South Grand Prairie (4-1, 1-0) at Arlington Martin (3-2, 1-0): The District 8-6A title should be on the line at Choctaw Stadium as South Grand Prairie tangles with Arlington Martin, both teams are fresh off dominant wins to open up district play a week ago. SGP rolled past Arlington Bowie 46-28 as the Warriors got a monster night from RB A.J. Newberry who ran for 281 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. Arlington Martin absolutely annihilated Arlington High 65-17 as RB Sergio Snider accounted for 147 yards of offense and three rushing touchdowns to lead the Warriors offense. QB Cydd Ford gave Bob Wager’s squad plenty of balance throwing for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well. As is often the case, Martin’s special teams chipped in as well with the Warriors returning a kickoff for a touchdown. This will be a physical, low scoring game, both teams are loaded with speed and playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, Martin’s got a bit more to work with on offense and that combined with their special teams excellence gives Arlington Martin the edge. Stepp’s Pick: Arlington Martin by 10
Spring (4-0, 1-0) vs Spring Westfield (4-0, 1-0): A year ago, this game made national news when Spring stunned Westfield with a Hail Mary touchdown, that propelled the Lions to a district title and a trip to the regional semifinals before being eliminated by DeSoto. Both teams are flying high to start the year and SISD and District 14-6A bragging rights are on the line in this one. Spring rolled past Spring Dekaney 56-7 to open district play last week as the Lions offense led by QB Bishop Davenport put up 37 first half points and cruised to the easy win. Westfield made statewide headlines two weeks ago when they stunned Galena Park North Shore and they showed no signs of let down last week in a 56-0 rout of Aldine Davis last Thursday. Tulsa commit QB Cardell Williams threw for three touchdowns and ran for another score and the Mustangs defense totally dominated an overmatched Davis squad. This is going to be a fun one at Planet Ford Stadium, no love lost between these two rivals who are clearly evenly matched. I’m playing the odds here and taking Westfield to get a bit of revenge after the Hail Mary loss a year ago. Stepp’s Pick: Spring Westfield by 2