Prosper (13-1) vs. Duncanville (13-0), 4 p.m. Saturday at Dallas’ Ford Stadium: After three straight seasons of losing in the regional finals, Prosper broke through last week taking down Lewisville 24-13 to win the Region I title. QB Harrison Rosar led the Eagles offense once again throwing for 208 yards and three touchdowns, while Prosper’s defense forced three Lewisville turnovers in the win. Duncanville got a much tougher than anticipated game from Spring Westfield down in Georgetown on Saturday, but the Panthers were able to walk away with a 28-21 win as a key interception in the end zone by Ka’Davion Dotson-Walker preserved the win. RB Caden Durham had a monster game as well for the Panthers rushing for 240 yards and four touchdowns to basically carry the Duncanville offense. If there was one thing Duncanville fans have tro be concerned about it was the Panthers sloppy play as penalties haunted Duncanville all afternoon. Prosper’s lack of ability to run the football the last two weeks has to be a source of major concern, especially going against a defense that is the caliber of Duncanville. Unless Prosper can somehow find their missing running game, they’ll be hard pressed to consistently move the football against this elite Duncanville defensive unit. Stepp’s Pick: Duncanville by 13
Galena Park North Shore (14-0) vs. Austin Westlake (14-0), 3 p.m. Saturday at Houston’s Rice Stadium: Something has got to give in this massive showdown between the two teams who have traded spots at number and number two in the 6A state rankings all year. Austin Westlake comes into this one riding a 54-game winning streak and one of those wins came at the expense of Galena Park North Shore in a classic state semifinal showdown in 2020. Westlake in that win ended North Shore’s 29-game winning streak. Last week North Shore rolled past district rival Humble Atascocita 38-7 as the Mustangs were led by UTSA commit ATH David Amador who ran for a pair of touchdowns, while the Mustangs defense again dominated and even got in on the act with a Jacoby Davis interception return for a touchdown. Austin Westlake absolutely dominated San Antonio Brennan in a 47-7 win as QB Brett Skinner threw for 159 yards and two touchdowns and added a touchdown rushing to lead the Chaps offense, while the Westlake defense was stellar forcing four Brennan turnovers in the win. North Shore has gotten incredibly creative with their offensive system after losing their star signal caller to an injury earlier this year, but they are still very one dimensional and a one dimensional offense in my opinion won’t move the ball consistently against this stout Westlake defense and it’s really tough to pick against a team that has won 54 straight games. Stepp’s Pick: Austin Westlake by 3