Matt Stepp’s 10 thoughts from Texas high school football Week 5

More streaks end Two weeks ago, we saw several long winning and losing streaks come to an end and this week we saw more long streaks come to an end, both on the positive side and the negative side. For Cypress Ranch, Thursday night saw its incredible 27-game district winning streak end in a 21-3 loss to Cy Fair. 27 games doesn’t seem like much, but in an incredibly balanced Cy Fair ISD district to have a nearly three-year unbeaten streak is quite impressive. East Bernard was stunned Friday night by upstart Tidehaven (More to come later) but the Brahmas saw their 39-game district winning streak come to an end in the upset loss. Sunnyvale has a very young team in 2017 and took some lumps last night in its second district game of the year against state ranked Grandview falling 48-7. The loss ended the Raiders’ 19-game district winning streak. Finally, on a positive note, congrats to head coach Mike Uribe and PSJA Memorial who broke a 16-game district losing streak on Thursday with a 17-7 upset win over PSJA North. Time to panic? Is it time to panic for Cameron Yoe and Lancaster? The Yoeman were 1-3 in non-district play, but as always, they played a very tough non-district slate so most dismissed the unusually slow start. However on Friday night, Cameron Yoe was stunned by upstart McGregor 31-25. McGregor is by no means a bad team, but most had the Bulldogs pegged no higher than third place in their district. My thought is that Yoe is in a bad way right now, it still has five games to get the ship righted and it’ll be favored in all five. We might just need to take a closer look at how good McGregor is at the moment. While in Lancaster, the Tigers are in a bit of a rough spot with a 2-3 start, but more concerning is after a 49-28 loss to Mansfield Legacy, WEBO is now 0-2 in a brutally tough district 10-5A. There are still five district games for the Tigers to get the ship righted and they have a bye week coming up, but their margin for error has certainly been eliminated after two district games. DFW underdogs rise up In the DFW area Friday night, we had three teams who, at best, are off-the-radar teams and, at worst, are perennial doormats come out with huge wins and put themselves right in the middle of playoff contention in respective district races. We start in 11-6A, where Rockwall-Heath was thought, at best, to be a fringe playoff team and many picked it as low as seventh place in a brutal district. The Hawks took on arch rival and district front runner Rockwall on Friday night and trailing 27-14 in the fourth quarter, it looked like the favorite take it. But Heath rallied back and knocked off Rockwall, 28-27, as Tanner McAllister, who played 141 plays, scored on a 12-yard run as time expired to lift the Hawks to the win and a 2-0 start in district play. In District 9-5A, longtime doormat Joshua (Who hasn’t made the playoffs since 1996) served notice that 2017 might be different as the Owls stunned Arlington Seguin 21-18 to open district play. 9-5A is a very even district and the Owls showed last night they won’t just be an automatic win in 2017. In neighboring District 10-5A, Midlothian and its triple option stunned Mansfield Timberview, 29-22. That win puts the Panthers right in the middle of the playoff race. New school statement wins [caption id="attachment_33487" align="alignright" width="270"] Photo by Juan Zamora[/caption] Several second-year varsity programs across the state are poised to make a big impact in their respective districts playoff races. We start in El Paso where Pebble Hills entered its district opener against Franklin 3-0, but many observers were still skeptical of the Spartans. That doubt quickly faded as Pebble Hills rolled past Franklin 57-28 Thursday evening. It’s a long district season in 1-6A where on most nights anyone is capable of winning or losing, but the tone has been set and Pebble Hills will have a say in the playoff race. Haslet Eaton and Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial were both in the playoff hunt until late in the year in 2016 and both notched key wins this week. Eaton opened up district play with a win over older brother Northwest High, while Veterans Memorial has yet to start zone play in the massive 30-5A, but did get a big win over crosstown rival and fellow unbeaten Corpus Christi Miller. Alief Hastings stuns George Ranch Maybe the biggest surprise in Greater Houston on Friday was lightly regarded Alief Hastings stunning Richmond George Ranch, 31-24. Hastings jumped out to a 23-10 halftime lead and the Bears were able to hang on for an impressive district opening victory. Head coach David Martel’s squad has some work to do if they want to get into the playoffs, but the biggest impact could be on George Ranch as its margin for error is much smaller with a loss to what many thought was a non-playoff contender. San Antonio Burbank continues surprise run Kudos to Mark Perez and his Burbank Bulldogs who are off to a 3-0 start in District 28-5A play after a 30-16 win over San Antonio Jefferson. Burbank has been a long-suffering program having been to the playoffs once since 1978, but nearly halfway through district play it appears Burbank will be a factor in not only the playoff picture, but the district title race. 2-4A Division II showdowns One of the better 4A Division II districts in the state is out in West Texas and four of those teams hooked up to open district play Friday night. Monahans, who won the district last year, looked to avenge a playoff loss to third-place Seminole. Both teams came into the game at 3-1, but it was the Indians from Seminole who rolled in a 30-13 victory. Pecos, a team that missed the playoffs last year, came into its showdown with Sweetwater at 4-0. Sweetwater, who played for a state title last year, was also 4-0 didn’t seem too worried about Pecos and its impressive start as the Mustangs improved to 5-0 with an easy 63-30 win. Pecos will be hard-pressed to beat any of the top three teams, but the Eagles look to be a strong bet to get into the playoffs this year. Texarkana Pleasant Grove rolls A year ago, Pleasant Grove started the season 1-6 and things were looking a bit dire, but head coach Josh Gibson took a play from his dad’s playbook (Frisco head coach Vance Gibson) and switched the Hawks to the Wing-T offense. PGHS took off from there, winning its next five games (including two playoff wins) before falling in the third round to Celina in a hard fought four-point loss. Pleasant Grove kept the momentum going into 2017 as the Hawks are flying at 4-0 after an impressive 51-14 rout of Texarkana Liberty-Eylau. To put the win in perspective, the Hawks play in the same district as powerful Gilmer, who only beat Liberty-Eylau by a single point in Week 1. [caption id="attachment_33488" align="alignright" width="266"] Photo by Tom Sooter[/caption] Albany’s assault Few 2A teams have been quite as impressive as Albany to start the year. The Lions are off to a 5-0 start and although their win over Cisco was their closest game of the year, it was still an impressive 39-13 rout of a very good 3A team. Albany quarterback Brian Hamilton had a hand in all 39 points for Albany in the win as he ran for a score, threw for four touchdowns and also had an interception return for a touchdown. Albany in five games has outscored opponents 225-59. Tidehaven stuns East Bernard As mentioned earlier, Tidehaven led by a stout defense, ended East Bernard’s 39-game winning streak with a 14-11 win on Friday. After turning around perennial doormat Louise, head coach David Lucio has returned to his alma mater, Tidehaven, and has the Tigers doing some great things. Tidehaven is off to an impressive 4-0 start and its win over East Bernard is starting to get the Tigers on the radar.