Mesquite ISD Showing Depth

Out of five schools in the Mesquite ISD, three made the playoffs, and all three are on to the third round of the playoffs.

When you think of Mesquite, you would assume Mesquite or North Mesquite would be in the playoff mix, but this season, it is the other three schools in the district that have stepped up.

Mesquite Horn pulled off a surprising 48-14 drubbing of Copperas Cove in the first round of the Class 5A DII playoffs and takes on Leander Saturday afternoon in Waco. Horn was the third place team in district 11-5A, where the top two teams, Longview and DeSoto, are also still alive.

In Class 4A, Mesquite Poteet pulled off a surprise of its' own in the second round by defeating a Whitehouse team that many thought had the potential to challenge for a state title by a 24-19 margin. The road continues to be tough for them as they take on undefeated Highland Park in the third round.

Class 4A West Mesquite also won a big game last week with a 55-34 win over a Sherman team whose only loss was by one point earlier in the season to Highland Park. They now face 9-3 Wylie at Cowboys Stadium on Friday.

The only state championship won by a Mesquite ISD school was by Mesquite High, which won the title in 2001 with  a 14-13 victory over San Antonio Taft.

Pearland Flying Low

Pearland has been flying under the radar all year, which is pretty hard to do when you are 12-0 on the season. The Oilers never were ranked in the AP Top Ten Poll during the year, and only garnered five points in the final poll of the season.

Maybe voters were frightened off by several close call victories during the season, or the fact that their defense is prone to giving up yardage. It seems clear though, that they are worthy of their perfect record after they man handled Beaumont West Brook in the second round of the playoffs, 51-22, a game in which the beleaguered defense didn't allow a point until the fourth quarter.

Pearland boasts two of the top offensive players in the Houston area in running back Dustin Garrison, who has over 2,300 yards rushing on the season, and quarterback Trey Anderson, who took over the West Brook game when Garrison was held to a season low 57 yards. Anderson has 21 touchdowns against only three interceptions on the year.

From this point forward there will be no low flying however, as they now face Cypress Creek next week, who knocked off once beaten Katy Cinco Ranch 54-28, before a potential matchup with fellow unbeaten powerhouse Katy.

1950 Class 2A Playoff Bracket

Here's a class 2A playoff bracket from 1950. This was the largest classification in the state at the time until the following year, when the UIL added 3A and 4A. Most of the the schools listed are 4A or 5A today, with the exception of Breckenridge, which remains 2A.

 1950 Football Play-Off Bracket

Victoria West vs. Weslaco East Time Change

The Victoria West  vs. Weslaco East second round playoff game originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Comalander Stadium in San Antonio has been moved to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Brownwood makes a statement

The Class 3A undefeated and #1 ranked Brownwood Lions have rarely been challenged all season, so one might expect some complacency to set in, but the Lions would have none of it in their opening round playoff game against Iowa Park.

They scored a school record 88 points on their way to an 88-24 victory, and announced to the rest of Class 3A that they on a mission to bring home the Class 3A DII championship trophy.

The team looks like one of the best in Brownwood history, and they'll move on to play the winner of West and Bridgeport next Friday night in Stephenville.

Who has the toughest road to a state championship in class 5A?

Class 5A Division I is loaded, and any team that makes to it through Regions I or II had better bring their "A" game each week in the playoffs.

One thing is for sure. The state champion of  Class 5A Division I will probably have faced one of the toughtest roads to the title in the history of Texas high school football.

Who's road will be the toughest? While anything can and will happen in the playoffs, we're going to project the toughest road to state using the theory that all the favorites will win and move forward through each round (which probably won't happen).

And the winner is............
The Woodlands

Imagine this rocky road to a state championship, with The Woodlands winning six consecutive games to claim the title.

Round One Klein Oak (7-3)
Round Two RR Stony Point (10-0)
Round Three A&M Consolidated (9-1)
Round Four Klein Collins (10-0)
Round Five Euless Trinity or Coppell (10-0)
Round Six (State Championship) Katy (10-0)

That means the Highlanders would beat six teams that entered the playoffs with a combined 56-4 record, including four who were undefeated. Good luck running that gauntlet!

Undefeated teams meet to settle 12-2A Division II district championship

Lexington and Rogers will settle the 12-2A Division II district championship tonight at Merk Field in Rogers. Both teams are 9-0 and ranked in the Class 2A top ten.

This should be a good one, but it may be tough to top last season's tilt, won 21-20 by Rogers. The matchup to watch is a Rogers offense that has averaged 41 points per game against Lexington's defense, which only allows 8 points and 115 yards per game.

Other 2A games to watch tonight:
Grandview (8-1, 4-0) at Maypearl (8-1, 4-0)
Malakoff (9-0, 4-0) at Crockett (8-1, 4-0)
Corsicana Mildred (8-1) at Lone Oak (9-0, 4-0)
Linden-Kildare (8-1, 4-0) at Hughes Springs (8-1, 4-0)
Schulenburg (9-0), (6-0) at Boling (8-1, 6-0)