The must-see Friday night Texas high school football games for Week 10

The Texas high school football regular season is rapidly drawing to a close, giving the Week 10 schedule several games that will determine both playoff positioning and district championships. If you’re looking for a game to get to, here are the must-see games in each 11-man classification: 6A: El Paso Montwood (8-0, 5-0) vs. El Paso Pebble Hills (8-0, 5-0) So, the Thursday night matchup between unbeaten 8-0 teams (Edinburg Vela and PSJA) turned into a snoozer pretty quickly. Vela jumped out to a commanding lead and used a dominant performance in the run game – and a stifling defensive effort – to hand PSJA its first loss of the season in a 70-22 final. This game between Montwood and Pebble Hills will be much more exciting. It’s El Paso’s last two unbeaten teams and there is a whole lot more than just pride on the line. The District 1-6A title is up for grabs, and as Matt Stepp mentioned in his Week 10 mega preview, the winner of this game is guaranteed a home playoff game in the bi-district round while the loser likely faces a rough road trip to San Angelo. There will be a whole lot of firepower on the field, beginning with Montwood’s dynamic offensive duo of quarterback Andrew Fernandez (3,072 total yards, 44 TDs) and wide receiver Tyreese Andrus (732 yards, 8 TDs). Pebble Hills will have to find a way to slow down that connection in order to come away with what would be a massive win for the young program. For coach Mark Torres and the Spartans, the offense starts with workhorse running back Caleb Gerber (1,209 yards, 14 TDs). QB Orlando Puig (1,391 yards, 16 TDs) hasn’t thrown an interception in the last two weeks, which will bode well for Pebble Hills’ chances if he continues to take care of the ball. Montwood has been on the big stage before, but look for Pebble Hills to come out hungry after last season’s 37-20 loss to the Rams. 5A: Cedar Park (7-1, 6-0) vs. Hutto (8-0, 6-0) Unfortunately, this game won’t wind up being a battle of two of the top quarterbacks in the state as it was billed out to be just a few short weeks ago. Cedar Park’s Mak Sexton, who will likely go down as the best quarterback in Timberwolves’ history, suffered a serious leg injury two weeks ago against Georgetown. Cedar Park will turn to backup quarterback Ryan Fail, who, although isn’t at the level of Sexton, has gotten the job done so far. He’ll be up against Hutto junior Chase Griffin (2,565 yards, 25 TDs), who has been fantastic in guiding the Hippos to their best start since 2010. With Sexton out, the pressure will continue to fall even more heavily on the Black Rain defense that has allowed just 14 points per game this season. The offense managed just 21 points against a struggling Pflugerville Conally team last week, meaning star linebackers Jackson Buckingham (68 tackles, 8 TFL) and Keegan Nichols (72 tackles, 11 TFL, 5 sacks) will need to come up with some big plays. Hutto hasn’t finished unbeaten in the regular season since 1966, according to the Austin American-Statesman, and will need Griffin to continue to shine to pull off the upset win. 4A: Argyle (8-0, 3-0) vs. Wichita Falls Hirschi (7-1, 3-0) Much like the Cedar Park-Hutto matchup, this game will be played with one of the best players in the state. Argyle quarterback Jon Copeland (2,295 total yards, 28 TDs) suffered a torn ACL in last week’s win over Sanger, ending his season and dishing a heartbreaking blow to the Eagles. That shifts the star power to the Hirschi backfield where all eyes will be on running back Daimarqua Foster, who has put up numbers that, to be completely honest, would be hard to replicate even in a video game. Foster has 2,137 yards and 30 TDs this season and is averaging more than 14.5 yards per carry. Give credit to the Hirschi offensive line, which will need to continue to control the trenches to give Foster and the Huskies a chance at shocking Argyle in a battle for the District 4-4A championship. With Copeland out, Argyle will likely turn to junior Hayden Clearman at quarterback. Clearman filled in for Dane Ledford (Tulane) last season when he was out with an injury and hasn’t lost a game as a starting quarterback. Regardless, the Eagles will likely put a bigger emphasis on a running game that has been largely overshadowed for the majority of the season. Both senior Don Williams (995 yards, 12 TDs) and junior Noah Lang (516 yards, 10 TDs) have the ability to carry the load offensively and should make life easier for Clearman as he transitions back to quarterback from the secondary, where he ranked second on the team with 71 tackles through eight games. 3A: Elysian Fields (6-2, 3-1) vs. West Rusk (7-0, 4-0) If it weren’t for a 30-27 loss to Waskom back on Oct. 13, Elysian Fields would enter this game with an unblemished District 9-3A record. But that mid-season falter has the Yellowjackets playing catch-up in the race for a district title as they host unbeaten West Rusk, looking to maintain pace with both the Raiders and Waskom late in the season. The West Rusk defense has recorded four straight shutouts and hasn’t allowed a single point to a district opponent this season, which is a remarkable turnaround for a unit that gave up more than 26 points per game throughout 2016. Devin Molina (80 tackles, 25 TFL), Orlando Cortez (79 tackles, 11 TFL), Tyree Wilson (67 tackles, 26 TFL) and Talon Winings (5 INTs) lead the way defensively for the Raiders and will look to continue to assert their dominance this week. But Elysian Fields, led by senior quarterback Garrett McIntosh (2,032 total yards, 17 TDs), WR Cole Meyers (779 yards, 12 TDs) and RB Christavian Smith (623 yards, 12 TDs), has the explosiveness needed to come up with some big plays. Taking care of the ball against a stingy defense like West Rusk will be key, as Mcintosh has thrown 12 interceptions this season. A win for the Raiders would avenge last season’s 54-16 loss to Elysian Fields while also essentially clinching the district title. 2A: New Deal (8-0, 3-0) vs. Abernathy (8-0, 3-0) Another matchup of unbeaten teams late in the season – it doesn’t get much better than that. For the second straight year, New Deal and Abernathy meet in Week 10 with unblemished records and the District 2-2A title on the line. The two schools, which sit less than seven miles apart on Interstate 27 in west Texas, put on a show last season as Abernathy pulled out an absolute thrilling 21-20 win when Robert Rodriguez blocked a chip shot fourth quarter field goal that Joseph Sanchez recovered and ran back 88 yards for what was eventually the game-winning score. Don’t expect anything less than a riveting sequel. New Deal appears to come in with an edge defensively, as the Lions have allowed just 17 points in district play. The offense falls on the shoulders of sophomore running back Nehemiah Martinez (1,179 yards, 15 TDs) and junior quarterback Jett Whitfield (1,164 total yards, 20 TDs), who will look to get off to another fast start against a high-powered Abernathy team. The Antelopes are averaging more than 45 points per game behind the play of sophomore quarterback Bryson Daily (1,548 total yards, 26 TDs) and junior running back Kole Carlisle (842 yards, 13 TDs). The most exciting part about this game is that both stars – Martinez and Daily – are just sophomores. This is the second meeting between the two and will likely go down as another chapter of what should be a thrilling rivlary for two more seasons.

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