Another week of chaos awaits us on the road to state. District play is underway for basically everybody, but the nature of the 2020 season makes that line not as clear as most years. Let me know if you see a game not happening, we'll get through this together. We're very DFW focused this week, but that's because there's plenty of good matchups in the northern half this week. Good luck and safe travels!
This Week: (Season: 15-7)
Bishop Dunne @ Dallas Christian -- In the two most recent meetings the Falcons demolished the Chargers in route to a state title in 2014 and a state runner-up finish in 2015, winning by a combined score of 96-17. A brief power outage was all that slowed Dunne in those two meetings.This year though the teams are headed in different directions. The Chargers have run all over two opponents, netting wins by a combined score of 104-26. The Falcons have yet to score to land at a somewhat surprising 0-3, and trailing 170-0 on the season. Going into the season (way back before the world turned upside down) I would have had this as a possible district title game. Tyler Grace figured to be in the mix, but with TCCH departure from TAPPS and Dunne's move down from Division I these seemed to be the contenders in District 2. Rather its the 12OT loss to John Paul that was near the beginning of the current 8 game losing streak, or the pandemic, or transfers, or something else entirely, things have taken an ugly turn for the Falcons. DC took a bye last week to set the stage for the 4 district games, and I'm not sure you can take much from a win over North Dallas. Scoring 56 against Liberty seems to bode well for the Chargers, and I think they'll carry that form into the this one. Falcons will get on the board though I think. Chargers win 35-6.
McKinney Christian @ Tyler Grace Community -- The district opener out east comes for these two schools. The Cougars have to be looking at the early struggles of Bishop Dunne as a major opprutunity to reach a home playoff position. Based on the last alignment, everyone will be looking at McKinney Christian as a must win game to finish high in the standings. That is not to say the Mustangs will be a pushover for anyone, but losing all 9 district games the last two years makes you the underdog for sure. The Mustang offense has been unable to produce against Division II opponents, managing just 12 points in 4 district game last season. The Cougars offense has taken a step back the last couple of seasons, but appeared to be in excellent shape through 2 weeks in 2020. Then, it took OT to reach 13 against Cypress Christian last week. If Tyler Grace produces a strong offensive game here they win handily. The Mustangs might have something, but with COVID and just 3 games in its really a mystery. If they hold Grace to 20, McKinney Christian wins. I think the Grace has too much at home though. Cougars win 33-20.
Flower Mound Coram Deo @ Grapevine Faith Christian -- Well not every same mascot pairing can be the Eagles. The Lions from Grapevine were the clear favorite to start this weird year in District 1. It took just 1 district game among the group of 5 to change that completely. Faith was dominated at Southwest Christian, falling 33-7. This puts the Lions at just 1-2 so far after reaching the semifinals last year. The Lions from the North side of Lake Grapevine, are a bit like McKinney Christian. Their time in Division has generally been unkind. In 2014 and 2015 in Division II they went just 3-7 and lost all 12 district games. The three seasons that followed in Division III had win totals of 8, 8, and 11. This season Coram Deo is 1-1 with a shutout of Grace Prep (who shut out Bishop Dunne) and a relatively close loss to Brook Hill. In the preseason, I would have picked Faith by 30+. Now, it seems this is a bit closer. I do not think this is the the night for a big Division II win for Coram Deo, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it this season. Faith wins at home, 35-21.
Frisco Legacy Christian @ Fort Worth Southwest Christian -- Here we find our familiar Eagles on Eagles match. Since a road playoff win at DC in 2006, Southwest has posted just 2 winning seasons. Both finishing at 6-5 marks. Starting the year with a blowout of Prince of Peace pointed to a better team on Lake Benbrook but isn't really a head turning result. Blowing out Bishop Dunne will wake a few people up, but then seeing Dunne's struggles this year knocks it down a bit. Then, we see the win over Faith. Not just by a point, but a convincing domination at 33-7. Both teams completed only 2 passes each. The difference Faith threw 21 while Southwest threw just 5 and the Eagles out gained them by over 250 yards. Legacy has been the snake bit team in Division II, unable to close out the big wins when they had leads. That changed last year, securing 2nd place over FWC with a late season win. This year, a season opening loss to Tyler Grace looked a reversion to old form. They did secure a comeback win over TCA, but were dominated by San Antonio Cornerstone in a hastily scheduled game last week. Expect very few passes in this one, even with a 7:30 start there's a good chance this finishes before 10. Legacy has to think this is their opening with Faith falling last week and a wide open district schedule ahead. Its a tricky one, but I think the Southwest result last week is impressive enough and their at home. Southwest wins 30-20, and gets to 2-0 and a commanding lead in District 1.
Fort Worth Christian @ Addison Trinity Christian -- When last we saw the Cardinals, it was September and they were losing by 3 to Brook Hill. After two cancellations, FWC still will have the entire district schedule to play in the final 4 weeks after a non-district clash here. The Trojans broke their 21 game losing streak with an opening win over Pittsburg, but surrendered a 2nd half lead at the Star to Frisco Legacy. They even had a deflected lineman touchdown catch and couldn't close the deal. There are a number of ways this one could go. How sharp will the Cardinals be after sitting out two weeks? How much improvement has TCA made, given Pittsburg is 0-5? If FWC proves to be a top flight team in District 1, what does the loss to Brook Hill mean for the playoffs? I just do not know. I think the Cardinals offense should push them past TCA here. The Trojans have scored 38 points in 2 games while FWC scored 34 in their lone game so far. This weird season certainly pushes for home teams, but the Cardinals get back to it. FWC wins 35-19.
Midland Christian @ Argyle Liberty Christian -- The old rivalry is back for another year. The brief separation in Divisions deprived us of the opprutunity to mention "The Game of Inches" or "Showergate" from the past. In many ways now, that is the distant past. In the present, the Mustangs controlled the game with Parish most of the way last week. They came up just 4 seconds short in the end, falling 34-32. In 6 halves of football this season the Mustangs have played well in 5 of them. Only the 2nd half at Nolan left much to be desired. A rematch with Parish might be in the cards for MCS and could turn out differently, or they woke up Parish with a game effort and they'll go on to stomp the division. The Warriors have been much less impressive through 3 weeks. A 2nd half that really got out of hand at DC followed by being largely dominated by Parish and Frisco Reedy. The defense simply has to be better for Liberty. Allowing 56, 50, and 42, through 2 weeks does not bode well for the rest of district play. The Warriors will need a real turnaround to get in the district win column. If the game was at the former Dwight Gailey Stadium, now the home of UNT soccer, it might turn the odds. Mustangs win 42-18.
Plano Prestonwood Christian @ Dallas Parish Episcopal -- At risk of jinxing things, Prestonwood is finally on track to play its scheduled opponent for first time since Week 1/5. The Lions dropped a 10 point decision at Prosper to open the season before dominating Fort Worth Southwest (public school version) in a game that was scheduled just 6 hours before it was played. Last week's district opener saw a 14 point 4th quarter lead go away quickly ending in a 14 point defeat against Nolan. The Panthers made the long trip to Midland and for large stretches of the game were the 2nd best team on the field. Ultimately they were able to make a few big plays late in the game and win, but they looked beatable for most of the game. Last year they were pretty much dominant all year except for the All Saints loss and the TCCH OT win. The Panthers should be the better team here, but I haven't found the surprise of the week yet so I want to go with Prestonwood. I just can't quite do it though. Parish wins 40-30.
Fort Worth All Saints @ Fort Worth Nolan -- For the 2nd straight week, Nolan's district opponent is unavailable but there is another team in the district without an opponent so they'll pull forward a district game. The Vikings ran off 4 straight 4th quarter touchdowns to turn a 14 point deficit into a 14 point victory against Prestonwood. Combined with a scoreboard dominant 2nd half against Midland Christian and Nolan appears to be the closers of District 1. The Vikings have won 11 district games in row, but haven't been great in the playoffs lately. The Saints come in to this one as a mystery. Last season they beat the eventual champion Parish Episcopal and then tailed off badly. Injuries played a role for sure, but it was still a stunning fall. A 70-50 win over Azle to open the season was followed by 2 cancelled weeks. A big district battle of undefeated squads is normal for October 16, but to only have 3 wins between them is quite a turn. I think Vikings are up for the task and with game at Nolan and All Saints off for two weeks, they just squeak by. Vikings win 35-30.
Quick Hits: (Season: 19-9)
Anahuac over Bullard Brook Hill
Austin Regents over Boerne Geneva
Corpus Christi John Paul II over Austin Hyde Park
Austin Brentwood Christian over San Antonio St. Anthony's
Sugar Land Fort Bend Christian over Spring Frassati Catholic
Houston Second Baptist over The Woodlands Christian
Houston St. Pius X over San Antonio Antonian
San Antonio Central Catholic over Tomball Concordia Lutheran
Fort Worth Lake Country over Weatherford Christian
Tyler T.K. Gorman over Dallas First Baptist
Shiner St. Paul over Bryan Brazos Christian
Desoto over Cedar Hill Trinity Christian
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