Friday Night Five: Hawley's Quay Stokes is a football cyborg

Hawley 28, Seymour 0 We're pretty big fans of Hawley QB Quay Stokes at DCTF. He was one of our "Money Players" to watch in the 2016 summer edition of the magazine, and that was after a stellar sophomore campaign heading into his junior year. Never heard of him? Just watch his tape. The dude can play, and while headlines around the state and our site will often be dominated by bigger names boosted by bigger programs, one of the many things that makes Texas high school special is the stars you don't always hear about, but who mean a whole heck of a lot to their town and team. Stokes is one of those kids. You can imagine the collective disappointment at headquarters when we heard a month ago that he had broken his ankle and needed seven screws to repair the damage. We heard he'd be out 8-12 weeks, and his season and high school career were more than likely over. One month to the day, he was back on the field making history. Stokes surpassed the 10,000-yard mark for his career, and piloted the Bearcats to one final pre-district win before 4-2A DI action kicks off next week against Forsan. One month after breaking his ankle. Sorry, we had to write it one more time to marvel at the gumption. West Orange-Stark 23, Kennedale 20 (OT) We hoped for a memorable clash and we got it. The Mustangs extend their state-best winning streak to 31 games, and earned every part of it in a slugfest with the Wildcats. We knew the two-time defending state champions had reloaded and now they're looking the part of a group ready to go for a third. Despite the loss, Kennedale comes out of this with an improved reputation. Richard Barrett's squad has been a perennial contender late in the playoffs, but this year's group looks like it may be capable of a little more. The Wildcats might quietly be the best team in 4A DI that not enough people are talking about. Mansfield 34, Arlington 13 This was a chance for the Colts to prove the unbeaten start was a sign that they were for real in 2017. However, Mansfield is used to playing big games and the Tigers looked like the more complete team at UTA's Maverick Stadium. The Tigers have always had dynamic playmakers over the years, but they have a dynamic two-way weapon in Cam'Ron Jones, who made plays on offense in big spots, and covered serious ground out of the secondary. Arlington clearly has the pieces to compete deep into the postseason, but the Colts will need to avoid the mistakes that cost them this week. Temple 28, A&M Consolidated 20 Believe it or not, this was a good sign for both teams. Temple is used to being the district king, swatting away upstarts, and the Wildcats did just that. For A&M Consolidated, the revamp under head coach Lee Fedora remains in full swing, with this close result coming with backup quarterback Gage Pahl directing the offense. An admirable performance against a perennial state power looks even better when you consider that starting quarterback Caden Fedora should be back soon from injury. The three-way battle in 18-5A between these two teams and College Station is going to be fun to watch. Franklin 38, Cameron Yoe 34 It's official. The Yoemen are 1-5 (0-2 in district) and it's time to panic. They're all close losses, and they were all to good teams. But if the wins don't start coming, they could be looking at a fourth seed or worse, no playoffs at all. We still believe in the talent and the tradition having the power to turn things around, but every loss makes it tougher. Credit to Franklin for always being a tough program for any opponent. The Lions know a thing or two about big wins and this is just the latest one.