Canyon West Plains (12-1) vs Stephenville (13-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Lubbock’s Lowrey Field: It’s a rematch of last year’s regional final when West Plains made their appearance on the statewide stage by stunning heavily favored Stephenville to win their first ever state semifinal appearance. Stephenville’s been waiting for this one for a year and they’ve played like a team on a mission all year with 13 straight wins, with the closest game being a 16-point win over Louisiana powerhouse Ruston; Ruston owns a win over Longview, so that’s about as impressive a win as any 4A team in the state has. Last week Stephenville drilled West Plain’s Canyon ISD brother, Canyon Randall, 51-6 as QB Trot Jordan tossed three touchdown passes and added a rushing touchdown to lead the explosive ‘Jackets attack. Freshman WR Caden Monk had a strong night with two touchdown receptions.West Plains cruised past Canyon High, 35-3, as QB Reid Macon threw for 251 yards and three scores to pace the Wolves attack that at times looked sluggish as they were missing their leading rusher Slade Russell, who is out with an injury. West Plains defense picked up the slack with a stellar defensive performance until the offense got rolling in the third quarter. West Plains’ offense will need to be perfect this week much like last year when they pulled the upset. But I can’t see it two years in a row. Stepp’s Pick: Stephenville by 11
Alvarado (12-0) vs Celina (13-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mansfield’s Newsom Stadium: It’s a rematch of last year’s regional final when Celina rolled past Alvarado en route to a state title. Once again both teams come into this one unbeaten. Alvarado had one of the most dominant performances of the week last week as they annihilated previously unbeaten Springtown, 64-13. RB DeMarcus Belton ran for two scores and had a touchdown catch, while DJ Clampitt added three touchdown runs. But the story was Alvarado’s defense, which just smothered Springtown with their overall team speed. Celina rolled past Decatur, 33-6, as RB Evan Koehne ran for 183 yards and two scores. The big story coming out of this one is the status of Oklahoma QB commit Bowe Bentley who left the game in the first half and did not return. In my view, I don’t think Bentley’s status matters all that much in this game. Celina’s going to get in their heavy package and try to wear down Alvarado’s smaller defense and keep the Indians offense off the field. Celina’s defense is also fully capable of getting stops and I think the Bobcats wear AHS down. Stepp’s Pick: Celina by 14