Area Playoff Picks 2021

Another regular season has concluded and we are ready for the playoffs to begin. Even with the home games it feels like one upset always surprises us in the first round. Lets see if we can find it. Good luck and safe travels on the road to Waco Midway for the state finals. Thankfully back on the 1st weekend of December this year. We focus heavily on the Division II picture in this first week with a couple of Division I games mixed in.

Division II Playoffs: (Season: 63-23)

Flower Mound Coram Deo @ Dallas Christian -- The Chargers secured their 2nd straight district title with a 47-10 win over Brook Hill last week. This is also an 11th straight season with a home playoff game. This season only TCA has bested DC en route to an 8-1 record, but it hasn't been nearly as easy of a run as last season. A year ago the Chargers played no games closer than 28 points before falling to Regents in the title game. This season has seen wins by 1, 22, and 10 among the 8 victories. The Lions have shown improvement this season, posting a 5-5 record after winning just one game last year. Coram Deo had success in Division III prior to moving up, and perhaps this is the start of something in the higher division. The Lions and Chargers have never met in football, and with the teams in separate divisions next year it may be a rare meeting. With DC posting a 35-25 victory over Fort Worth Christian, when the Cardinals beat Coram Deo by 61, it just doesn't look like a close one. Playoff do weird things though. Chargers win 49-9.

McKinney Christian @ Fort Worth Christian -- The Cardinals started 1-7 before winning their last two district games, including last week's 50 point outburst at Grapevine Faith. After a long season of tough opposition they should be ready for a strong postseason. Only worry might be looking ahead to a rematch with Dallas Christian. FWC scored 50, 67, and 67 in their 3 wins. I mentioned before that FWC beat Coram Deo by 61 and McKinney Christian lost to that same squad, 49-47. This is the reward for reaching 2nd place. The Mustangs also progressed a bit in 2021 reaching 4 wins. The 2 district wins gets them up to 3rd place and away from the District 1 champion. The Mustangs should score a little in this one, but I doubt they will have enough. Cardinals win 52-21.

Tyler Grace Community @ Fort Worth Southwest Christian -- The Eagles won a 2nd straight district title, but went 4-0 en route this year. With an 8-2 record, losses just to ESD and TCA, its another great season for Southwest after a disappointing decade before. The Cougars underwent a bit of coaching turmoil before the season and struggled throughout. A 14-6 win over Bishop Dunne last week put Grace in the playoffs with their 2nd win of the season. The other win over UIL Tenaha, suggests there is some potential for an upset. However, its just been too much in 2021 for the Cougars. Particularly at home, the Eagles should win comfortably. Southwest Christian wins 41-8.

Grapevine Faith Christian @ Bullard Brook Hill -- The Guard dominated district opponents not named DC and finish the regular season 6-3 and in 2nd place. Its been a bit of a struggle to score against the best opposition this year with 3 wins featuring fewer than 26 points. The Lions appeared to be district favorites heading into district play, but allowed 34 and 50 points to Southwest and FWC. Those are the only two games Faith lost and the only ones they allowed more than 14 points in a 7-2 season. The Guard should be able to slow the Lions attack, but this is definitely the best chance for a road win among the District 1 and 2 pairings. Look for a low scoring game. I think Faith gets the road win, 23-20.

The Woodlands Christian @ Austin Regents -- The Knights are the defending champions and on a 20 game winning streak. The last loss for Regents was in the 2019 state title game, Trinity-Cedar Hill's final game in TAPPS. Regents has lost just 2 games outside of state finals in the last 5 seasons. Unfortunately they lost 4 state finals before breaking the streak last year. The Warriors posted a strong 7-3 campaign after winning just 4 last year. TWCA also reversed a couple of 2020 defeats in the season this year. Unfortunately dropping the finale to Lutheran South gave them the difficult match with Regents in Round 1. The Knights cruise, 49-6.

Brownsville St. Joseph @ Houston Second Baptist -- The Eagles were pushed off the top of the District standings by Fort Bend Christian last week, 27-24. This is the first time Second Baptist has failed to win the district title since 2015. The Eagles offense has posted its usual strong outings this season, averaging over 37 points per game. The Bloodhounds pushed into the playoffs and all the way up to 3rd place with the season ending win over Corpus Christi John Paul, 49-48. The Eagles are the better squad here, but strange things happen in the playoffs. Eagles win 44-14.

Houston Lutheran South @ Austin St. Michael's --The Crusaders have only fallen to Regents and San Antonio Davenport en route to an 8-2 season. The Pioneers have slipped down the District 4 rankings in recent years, but are back in the playoffs again. The Pioneers finished with a very good 7-3 record, but the offense betraying them in the biggest games has been this issue. Scoring just 7 against Fort Bend and 13 against Second Baptist sends them on the road. The Crusader defense only allowed 20+ in just 3 games with 2 of them being the defeats. That defensive form will win them this game, but this shouldn't be a blowout. The best chance for a road upset in the the District 3 and 4 pairings is here, but I'll take the home team. Crusaders advance to the regional, 30-20.

Austin Brentwood Christian @ Sugar Land Fort Bend Christian -- A trip south for the Bears sends them to take on District 4's champion Eagles. Though not the usual champion as FBCA claimed the title for the first time since MaxPreps started keeping records. After a 2-3 start, the Eagles won 5 district games in a row to finish 7-3. Dominating the district opponents before narrowly defeating Second Baptist for the title. The Bears finished 6-4 and fell to 4th place thanks to a 55-34 defeat by Brownsville St. Joseph. That loss was a bit a surprise and the Bear defense has not had another outing that poor. Even Regents and St. Michaels scored fewer than 55. Finding a way to slow down the Eagle attack will be necessary and the track record just doesn't support it happening here. Eagles win 43-20.

The Rundown

We always conclude the Division II area round with a rundown of the teams. I used to pick the whoe bracket, but I think we all know where my biases are. Thus, you can use your imagination what I'd pick. The committee of one has an affection for the interesting mascots across the state so the Division II playoff preview always ends with a rundown of the playoff teams. This will pass to Division III next year with DC's realignment. So for an 8th year in a row...

With a couple of newcomers to the bracket we see a few shakeups to the list. We have the flock of Eagles, but trimmed to just 3 this year after last year's record of 5. A long time contender gets joined by a new entrant from the same district, giving us 2 Lions. The finalists are back for another run to the title, with no duplicates in Division II. We wish good luck and safe travels on the road to state to, 3 Eagles, 2 Lions, the Cardinals, the Cougars, and the Mustangs. The less commonly seen Knights probably do not need the luck. We also wish good will for the Crusaders, not as rare in the private school ranks. The much more rarely seen Guard, Bears, Pioneers, and Bloodhounds, round out the field of teams looking for some good fortune on the run to state. Then we always finish with wishing the best of luck to the Chargers!

Extra Division I Picks

Dallas Bishop Lynch @ Tomball Concordia Lutheran -- The opening rounds in Division I always bring the question of will District 1 wipe out District 2. Last season they did with no District 2 teams making the final 4. In 2019, Antonian was in the semifinal and close to the title game before falling to equally surprising Plano John Paul. This season all signs point to District 1's superiority. However, the Friars lost to St. Pius X, 17-13, in non-district while the Crusaders defeated SPX by a 9-7 final (might have been a baseball game). Both teams enter with matching 4-6 records and have a couple of good victories, but also nothing impressive against the best of the Division. This sets up for both teams to score. Neither has slowed the best teams on their respective schedules. So at home in a shootout, have to lean Concorida. Crusaders defend District 1, winning 42-35.

Houston St. Pius X @ Plano Prestonwood Christian -- With the top 2 teams in each district receiving byes, there are not too many teams to battle it out this week in Division I. The Lions would have hoped for better than a 4th place finish this season, but the loss to Midland Christian and Nolan's forfeits prevented a higher finish. The 3-way tie that would have happened without Nolan would have made a very different bracket. The Lions started the season with a big upset over Coppell, before dropping to 6-4 on the season. Losses to the top 3 district finishers and Garland are not embarrassing defeats by any measure though. The Panthers finished an even 5-5 and did not fare well in their last trip to DFW, falling 31-6 at DC in September. SPX finished with just 1 TD in 3 of its 5 losses. Many points will be needed to best the Lions. I do not think the Prestonwood defense is who you want to see to get right offensively. Lions win 34-12.

Quick Hits: (Season: 88-22)

Fort Worth All Saints over San Antonio Antonian
Fort Worth Nolan over Katy St. John XXIII
Lubbock Christian over Dallas Shelton
Arlington Pantego Christian over Colleyville Covenant Christian
Lubbock Trinity Christian over Dallas Covenant
Arlington Grace Prep over Willow Park Trinity Christian
The Woodlands Legacy Prep over Schertz John Paul II
League City Bay Area Christian over Houston Northland Christian
Waco Reicher over Fort Worth Temple Christian
TAPPS League Championship: Addison Trinity Christian over San Antonio TMI