerges in Region II. But at that point, you’ve just got to win one more to get to NRG, and all bets are off.