The Cooldown: Week 10
Cover Photo courtesy of The Houston Chronicle.
The small schools wrapped up their regular season last week as the 5A and 6A squads plunged deeper into district play. It’s becoming easier to see how playoff races will shake out for those schools, and some 6A district races could have massive implications on who goes Division I/II.
Oak Ridge TO's Conroe to Death
On Saturday afternoon, I watched sixth-ranked Oklahoma State turn the ball over four times in an upset loss to Texas. As an alumnus of OSU, it was tough to watch… I can only imagine how Conroe fans feel.
The Tigers – who started the season 3-1 and looked to continue their winning ways in the district opener – turned the ball over eight (!!!) times in a 38-14 loss to Oak Ridge. A big key for the War Eagles was the return of dynamic back Alton McCaskill, who rushed for four touchdowns in the win.
Conroe quarterback Jalen Williams had a rough night, losing two fumbles and throwing two interceptions in the loss. However, Williams still racked up 223 yards and two scores on just seven completions.
If Conroe can clean up the turnovers, the Tigers will be more than competitive in 13-6A. They’ll get high-scoring Grand Oaks next and still have a tough showdown with The Woodlands remaining as well. Oak Ridge travels to The Woodlands next, a matchup that could decide the district title.
Another relevant note from that OSU-Texas game: The MVP of the night was former Oak Ridge War Eagle Joseph Ossai, who led the game in tackles and tackles-for-loss, with 12 and seven respectively. Ossai’s younger brother KC currently plays at Oak Ridge.
Hightower Picks Up First District Win
In a game that saw well over 100 combined points scored, Hightower outlasted Angleton 65-45.
In district 10-5A Division I, every game counts. It’s a nine-team district that features top-10 ranked Manvel and Foster, along with Hightower, Angleton and Katy Paetow. One of those squads will miss the playoffs. It’ll be a sprint to the finish for the five playoff hopefuls, and Paetow and Foster currently hold the upper hand with identical 3-0 district records.
Angleton’s loss to Hightower puts the Wildcats at 0-2 in district while Hightower moved to 1-1. Angleton struggled to pass the ball all night, finishing with just 108 passing yards and one touchdown between two quarterbacks. Kheri Humphrey kept the Wildcats in the game with 143 yards and two scores on the ground.
Angleton put on a defensive and special teams clinic in terms of scoring points. The Wildcats got defensive touchdowns from Sean Blanks and Isharay Jones, but it wasn’t enough.
I couldn’t find any stats for Hightower, but uh… JaKolby Longino is pretty good!
Dawson Flexes in Big Win
Dawson continued its undefeated season with a big time 50-7 win against Strake Jesuit last week, moving to 4-0 in district play. The Eagles will be heavy favorites against Alvin and Alief Elsik before two weeks off to prepare for a showdown with Shadow Creek – potentially for the district title.
The Eagles got it done on the ground once again, led by a pair of seniors. Torrance Burgess carried 10 times for 48 yards and two scores and Jaden Stewart went for 13 carries for 110 yards and two scores. Robert Johnson and Ruel Hampton added rushing touchdowns as well.
Strake continued to struggle, with just 248 total yards of offense and surrendering half-a-hundred on defense. The Crusaders still figure to make the playoffs, as they’ve already picked up a win against Alief Hastings, the team standing in their way. Jesuit’s remaining schedule includes Alief Taylor, Alvin and Alief Elsik, all games it should be favored in. Win those three and Jesuit will lock up the final playoff spot in 23-6A.
Other Notable Games
Here are some of the other final scores that caught my eye from last week. There aren’t as many as usual as there was tons of blowouts last week.
- Tomball Memorial held to lowest output of the season; beats Klein 29-14
- College Park holds high-scoring Grand Oaks to 16 points in 28-16 win
- Bridgeland continued to roll; beats Cy Park 62-20
- Jersey Village doubles up Cy Ridge 40-20
- Katy flexes against Dickinson for 49-7 win
- C.E. King picks up important win in 21-6A playoff race; beats Summer Creek 49-14
- Memorial survives against Stratford for 17-10 win
- Klein Collins gets back on track with 31-17 win against Tomball
- Crosby impresses in 34-7 win over Barbers Hill
- Katy Taylor survives a Halloween shootout with Mayde Creek, 56-42
- John Fontenot and St. Thomas sprints past St. Pius X 49-21
What to Watch for: Week 11
As usual, games denoted by asterisks at the top of this list are Thursday night games, ones denoted by asterisks at the bottom are Saturday games.
- *Cy Woods and Cy Park battle for playoff positioning
- *Katy puts its 12-year-long district win streak on the line against Tompkins… perhaps the game of the night in the state
- *Manvel and Hightower show down in an ever-important 10-5A DI matchup
- Conroe looks to right the ship against high-scoring Grand Oaks
- Oak Ridge and The Woodlands battle in what might be the de-facto district championship game
- Memorial looks to challenge Cy-Fair
- Dobie and Deer Park showdown in 22-6A
- George Ranch and Ridge Point battle for playoff position in 20-6A
- Summer Creek looks to save its season against Atascocita
- Mayde Creek and Morton Ranch face off in a game that is massively important for Mayde Creek’s playoff hopes, and could help decide if Katy goes DI or DII
- 4A kicks off playoff action with key games between Bellville-Sweeny, El Campo-Needville and Bay City-Stafford
- *Klein Cain and Klein Collins battle for playoff position in the competitive 15-6A
- *Foster and Paetow will be must-watch in 5A DI action