The Cooldown: Week 11
The second season is finally here. Half of the state has hung up the pads until spring practice, while the other half will fight to extend the season one more week, each week for the next six weeks.
Let’s recap week 11, preview some of the best bi-district playoff games and name a player-of-the-week.
North Shore routs Summer Creek
For about a quarter and a half on Friday night, it looked like there was a huge upset brewing. Summer Creek led North Shore 10-0. It was all downhill from there, as North Shore ended the game on a 35-0 run to win another district championship, 35-10.
Kaleb Bailey turned in another efficient performance. He completed nearly 80% of his passes, 11-of-14, for 175 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Bailey also tacked on 83 yards and two more scores on the ground. D’Andre Hardeman was the leading rusher, with 101 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Quanell Farrakhan, often Bailey’s favorite target this season, finished with 69 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
The North Shore defense showed again in this game why the Mustangs are a top five team in the state, matching a powerful unit to their steady offense. North Shore held Summer Creek to just 52 yards and a touchdown on 20 rush attempts, while Bulldog quarterback Blake Thomas finished 14-of-37 passing for 160 yards and an interception. All that against a Summer Creek team that was ranked No. 7 in the state last week and finished No. 11 in the 6A polls with an 8-2 record. Those losses, of course, come against the teams ranked No. 2 and No. 5 in the state.
North Shore will kick off its regional title defense with Deer Park. Summer Creek will look to defend its own regional title in 6A-II against Clear Falls in the bi-district round. North Shore is the favorite to make it to back to Arlington from the right side of the bracket, while Summer Creek is on the shortlist of favorites to do the same.
Bridgeland captures a district title with a thrilling win over Cy Woods
Maybe the best game of week 11 came from district 16-6A. This de-facto district championship game pitted Cy Woods, in the midst of its best season in school history, against Bridgeland, who was looking to repeat as district champions.
Bridgeland scored a go-ahead touchdown to take a 28-24 lead with 1:20 left in the game before the Bears defense stopped Cy Woods to clinch the district championship. Quarterback Jett Lewis came up big for Bridgeland, finishing 10-of-16 passing for 129 yards and two touchdowns. He was also the Bears leading rusher, with 44 yards on eight carries. Kash Schwab was the leading receiver with 88 yards, and he caught the game-winning touchdown.
This game was a quarterback duel through the air and on the ground. Darien Rogers finished 10-of-24 passing for 178 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and he added 61 yards and another score on the ground. Bryant Thomas was the leading rusher for the Wildcats, with 14 carries for 77 yards and a score. Kyler Singletary was the leading receiver with four catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
District 16-6A has been incredibly fun all season, finishing with four teams with a 7-3 record or better. They match up with the always unpredictable 15-6A for the bi-district round. Bridgeland gets a game against Klein Oak in what might be one of the most interesting bi-district matchups in the area. Cy Woods gets probably the most favorable draw of all playoff teams from 16-6A with a matchup against Klein Collins.
Katy Jordan races past Paetow
In my week 11 preview, I mentioned this game as one to watch – a game between the top two non-Katy teams in 19-6A. Jordan made sure this game did not live up to the hype.
The Warriors took down Paetow 50-19, and the game was not that close. Jordan employed one of the most well-rounded “by committee” approaches I’ve seen. Quarterbacks Beau Bryant and Dominic Cangolosi threw eight passes each; Bryant had 75 yards and a touchdown and Cangolosi had 38 yards and a touchdown. Zion Jones and Tanner West each tallied 11 rushes; 104 yards and a touchdown for Jones and 95 yards and two scores for West.
Andrew Marsh was unrivaled in the receiving room with five catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns. This game had massive implications. The winner, Jordan, will face Foster in round one. Paetow’s prize for the loss is a first round date with state-ranked No. 9 Fulshear. Jordan has the juice to make a run at the regional finals and maybe even state. Step one – avoid a first round match with Fulshear – is complete.
Player of the Week
My player-of-the-week did it all in a big rivalry win. Stratford took down Memorial 42-21 to finish 7-3 (5-2) in the regular season. It’s the fourth-straight season the Spartans have reached at least seven wins, and that can bump up to four straight seasons of at least eight wins if they beat Westside, a game in which Stratford will be heavily favored, in the first round.
Aaron Deleon put up a dual-threat masterpiece for his final regular season game. He finished 10-of-15 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown, and added 15 carries for 93 yards and four more scores on the ground. Stratford senior quarterback Aaron Deleon is my player-of-the-week!
What to Watch for
Manvel (5-5, 5-3) vs. Hightower (9-1, 6-1) – Thursday
These two teams have each moved up from 5A to 6A within the past few seasons. Hightower made the jump up for the 2022 season, while this is Manvel’s maiden season in class 6A. Hightower will have the edge here, but Manvel had a solid season and is plenty tested. An upset would be huge momentum for the Mavs at the end of this first season in 6A, while this game could be a good test/tune-up for Hightower as the Hurricanes look to make a deep playoff run.
Kingwood (6-4, 4-3) at Clear Springs (8-2, 6-1) – Friday
Don’t let Kingwood’s 6-4 record fool you – the Mustangs have three losses (all in district play) to teams ranked in the top 11 of the entire state in class 6A – as discussed earlier. That includes a one-point loss to an Atascocita team that some experts have picked to make it to the state championship game. Clear Springs tallied losses to Ridge Point and Deer Park in the regular season, but beat Dickinson. I think this game is pretty evenly matched and could be the best playoff game in the state between teams who finished first and fourth in their respective districts.
Klein Oak (6-4, 5-3) vs. Bridgeland (9-1, 7-0) – Friday
Bridgeland’s reward for winning nine games and a district championship is a first round date with a Klein Oak team loaded with talent at the skill positions. Courtland Guillory is one of the most standout defenders in the area, while running back Micah Rhodes has burst on the scene as a freshman. Klein Oak has had a confusing season, with a win against Klein Cain and a close loss at Tomball – two of the better teams in the area – but also blowout losses to Klein and Magnolia who each missed the playoffs. Which Klein Oak team shows up on Saturday could determine the game – though Bridgeland is really good and has the juice to win this game even if the best version of Oak shows up.
Atascocita (9-1, 6-1) vs. Dickinson (7-3, 6-1) – Friday
Atascocita’s season has been well documented on this blog. What do the Eagles get for going 9-1 with the only loss coming against No. 2 North Shore? A trip to Dickinson to open the playoffs. It’s a cold world. Dickinson is a good team but not a great team. If things break right, the Gators could definitely find themselves with a chance to win – for example, Kingwood nearly beat Atascocita. However, these two do have two common opponents this season. Dickinson lost to Katy, 41-37 and lost to C.E. King, 28-14 – while Atascocita beat those two teams 41-24 and 54-7, respectively. I think the C.E. King game was a little bit of an aberration for Dickinson, but those scores (and the eye test) indicate Atascocita should be a heavy favorite here. Still, I think this will be an intriguing game to keep an eye on, especially given that Atascocita has state championship aspirations.