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Cowboys Stadium in Arlington will host four Class 5A bi-district playoff games next weekend.
Arlington Bowie vs. Richland, 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Cowboys Stadium
Arlington Martin vs. Haltom, 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Cowboys Stadium
Abilene vs. Arlington Lamar, 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Cowboys Stadium
Arlington vs. Burleson, 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Cowboys Stadium
Some first-round playoff games, with a comment from Staff Writer Greg Riddle:
Cedar Hill (10-0) vs. Plano West (5-5): Cedar Hill, the state's top-ranked 5A team, faces Plano West defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat, the state's second-ranked recruit.
Allen (9-1) vs. Irving Nimitz (7-3): Allen takes a nine-game win streak into the playoffs.
SL Carroll (9-1) vs. Colleyville Heritage (7-3): Heritage tries to end Carroll's five-game win streak.
Richardson Berkner (6-4) vs. Garland (8-1):
Entering this week, Garland ranked eighth among area 5A teams in total defense and Berkner was No. 9.
Lake Dallas (9-1) vs. Birdville (9-1): Birdville QB Josh Dorman has thrown 45 TD passes; Lake Dallas QB James Franklin (committed to Missouri) has accounted for 35 TDs.
Highland Park (9-1) vs. McKinney (4-6): It's Highland Park QB Luke Woodley (committed to Louisville) vs. McKinney QB Zach Lee (committed to LSU).
Put down that remote! Who needs Smallville, Dollhouse or Law & Order this Friday night?
We've got all the drama you can handle with Week 10 of Dallas-Fort Worth high school football. Join the live conversation with our SportsDay high school reporters and editors as we watch the action unfold. Who claims a district title? Who stays? Who goes home?
As always, we'll try to bring you all the highlights as we see or learn about them. SportsDay reporters and contributors will chat from these featured games:
- Plano @ Jesuit: me, Chris Martinez and David McNabb
- Irving Nimitz @ Cedar Hill: Matt Wixon
- Carrollton Creekview vs. Richardson: Rainer Sabin
- Woodrow Wilson vs. Lincoln: Dennis Hall
- Flower Mound Marcus @ Hebron: Damon Sayles
- Coppell @ Flower Mound: Mark Buford
- DeSoto @ Tyler John Tyler: Larry Rosen aka "75man"
- Rockwall-Heath @ Highland Park: Mark Dent
- TCA-Addison @ Fort Worth Nolan: Cameron Maun
- SportsDay HQ: Todd Davis and Jason Zimmerman
...AND we want to hear updates from you, too:
Mobile browsers: www.coveritlive.com/mobile
Twitter: hashtag #dmn
What a great performance by Denton Ryan on Thursday in its 50-29 victory over the top-ranked 4A team in the area, Denton Guyer. A month ago, Ryan had a two-week stretch when it lost to Lake Dallas (a very good team) and then hung on for a 17-14 win over Little Elm, which is currently 3-6.
It certainly had me wondering whether Ryan would be the state contender many thought it could be at the start of the season. But with the win over Guyer, which included scoring the final 21 points of the game, Ryan rolls into the playoffs with a ton of confidence.
Click here for DMN staff picks for this weekend's games.
Before we get too lost in playoff pairings, let's take a minute to look at this season's biggest turnarounds.
Five teams in the Dallas area already have won at least five more games in 2009 than they won in 2008. The rundown:
1. Wills Point (plus-7): Wills Point struggled to a 1-9 record in 2008 and expected improvement with 16 returning starters. But Wills Point has done even better than expected, rolling to a district title en route to an 8-1 overall record heading into tonight's game against Mineola. The secret: Defense. Wills Point has surrendered only 10 points per game in four district games.
2. Irving Nimitz (plus-6): Like Wills Point, Nimitz expected improvement with 17 starters returning from a 1-9 team. But nobody expected Nimitz to contend for the 7-5A title. At 7-2, Nimitz already has locked up a playoff spot and can shock everybody by knocking off Cedar Hill to win the district title tonight. Nimitz also has relied on a stout defense that has allowed only 17 points per game, fewest in 7-5A.
3. Grapevine (plus-5): Grapevine is going to make the playoffs one season after posting a discouraging 0-10 mark. At 5-4, Grapevine faces rival Colleyville Heritage tonight to determine the district's Division II top seed. Grapevine actually started the season 0-3 but has steamrolled through district team, beating everyone except for powerhouse Euless Trinity.
3. Carrollton Newman Smith (plus-5): Newman Smith ended a 26-year playoff drought with a win over Rockwall two weeks ago. Newman Smith was 2-8 last year but has a 7-2 record this year and is assured of being the district's Division I second seed. Newman Smith's only two losses were to powerhouses Denton Guyer and Highland Park. Newman Smith has beaten its other seven opponents by at least 14 points apiece.
3. Arlington Oakridge (plus-5): Oakridge is a traditionally strong SPC school, but it had a down year in 2008, finishing with a 4-6 record. Oakridge has bounced back this year with a 9-2 mark and a first-place regular season finish in SPC-Division II. Oakridge lost to Fort Worth Trinity Valley in the SPC-Division II championship game on Thursday night.
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
There are a couple of interesting possibilities to follow Friday night in 11-5A.
First, Mesquite could advance to the playoffs despite an 0-8 start to the season. Mesquite (1-8, 1-3) surprised North Mesquite last week and now controls its own destiny, needing only to defeat rival Mesquite Horn on Friday to improve to 2-3 in district play and lock up the district's fourth playoff spot.
The other scenario is almost as unusual. If Mesquite Horn beats Mesquite, then Horn could qualify despite an 0-4 start in district play. Horn (5-4, 0-4) needs to win and have Tyler Lee (3-5, 3-1) knock off North Mesquite (3-5, 1-3). That would create a three-way tie for fourth between Horn, Mesquite and North Mesquite. Mesquite coach Robbie Robinson said Horn would likely win the district's tiebreaker.
Robinson said he's proud of his team for winning last week to put itself in this position. He knows there will be critics who will complain if a 2-8 team makes the playoffs, but he's not worried about that.
"It's been a long, tough year," Robinson said. "I can't say enough good things about our team continuing to fight and perservere to still have this chance."
Robinson said running backs Earl Titus and Greg Fason are two of the seniors who have practiced and played hard to help Mesquite get stronger as the season has progressed. Titus is a special teams ace, and Fason sets the tone in practice and the games with his work ethic.
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
Granted, tonight's game between Denton Guyer and Denton Ryan at Denton's C.H. Collins Complex is a big, big game - for a number of reasons:
- It's a cross-town rivalry;
- Both teams are highly ranked: Guyer (9-0, 6-0) ranked No. 2 in the state's AP poll and No. 1 in SportsDay's area 4A rankings, Ryan (8-1, 5-1) No. 5 in SportsDay's poll;
- Both teams feature tremendous offensive attacks
- The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest at 7.*
But the biggest reason is that the District 5-4A title will be at stake.
That's big news for Guyer, which has never won a district title. Guyer started by going 1-19 in their first two varsity seasons in 2006 and 2007, but finished last season 12-3, losing to Longview in the state semifinals. Yet, they didn't win the district title, which went to Wichita Falls Rider.
Ryan's last district title was in 2006, but the Raiders in the last decade have as nearly as many state titles (two) as they do district titles (four).
A Ryan win would put Ryan, Guyer and Lake Dallas in a three-way tie for the district title, assuming a Lake Dallas win on Friday at The Colony. Playoff matchups in the 4A Division 1 playoffs are also at stake. The winner faces Saginaw, the loser Fort Worth Boswell.
* (A David Foster Wallace-ian aside [which would be in footnotes, if I could]: Craig Way is sitting about 15 feet from me, shouting promos excitedly. Don't know why I get such a kick out of the UT play-by-play guy nearby. Maybe it's because I have for the longest time confused him with Bob Phillips - the host of Texas Country Reporter. I love that show. And Dairy Queen! [Well, mainly dipped cones.] As he shouts TV promos, I immediately start looking for Vince Young turning the corner against USC. Or Kevin Durant hitting a three. Not him putting on his reading glasses and eating a piece of pizza at a high school game.)
The chat will start at 11 a.m. and go for about an hour, but the chat room will be open for questions by about 10:30 or so. 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.
Though Denton Guyer, Waxahachie and Highland Park are among the state's top teams in Class 4A, there is some bad news.
Six of the state's top seven teams in The Associated Press Class 4A state poll this week are already locked into the 4A Division I bracket, and No. 5 Angleton will make it seven of seven if both Friendswood and Dawson don't end up making the playoffs out of 24-4A.
But right now, it looks like Lake Travis, Guyer, Longview, Waxahachie, Highland Park and Waco Midway will all go D-I.
That also means that the 4A-DII bracket could be wide open. It looks like that D-II bracket, however, will feature state-ranked Port Neches-Groves, Aledo and Brenham and undefeated Birdville.
With one game left in the season, Hebron still has a shot at the playoffs. Beat Flower Mound Marcus on Friday and the Hawks are in the playoffs. Considering Hebron has a losing record (4-5), that's not a bad position to be in. (Although Mesquite, still with a playoff shot despite a record of 1-8, should feel even more fortunate).
What Hebron might need to do Friday is win a close game, which it hasn't done yet in district play with losses to Coppell in overtime and seven-point losses to Flower Mound and Southlake Carroll.
Hebron's five losses this season are by a combined 24 points, an average margin of 4.8 points.
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
Mesquite Poteet won a game this season, but its record will go down as 0-10.
Mesquite ISD athletic director Steve Bragg informed me this morning that Poteet used an ineligible player in its lone win over Frisco. Bragg said the player was a transfer student and one of his parents falsified documents to show residency in the Poteet attedance zone. The player played in several other games as well.
Poteet finished its season last week. With the win by forfeit, Frisco is now 1-8.
The District 10-5A playoff race is a jumbled mess, thanks in large part to South Garland's upset of North Garland last Friday. That win helped create a five-way logjam for the district's final three playoff spots.
All that's certain is that Garland (8-1, 6-0) is the district champion. South Garland and North Garland are both 3-2, while Naaman Forest, Sachse and Rowlett are all 2-3.
South Garland can lock up the district's top seed in Division II by beating Naaman Forest on Thursday. That would be quite an accomplishment considering South Garland was virtually facing elimination last Friday before rallying for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and a 13-7 win over North Garland.
"We've got ourselves in a position to make the state playoffs, and that's what you play for all year long," said South Garland coach Keith Wright, who praised the Corin Cline-led offensive line for the North Garland win.
The district's other big game takes place Friday when Sachse faces Rowlett. The loser is eliminated, while the winner might need to rely on tiebreakers to get in. North Garland gets in automatically with a win over last-place Garland Lakeview.
Dennis Hall is managing editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine.
When can losing big be a good thing?
Maybe this week for Weatherford, which is among three teams battling for two playoff spots in District 3-5A, in which Abilene and Haltom have already clinched spots. Here's Weatherford's scenario:
Weatherford is in with a win over Burleson or a loss to Burleson by more than 13 points.
That's not a typo. It's complicated to explain, but it's because of the way a three-way tiebreaker is broken in that district. For a three-way tie, the first tiebreaker is point differential among the three teams, and once one team is selected for the playoffs based on that, the two remaining teams are decided by their head-to-head matchup.
So ...
If Richland loses and Burleson beats Weatherford, the three teams will finish at 3-3 in district. Currently, Richland has a plus-6 in point differential in such a three-way tie, Weatherford has a plus-1 and Burleson is at minus-7. If Weatherford loses by more than 13 points to Burleson, it will give Burleson the edge in three-way tie point differential and Burleson would make the playoffs. With two teams remaining and one playoff spot, the tiebreaker goes back to head-to-head and Weatherford would get in by virtue of its one-point win over Richland this season.
So there you go. Weatherford either needs to win by one or lose big to make the playoffs.
"That's kind of the controversy," Richland coach Gene Wier said, referring to the possibility of a team losing big on purpose. "But I don't think a team would do that."
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Headlines from HSGameTime.com
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Todd Davis/Editor 
at 1:09 AM
