The final week of the regular season is upon us. There are a few spots in the playoffs up for grabs, and few high seeds to be decided. Favorites have emerged, but we'll see plenty of competitive matchups when we enter the 2nd season. Good luck and safe travels on your road to the playoffs.
This Week: (Season: 51-17)
Dallas Christian @ Tyler All Saints -- The Chargers continue to dominate district play. DC last dropped a district contest in 2019 and last lost to someone other than the departed Trinity Christian - Cedar Hill in 2014. This season the margin is 220-20 a 50 point average margin of victory. The Trojans went 2-2 against the same 4 district opponents, taking a 43 point defeat last week against Shelton. At 5-4 this has been a step forward season for All Saints, equaling their win total from the previous 4 seasons combined. All Saints has scored a few on the season averaging nearly 24 points per game and the DC defense has been a little suspect at times this year. Trojans get on the board, but drop this one by a decent margin. Chargers win 48-12.
Dallas Shelton @ Dallas Covenant -- The Chargers travel across Dallas County to settle who finishes 2nd in District 2. Critically, the 2nd place finisher hosts District 3-4th while the 3rd place finisher has a neutral site game with District 1-3rd. Significant reward for winning this one. The Shelton offense has the potential to carry the day, averaging over 42 points per game. The Knights strong performance at home against Dallas Christian points to their ability to limit that attack. Covenant is allowing just 13.1 points per game and that's despite allowing 62 to First Baptist. If Shelton gets to 30 I think its a clear win for the Chargers. However, only one team has done that against Covenant in 2024. So the Knights win a defensive one, 25-20.
Austin Regents @ Austin Hyde Park -- The District title in Division II District 2 comes down to this. The Knights we certainly expected to be in this position, having last lost a district game in 2015. The Panthers are more of a surprise. The 1-point loss to Brook Hill appears to have been the outlier with Hyde Park piling up 20 points wins since then. Notably the Panthers defense hasn't provided the stiffest resistance this season, allowing over 20 points per game. Now they've out scored their problems so far. The Knights enter this one having had their idle week just last week and should be fresh for the challenge posed by a visit to the Quarries. Regents looks to be too strong in this one, but road games against familiar opponents are always a tricky task. Knights win 44-28.
Colleyville Covenant Christian @ Arlington Pantego Christian -- The Panthers can force a chaotic 3-way tie with a win this week. It would be a tie for 2nd where the winner of the tie would get a home game while last in the tiebreak would get 4th and have to play a 1st round game on the road. Pantego started 6-0 before dropping a close one to Lake Country Christian and then being shutout by Lubbock Christian. The Cougars pose a big problem though having played Lubbock Christian to a 7-point game just 2 weeks ago. Styles make fights though and the Pantego defense should be competitive. So at home, hard to see the Panthers getting blown out. The Cougars have also improved each week, recovering from a 60-point blowout to FWC in Week 1. Covenant should be the better squad here, but no easy road games. Cougars secures the 2nd seed, 33-27.
The Woodlands Christian @ Sugar Land Fort Bend Christian -- The Eagles surprised this pundit with their road win over Second Baptist. After a 1-4 non-district slate FBCA has rolled off 4 district wins and needs just one more to claim the district title. The 3-way tie possibilities are interesting if the Warriors can pull a similar surprise to the one the Eagles pulled last week. The Warriors are averaging over 42 points per game and we'll not be easily ousted in the postseason. The Eagles defense has clamped down as the season went on. This is a tough call for me. I would have favored the Warriors going into last week, but the Second Baptist win changes things a ton. So when in doubt pick the home team. Eagles win with defense, 22-16.
SPC 4A Championship: Bellaire Episcopal vs. Houston Kinkaid @ Houston's TDECU Stadium -- The Knights and Falcons split the last two SPC 4A titles. With Episcopal claiming the 2023 crown and having won 3 of the last 4 over Kinkaid this pointed toward their year again. The Falcons lost their season opener to UIL power Gunter by just 9 before winning 9 in a row. Notably winning the head-to-head showdown with the Knights by 2 and securing the title rematch by eliminating St. John's last week. They have yet to allow more than 26 points on the season. The Knights have been more suspect defensively but also held Kinkaid to just 16 points in their first meeting. It all adds up to a great rubber match to decide the crown. Falcons offense just not productive enough to get another one off the Knights. Episcopal wins a thriller, 33-28.
SPC 3A Championship: Fort Worth Trinity Valley vs. Houston Christian @ Bedford's Pennington Field -- The Trojans took a bit of a scenic path to the title game at just 5-4 on the season. The loss to Greenhill just 3 weeks ago nearly cost them their spot, but ultimately the conference opener, way back on September 20th gave TVS the tie-breaker over Country Day and a spot in the championship game. The Mustangs swept the conference slate around 3 non-conference losses. Houston Christian won the first meeting but just 20-10. The Mustang defense never allowed 20 points in a conference game while Trinity Valley did so in 4 of the 6 conference counters. The margins are small but the Mustangs appear to be the better squad. Will the be on the day? That's a tougher question. Houston Christian wins with just enough offense. Mustangs 28 Trojans 21.
Quick Hits: (Season: 81-19)
Tyler T.K. Gorman over McKinney Christian
Fort Worth Christian over Grapevine Faith Christian
Midland Christian over Lubbock Trinity Christian
San Antonio Christian over Victoria St. Joseph
Houston Lutheran South over Houston Cypress Christian
Argyle Liberty Christian over Frisco Legacy Christian
San Antonio Antonian over San Antonio Central Catholic
Tomball Concordia Lutheran over Austin St. Michael's
New Braunfels Christian over Schertz John Paul II
Bryan Brazos Christian over Tomball Rosehill Christian
No comments:
Post a Comment