The Cooldown: Week 14
With just three weeks left in the 2019 season, things are starting to get interesting as each matchup gets tougher. Last week was a perfect example of that, as several good teams – including some teams who were considered possibilities to make it to Arlington – were eliminated. We’ll highlight the top three games from last weekend below and talk about the road ahead as well.
1. North Shore Gets Revenge
Without star wide receiver Shadrach Banks once again, North Shore was able to find it’s rhythm en route to a 56-35 drubbing of Katy, fourteen weeks after a relatively low scoring 24-21 loss to the Tigers.
The win is due in large part to quarterback Dematrious Davis. The Virginia Tech commit finished with 134 yards and three touchdowns on eight completions, but added 283 yards and three more scores on the ground. On a team with the No. 9 overall player in the entire class of 2020, Davis has looked like the most unstoppable player for the Mustangs. While Zach Evans is an impressive player in his own right, North Shore may only go as far as Davis can take them.
Davis’ 417 yards combined with another 115 from Evans proved to be too much for Katy. The star for the Tigers in their previous win against North Shore was running back Ron Hoff, who fought through injuries the past several weeks. His injuries limited him to just 27 yards on 10 carries.
North Shore advances to take on an Atascocita squad who’s only loss on the season was in blowout fashion at Katy. Atascocita will be another big test for North Shore, who may have become the favorites to win state once again.
2. Shadow Creek Survives Foster
Another regular season rematch we were looking forward to didn’t disappoint. These teams have met four times, with each game being decided by single digits as Shadow Creek rallied to beat Foster 36-31 to advance.
After a 24-17 regular season win, the Sharks fell down 24-7 at half. The deficit was the largest the Sharks had faced since losing the state championship game lasts season. The response? A 23-point third quarter to take control heading to the fourth.
The adversity wasn’t done yet, however. Foster had the ball on the Shadow Creek one-yard line with a 31-30 lead. A score would increase the lead to eight with two minutes left, but the Shark defense stood tall. Then, quarterback Kyron Drones led the team on a 99-yard scoring drive to seal the game. Drones finished with 316 yards through the air and another 118 on the ground with four total touchdowns.
Shadow Creek moves on to face Manor (who finished fourth in its district) for the Region III championship. Should they win, the Sharks will likely face San Antonio Wagner for the right to play for a state championship. Shadow Creek will be the favorite to be the state representative from the right side of the bracket, before a tough state championship game against one of Lancaster, Frisco Lone Star or Denton Ryan.
3. Manvel Races Past Barbers Hill
Manvel and Barbers Hill combined for nearly 1,000 yards of offense as the Mavs took down the Eagles 55-35 to advance to a big round four matchup.
The story of the playoffs for Manvel has been running back Donovan Eaglin. The speedy back finished with 288 yards on 19 carries, scoring five times. Eaglin is up to 723 yards and 12 touchdowns through three (just three!!) playoff games.
The Mavs will need another stellar performance from Eaglin as they face one of the premier backs in the Houston area next week in Texas A&M commit Devon Achane. Fort Bend Marshall beat Huntsville 28-14 to advance, setting up yet another great regular season rematch.
Manvel won round one with a 38-34 win back on September 20. Round two will be for the right to move to the state semi-finals as each looks to avenge state championship losses. Marshall fell to Aledo in a blowout in 2018 while Manvel lost a 53-49 thriller to Highland Park in 2017. The winner of this game will likely meet Aledo in the 5A Division II state game.