Canyon (8-1) vs Wichita Falls Hirschi (7-3), 7 p.m. Thursday at Wichita Falls’ Memorial Stadium: The bi-district matchups between these two strong 4A-Division I districts have been entertaining the past few seasons, and expect no different this year. Canyon has to go on the road this week to take on a super talented Hirschi team that one coach said, “has the best talent in the region and it’s not close.” The key for Hirschi is not shooting themselves in the foot. Antonio Wiley’s youthful squad has had a tendency of shooting shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties. That can’t happen against Canyon. Last week, Canyon bounced back nicely from their loss to Dumas by securing the second-place spot in 3-4A Division I with a 53-0 win over Hereford. QB Jay Defoor found his groove throwing for 279 yards and four touchdowns, three going to WR Jack McKay. Hirschi was idle last week, but two weeks ago the Huskies got the biggest win of the season by knocking off a strong Decatur squad on the road. Sophomore RB A’Marion Peterson has major potential to break a big play, but defenses have been stacking the box and forcing the Huskies young QB Terrius Causey to beat them; he tossed a couple of big touchdowns in the win over Decatur. Look for the Huskies dominant defensive line led by TCU commit Chris Murray to be a real issue for the Canyon offensive line. If they can make the Eagles one dimensional it could be a tough night on the road. This is a really underrated Wichita Falls Hirschi bunch and one that at home is fully capable of pulling off what many would be considered a mild upset. Stepp’s Pick: Wichita Falls Hirschi by 6
Livingston (8-2) vs Tyler Chapel Hill (6-4), 6 p.m. Saturday at Porter’s Randall Reed Stadium: If you are looking for an upset where a four-seed has a chance to knock off a one-seed this one might be your game. Tyler Chapel Hill comes into this one sky high after earning their first playoff appearance in five years with a 42-28 win over Henderson. Livingston is feeling good as well as Finis Vanover’s squad has turned things around in a big way. The Lions earned their first outright district title since 1963 with a thrilling 21-20 win over Huffman-Hargrave. Livingston trailed 20-7 in the fourth quarter, but freshman RB Ja’Marri Green had a touchdown run and touchdown reception in the fourth to spur the Lions rally. Chapel Hill got a monster night from senior QB Cameron Ford in their win as he accounted for 516 yards of offense and five touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to the win last week. Both teams are playoff newbies and both teams are fairly young, so it’ll be interesting to see how both teams respond to the moment on Saturday night. We’ll lean to the Bulldogs from Chapel Hill who are a bit more battle tested coming out of a brutally tough East Texas district. Stepp’s Pick: Tyler Chapel Hill by 7