The must-see games of the Texas high school football regional semifinals

6A: Arlington Martin (11-1) vs. Allen (12-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday at Southlake’s Dragon Stadium In the regular season, there weren’t many teams that were able to get much going against Allen. But in the area round last week, South Grand Prairie gave the Eagles a real scare before falling in a 28-14 finish. Arlington Martin, which enters playing at an extremely high level, will look to build off the performance the Warriors put together a week ago when they take on Allen in Southlake. With QB Juma Otoviano and a beefy offensive line leading the way, Martin has a lot of talent to work with – they put that on display in a dominant 41-10 win over Odessa Permian last week. Allen has DI athletes all over the field, but Martin has the combination of players needed to make this an interesting matchup. The Warriors will need to find a way to limit the big plays for QB Grant Tisdale and WRs Theo Wease and Carson Schleker to hang around into the fourth quarter. 5A: Lubbock Coronado (12-0) vs. Colleyville Heritage (11-1), 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Abilene’s Anthony Field If you haven’t heard already, let me be the first to tell you: Qua Gray is one of the best players in the state. The Lubbock Coronado QB has thrown for 3,764 yards and 50 touchdowns this year, carrying the Mustangs into the third round of the playoffs. Even so, it’s been hard to find a weakness in Colleyville Heritage’s squad this season. The offense is explosive and the defense, which is giving up less than 16 points per game, has done a great job as well. In addition to the solid QB play of Jagger LaRoe (2,484 yards, 28 TDs), the Panthers have Ke’von Ahmad (1,440 yards, 12 TDs) and Kam Brown (1,080 yards, 18 TDs) on the perimeter. These two defenses have their work cut out for them, as there should be plenty of fireworks between LaRoe and Gray with a trip to the regional final on the line. 4A: Henderson (10-2) vs. Kilgore (9-3), 7 p.m. Friday at Longview’s Pirate Stadium. It doesn’t get much better than this in East Texas – two of the area’s most bitter rivals meet for the second time this year with their season on the line. Kilgore edged out a 45-35 win in the regular season and has won five of six against Henderson entering the regional semifinals. The Lions may have the more impressive resume since the teams met on Oct. 20, but both teams are playing pretty good football right now. With RB Lynn Freeney fully healthy beside an electric QB Trae Hall in the backfield, the Henderson offense has a scary one-two punch to roll with. But Kilgore’s offense is hard-hitting too behind the play of Ja’Vorie Hamilton and Briant Mumphrey. This should be a fun one in front of a packed house with the winner advancing to take on Carthage or Silsbee in the regional final. 3A: Sonora (12-0) vs. Childress (11-1), 7 p.m. Friday at Abilene’s Bulldog Stadium If last year was any indication, fans in west Texas need to flock to Bulldog Stadium in Abilene for this one because Sonora and Childress will put on a show. The teams met in the regional semifinal last season and the Broncos were able to pull out a thrilling 40-36 win. The same key players are in action for Sonora this time around, as the team will rely on the explosive duo of QB Kaden Cordell (3,802 total yards, 40 TDs) and RB Jarrett Jackson (2,116 total yards, 32 TDs) to carry the load offensively. The Broncos have played in only one game decided by fewer than 14 points (a 32-28 road win over Tuscola Jim Ned), but Childress has been dominant down the stretch as well. QB Luke Latimer (3,508 total yards, 41 TDs) leads the team in both passing and rushing and Joe Dan Gambol (85 catches, 1,266 yards, 15 TDs) has been as consistent as they come as a receiver. There should be a lot of points in this matchup as Childress looks to exact revenge on the Broncos. 2A: Falls City (10-2) vs. Milano (11-1), 7 p.m. Friday at Buda’s Shelton Stadium In a week where there will likely be a lot of not-so-close games at the Class 2A level, Falls City-Milano is one that should give fans their money’s worth. Both teams like to run the ball, but have quarterbacks with the ability to balance things out through the air. For Falls City, it’s junior QB Keyshawn Johnson (2,873 total yards, 29 TDs). Kyle King (3,067 total yards, 47 TDs) is the signal caller for Milano, and he is coming off a six-touchdown performance in last week’s 56-20 win over Woodsboro. Both defenses have been stifling for the majority of the year as the Beavers are allowing just over 11 points per game while the Eagles are sitting at just under 14 ppg allowed. It will likely come down to which of those defensive units can get a key stop late in the fourth quarter, and those games are always fun to watch in a playoff atmosphere.

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