Kennedale (10-0) vs Melissa (10-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday at Grapevine’s Mustang-Panther Stadium: It’ll be a contrast in styles Friday night in Grapevine as Wing-T oriented Kennedale hooks up with the wide-open spread offense of Melissa. Kennedale opened up the playoffs with a home victory over Brownwood, topping the Lions 44-7 last week. Kennedale’s defense, led by Texas commit J.D. Coffey, picked off five Brownwood passes and returned two for touchdowns, while Cameron Lyles and Marlete Joyner combined for 254 yards rushing to lead the Wildcats offense. Melissa didn’t have much trouble last week either as the Cardinals drilled Dallas Carter, 62-20. Melissa’s offense rolled up 578 yards of offense and QB Sam Fennegan tossed seven touchdown passes in the win. Expect a lot of fireworks in this one. I don’t think either defense is going to get much in the way of stops Friday night, but Kennedale’s secondary is good enough to turn Melissa over a time or two and that may wind up being the difference. Stepp’s Pick: Kennedale by 6
El Campo (9-1) vs Kilgore (8-3), 7 p.m. Friday at Houston’s Sheldon ISD Panther Stadium: When El Campo and Kilgore meet up Friday night on the east side of Houston, don’t be surprised if both teams feel like they are staring at mirror images of each other. It’s not just the red and white color scheme both school employ, these two teams are traditional ground and pound offenses that look to control the tempo of the game and they employ speedy and physical defensive units as well. El Campo opened up the playoffs in style last week with an easy 63-6 win over Houston Yates. The Ricebirds were led by three first half touchdown runs from Johntre Davis as they raced out to a 49-0 halftime lead and cruised with backups playing in the second half. Kilgore didn’t have much trouble last week either as the Bulldogs hammered Splendora, 42-0. RB Trayveon Epps ran for two first half touchdowns, while versatile playmaker Donovan Adkins caught a pair of touchdown passes and returned a punt for a touchdown as the Bulldogs led 35-0 at halftime before emptying the bench in the second half. Both defenses are going to load the box and be primed to stop the run. This game is going to come down to which defensive unit doesn’t lose discipline and allow big plays, because one missed assignment can result in a touchdown quickly. We’ll give the lean to El Campo, who is a little closer to home in Houston, and the Ricebirds defense, which has been lights out the last six weeks or so. Stepp’s Pick: El Campo by 7