Friday Night Five: Carthage tops Navasota, and four other noteworthy results

Screen Shot 2015-11-28 at 12.56.40 AMWeather wreaked havoc all over the state, but plenty of games still got played, and there were some crazy results we could never have expected. Navasota goes down. Well, we all knew 4A DI Region III was brutal and filled with landmines, so it’s not like the respective runs of Carthage and Silsbee are shocking. But come on, Navasota was one of a handful of teams that was all but a lock to reach another state championship game this season, and the Rattlers are going home before the region finals thanks to a 55-48 loss at the hands of Carthage. District 9 was a bear all year, with Kilgore, Carthage, Brownsboro and Chapel Hill all surviving after a staunch series of tests. It’s Carthage that remains, and it’s a testament to Scott Surratt and his team for pushing through. Waco La Vega and Liberty Hill go to OT. If we told you it would take extra possessions beyond regulation to determine this outcome, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. What was bizarre was the fact that it was 0-0 heading into overtime. Waco La Vega, which averages over 38 points per game, and Liberty Hill, which averages over 35 points per game, battled to a scoreless stalemate after four quarters. The Pirates finally found the end zone, and kept the Panthers out to move on, but it certainly didn’t play out close to the way anyone expected. Manvel and Katy are set. Katy thumped Friendswood 66-0. Manvel blew out Strake Jesuit 75-14. And now it’s on. Both teams have put together incredible seasons, both are clearly peaking right now. Manvel scores in bunches, except when Katy is the team on the other side of the field. Katy won 56-15 in 2013 and 45-17 last year. Is this the year the trend is bucked? We’ll find out at NRG Stadium next Friday. Seagraves survives a major upset scare. Quanah had Seagraves on the ropes, leading for most of the game, but Cory Kyle and the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter to win 34-28 and avoid the shock defeat. Take nothing away from Quanah: Very few expected the Indians to challenge the Eagles, and had they pulled it off, it would have been one of the biggest upsets of the playoffs. Those are harder to come by this many weeks down the path, but that is again a testament to what Quanah has done. Even more impressive was the fact that the Indians only had 267 yards of offense to Seagraves’ 533 yards, and yet still came so close to victory. Kyle was the difference in a game that saw rain, sleet, snow – you name it. The do-everything back ran for 419 yards – 174 coming in the fourth quarter. Argyle and Kennedale give us a wicked rematch. The Eagles outlasted the Wildcats at Ford Stadium thanks to 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter to cap a 58-34 victory. It wasn’t quite the down-to-the-wire barnburner that was last year’s 52-48 result in favor of Argyle, but it was one of the most impressive shootouts in the state on a night where offense didn’t always come easy to teams exposed to the elements. The question now as we come full circle: Can anyone stop Argyle now that Navasota is out of the way?