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That's right, folks. We're moving the big show to prime time so that we can bring you the big blows from this week's local heavyweight bouts:
6 p.m.: Dallas Skyline (11-0) vs. DeSoto (9-2) @ SMU's Ford Stadium
8 p.m.: Southlake Carroll (10-1) vs. Allen (10-1) @ Cowboys Stadium
We'll also be discussing the day's other action as well as games from Friday night and what lies ahead in the Texas state playoff picture.
So mark your calendars and join me, Brandon George, Matt Wixon and other SportsDay staffers for this special occasion. Most importantly, we want to hear from you ... so get ready to talk some high school football.
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Twitter hashtag: #dmn
The chat will start at 11 a.m. and go for about an hour, but the chat room is now open for questions. If you want to ask a question, please go into the live chat and submit it that way instead of leaving a comment on this blog post. I can't check those while I'm doing the chat.
Click here for DMN staff picks for this weekend's games.
It's been well documented that Carrollton Newman Smith is making its first playoff appearance since 1983. In fact, the 1983 appearance was the school's only previous playoff appearance since it opened in 1975.
Now, Newman Smith has a chance to make more history by reaching the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history. Newman Smith (9-2) faces Carter at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Irving Schools Stadium.
Here is Newman Smith's complete playoff history:
1983: First round, beat Hurst L.D. Bell, 41-7
1983: Second round, lost to WF Rider, 24-3
2009: First round, beat Sherman, 56-35
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
Frisco Liberty made the playoffs in its second season of varsity play, and then went one step farther by winning its playoff opener against Rockwall-Heath.
Next up for Liberty: A second-round matchup with Lincoln at 7:30 tonight at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
Coach Galen Zimmerman said the players and student body are soaking in the playoff experience.
"They're pretty excited," Zimmerman said. "I don't know that everyone at the school knows what to think sometimes. It's a new experience for everybody."
Liberty (6-5) relies on a strong running game led by two 1,000-yard rushers: Jay Ajayi (1,298 yards) and Malcolm Hill (1,1,111 yards). Liberty has scored 43 points or more in each win and has been limited to 20 points or less in its five losses.
"We've been pretty successful running the ball, but our offensive is pretty versatile," Zimmerman said. "My philosophy has always been to play great defense, good special teams and consistent offense."
Here are some other area UIL schools that have opened in the past decade that are still alive in the playoffs:
Argyle (3A): Began varsity play in 2002
Conrad (4A): 2008
Denton Guyer (4A): 2006
Lucas Lovejoy (3A): 2008
Mansfield Legacy (4A): 2008
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
Bobby Reyes, who became football coach at McKinney in 2007 after helping build Richardson Pearce's football program into a winner, has decided to retire after 37 years of coaching.
"I've enjoyed every minute of it," Reyes said, "but I guess 37 years is enough."
Reyes, 59, was 11-21 in three seasons at McKinney. His teams finished 4-7 the last two season and lost to Highland Park in the first round of the 4A playoffs.
Reyes became McKinney's coach after spending eight years at Richardson Pearce, where he compiled a 52-33 record and led Pearce to the playoffs three times. In the 33 years Prior to Reyes' arrival, Pearce had two winning seasons. At McKinney, Reyes took over a program that hadn't been to the playoffs since 2004.
"I guess I'm kind of the guy who always got the rebuilding jobs," Reyes said.
Reyes, who also coached at Smithville for three seasons, had a career record of 70-76.
He said he wanted to spend more time with family, and that he decided in August that this season would be his last. He'll stay with the district through the school year as a math teacher, but next month he'll give up his role as football coach and athletic director at McKinney.
Reyes said he would miss the camaraderie of his fellow coaches and the chance to work with kids.
"My best part of the day is when the kids are here," he said. "They keep you young."
Richardson Berkner coach Jim Ledford's Rams were eliminated from the playoffs last week in a 38-16 loss to Garland, but that won't stop Ledford from enjoying the high school football playoffs Saturday.
Ledford said he and his staff plan to be at Cowboys Stadium for the first game there Saturday at 11 a.m. between Coppell and Plano East. He said they will stay and watch some of the second game at Cowboys Stadium between Flower Mound Marcus and Cedar Hill before leaving to get to what he called the best game of the weekend. Ledford and his staff plan to take in the Skyline and DeSoto game at 6 p.m. Saturday at SMU's Ford Stadium. And once that one is over, they'll shoot west across I-30 back to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to catch the other "big" game of the weekend between Southlake Carroll and Allen. That game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but probably won't get going until about 9 p.m. or so. That'll be a full day for Ledford and his staff, but those are four great games to watch Saturday.
Ledford will know more about Skyline and DeSoto on Saturday than perhaps any other fan in the stands. Berkner lost to both teams this season. DeSoto beat Berkner, 13-10, on Sept. 11 and Skyline beat Berkner, 39-7, on Oct. 16.
Anyone else plan to take in more than one game Saturday? If so, what's your plan of action? What games will you watch and where?
As Matt rightly pointed out, the Allen-Southlake Carroll nightcap on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium looks to be one of several terrific second-round contests.
[soapbox]
Yet, there is a certain level of absurdity about the matchup.
Allen, the fourth-largest school in the state and the defending Division 1 champion, finds itself in the Division 2 playoffs - through no fault of its own, a byproduct of both Plano East (the state's largest school) and Plano (second-largest) qualifying for the playoffs.
With 4,837 students (per last UIL count), Allen had 2,047 more students than Irving Nimitz, its first-round opponent. That difference is nearly the UIL's cutoff line for what constitutes a 5A school (2,085).
Allen will have 2,295.5 more students than Southlake Carroll (the UIL deals in halves and thirds of students). Potential opponents in future rounds would be at the same disadvantage: Arlington Bowie (1,851 fewer), Cedar Hill (2,324.5 fewer), and Tyler John Tyler (2,702 fewer).
So, what to do?
Before the U.S. Army All-American Bowl is played in January, some players will participate in a three-day showcase called the 2010 U.S. Army National Combine. Here is a list of the Texas players selected to participate. Locals in bold:
Michael Cooper, The Woodlands
Spencer Drango, Cedar Park
John Fuhrman, Houston Lutheran South
Kolby Griffin, Houston St. Pius X
Jaylen Harris, Cedar Park Vista Ridge
Bram Kohlhausen, Lamar (Houston)
Colton Lyon, Boyd
Cam McDaniel, Coppell
K.C. Niemchi, Katy Cinco Ranch
Cedric Reed, Cleveland
Gage Sharp, The Colony
Mykkele Thompson, San Antonio Stevens
Blake Turner and Zach Wood, Rowlett
Carter Wall, Austin Travis High School
Lance Williams, Mesquite Horn
The combine will take place Jan. 7-9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Garland takes on Tyler Lee on Saturday for a spot in the Class 5A Division I regional semifinals. In that game, several Garland players have a chance to break school records:
Quarterback Jared Barnett has completed 142 of 229 passes for 1,929 yards this season, putting him in range of the school records of 156 completions, 249 attempts and 2,020 yards -- set by Greg Hunter in 2006. Barnett is also completing 62.0 percent of his passes, just shy of Hunter's mark of 62.5 percent in '06.
Receivers Aryon Morgan and Adrian Phillips also have a chance to set some single-season school records. Morgan has caught 38 passes for 668 yards and Phillips has caught 39 for 548. The school record for receptions in a season is 48, set by Alex Updyke last season. The record for yards is 697, which was set by Keith Mills in 1999.
Not only is Plano one of seven schools remaining with a losing record, the Wildcats achieved what only one other school in the either division of the Class 5A playoffs did - win a bi-district game with either a losing record overall or a losing district record.
Eleven schools entered the first round in such a predicament, including Rowlett (4-6 overall), Flower Mound (2-3 in district), and Mesquite Horn (1-4 in district).
But only Plano - a 28-17 winner over a 4-4 Duncanville team - and Tyler Lee managed to advance to the area round.
The remaining nine not only lost, they were outscored 413-176 in the process.
Plano and Tyler Lee face much more difficult tasks in the next round, however.
Plano faces Euless Trinity (9-2) at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium, while Tyler Lee (5-5) plays Garland (9-1) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Corsicana.
Some facts and figures on this week's high school football playoff games:
Skyline quarterback Javia Hall doesn't get as much hype as some of the state's other elite quarterbacks, but Hall has one stat that is unmatched: Zero interceptions. Hall has thrown 27 touchdown passes this year without yet having a pass picked off, an amazing statistic considering Skyline has a balanced offense and averages 16 pass attempts per game.
Two East Texas powers that look like Class 3A state championship contenders will be playing in the Dallas area this week. Gilmer (11-0), which features perhaps the state's most athletic quarterback in Darian "Stump" Godfrey, faces Waco La Vega (7-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mesquite Memorial in a 3A-I game. Defending 3A-II champion Carthage (11-0), led by star running back O'Bryan Washington, faces Mexia (9-2) at 7:30 Friday at Forney.
Denton Ryan quarterback Scotty Young now has 48 touchdown passes for the season. He finished last season with 65, two short of the state record held by Ennis' Graham Harrell. If Young averages four touchdown passes per game, he would need to lead Ryan to the state title game to break the record.
Plano (5-6) and Quinlan Ford (3-7) are the only area UIL playoff teams remaining with losing records. Around the state, there are five more: Waller (5-6), Andrews (5-6), Merkel (5-6), Petrolia (4-6) and Louise (4-6).
The toughest region in any playoff bracket is 5A-I Region II. The bracket includes four teams that were state-ranked heading into the final week of the regular season: No. 2 Skyline (11-0), No. 3 The Woodlands (11-0), No. 9 DeSoto (9-2) and No. 10 Round Rock Stony Point (10-1). DeSoto dropped out when it lost its regular season finale to Tyler John Tyler. Skyline faces DeSoto this week, and The Woodlands faces Stony Point.
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
 DeSoto running back Marcus Murphy and Coppell running back Cam NcDaniel have each scored 27 touchdowns this season, tying them for most among 4A and 5A area players. Their versatility will be important as DeSoto takes on Skyline this week and Coppell faces Plano East.
McDaniel has 20 touchdown runs and seven touchdown receptions. Murphy has 18 touchdown runs and eight touchdown receptions, and he also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score.
It's no surprise that Murphy, a senior, has a bunch of offers from BCS schools. McDaniel, a junior, should also have plenty of offers a year from now.
DeSoto's Marcus Murphy makes a move during a win over Duncanville.
(JOHN F. RHODES/DMN)
Just a reminder that this week's middday high school football chat will be FRIDAY at 11 a.m. We'll also have a live chat Saturday night during the Skyline-DeSoto and Allen-Southlake Carroll game, and we can wrap up the day's games then.
For Friday's 11 a.m. chat, I'll open the chat room -- which will be in a post right here on the blog -- by 10:45 a.m. and you can send in questions then. We'll go for about an hour.
History could be made Friday night at Cedar Hill's Longhorn Stadium.
Caddo Mills senior running back Nathan Jeffery enters Friday's Class 2A Division II area-round playoff game against Grandview needing four touchdowns to tie the UIL state record -- for all classifications -- for touchdowns scored in a career. The record is held by Jacquizz Rodgers, who scored 136 touchdowns for Lamar Consolidated from 2004 to 2007. Rodgers is now a star running back at Oregon State and was last year's Pac-10 offensive player of the year as a freshman.
Of Jeffery's 132 career touchdowns, 44 have come this season. He has averaged four touchdowns per game in 2009, and he broke the 2A state record for career TDs earlier this season. Caddo Mills (9-2) and Grandview (9-1) kick off at 7:30 p.m.
Cayuga running back Traylon Shead, who has committed to Texas, also has a shot to break the record. Shead has 131 career touchdowns entering Friday's Class A Division II area-round game against Simms Bowie.
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Headlines from HSGameTime.com
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Jason Sickles/Editor 
at 2:45 PM
