The Cooldown: Week 9

The end of the regular season is near, and week 9 saved the best for almost last.

It was a loaded slate last week that didn’t disappoint. Atascocita-North Shore and Barbers Hill-Galveston Ball each went down the final play to decide a winner. Shadow Creek overcame adversity, beating Pearland after losing quarterback Joseph Stewart for the season. Klein Cain survived against a strong showing from Klein Collins. We’ll recap all that, name a POTW and preview next week.

North Shore survives against Atascocita

This game always figured to be game of the year material. Two top 10 teams in the state who are used to playing each other. North Shore has played for five of the past six 6A-I state championships while Atascocita had compiled arguable the most impressive resume in the state to this point in the season. The game went as you might expect.

Atascocita jumped out to a 24-13 lead in the second quarter before a Kaleb Bailey touchdown cut North Shore’s halftime deficit to 23-20. That score would hold until Bailey found Quanell Farrakhan for the game-winning touchdown with six seconds left in the game to give the Mustangs a 27-23 win.

Bailey was fantastic. He finished an efficient 11-of-15 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown, and he was the Mustangs’ leading rusher with 15 carries for 129 yards and two more scores. D’Andre Hardeman ran 17 times for 82 yards and a touchdown. Deion Deblanc led the receivers with four catches for 42 yards, while Farrakhan had the game-winning touchdown reception.

It’s almost tradition at this point for these teams to meet again in the regional finals. One thing to account for in a potential rematch is Atascocita was largely without star running back Tory Blaylock. If Blaylock is a full-go for a potential rematch, we could be looking at a different result and a new representative from Houston at the 6A-I state championship game. However, if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that North Shore should always be the favorite until proven otherwise. Atascocita will round out its regular season against Channelview and Goose Creek Memorial – teams that have one combined win – while North Shore faces C.E. King before a season finale showdown against No. 7 Summer Creek.

Shadow Creek is on the cusp of a district championship

Shadow Creek has been reshaping the narrative around its season ever since the Sharks suffered an opening night shutout loss to Summer Creek.

The Sharks haven’t lost a game since then, all but wrapped up the district 22-6A championship, and have done it in the face of adversity.

Quarterback Joseph Stewart was lost for the season after a knee injury. Heading into the de-facto district championship game against Pearland, it didn’t seem to matter. The Sharks put up plenty of points in Stewart’s absence en route to a 41-28 win.

Quarterback Dante Mayes guided the Sharks on offense to the tune of 111 passing yards, two touchdowns and an INT while completing an efficient 12 of 15 passes.

Tristan Willis paced the running game with 113 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while George Kirkland and Chris Stewart tallied a touchdown apiece on the ground as well. Stewart was also the leading receiver, with seven catches for 74 yards and two touchdown receptions.

Technically speaking, Pearland can win the district if Shadow Creek loses to South Houston (3-5 this season) and Pasadena Rayburn (0-6), but the odds of that happening are as close to zero as you can get. Shadow Creek and Pearland will finish first and second, while Dawson, Manvel and Dobie will play for the final two playoff spots in the next two weeks.

Barbers Hill takes down Ball in 4OT thriller

I find it fitting that Texas A&M hosted LSU at Kyle Field this weekend, because Texas A&M-LSU in College Station will always invoke the memories of the crazy 74-72 win for the Aggies in seven overtimes from 2018. We nearly had a repeat of that on Friday night when Barbers Hill took down Galveston Ball 62-60 in three overtimes.

Quarterback Brycen Wells had a good night, finishing 13-of-20 for 160 yards, three touchdowns and three INT’s, in addition to 32 yards on the ground. Gabriel Howard was the leading rusher with 96 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, while Jamal Jones and Kaegan Morton also scored rushing touchdowns. Cooper Lucas had a fantastic night at receiver with seven catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns.

Ball stuffed the stat sheet on offense per usual. Kyden Barker finished 22-of-24 passing for 290 yards and three touchdowns. Arentheis Winn paced Ball on the ground with 196 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, while London Deyon caught nine passes for 44 yards and three touchdowns.

Barbers Hill is now 6-3 (3-2) on the season, which made Friday’s win very important. Five teams in district 9-5A-I have two district losses or less, and now Barbers Hill has the most impressive district win. Ball’s loss sets up what could be a district championship game situation for the season finale in two weeks.

Ball will take on Lufkin (7-1, 4-0); Lufkin wins the district outright with a win (which could bump Barbers Hill up to second and Ball down to third) while a Ball win would mean a tie for the district championship. It depends what the tiebreakers are, but it’s simple math if the tiebreaker method is head-to-head result.

Player of the Week

There are two types of districts at this time of year: those where the playoff picture is already clear and those where it’s a mess. District 15-6A usually fits into the latter and this season is no different. Tomball and Klein Cain are at the top of the district, while four teams below those two have three district losses each. That’s four teams fighting for the final two playoff spots, which means each week is a challenge. One of the four in the mix for a playoff spot could get a leg up by beating a district front runner.

I elaborate that way to say, Klein Cain never gets an easy week. That was the case last week in a 45-35 win against Klein Collins in a game that was closer than that score indicates for most of the way. My player-of-the-week played a huge role in powering Cain to 45 points. The Hurricanes needed all of those 45 points to win.

Maxwell Hendrick has had a great season and it was only a matter of time before he deserved to be awarded with a POTW. He finished with 14 catches for 266 yards and four touchdowns. Hendrick is my player-of-the-week!

What to Watch for

Ridge Point (7-1, 5-0) at Hightower (8-0, 5-0) – Thursday

Another de-facto district championship game. Yes, this isn’t mathematically the district championship, but it would take a massive upset for any other outcome to happen. These teams have cruised through district play so far and have been on a collision course for this scenario all season. I think this game could go either way – it should be a good one, and the stakes couldn’t get higher… for the regular season, at least.

The Woodlands (7-1, 5-1) at Conroe (7-1, 5-1) – Friday

These two teams have identical records and identical losses. The Woodlands lost a nail biter to Willis back in September, while Conroe lost big against the Wildkats a few weeks ago. Can the Tigers keep it close? Was the Willis game an aberration for the 7-1 Tigers? How high is the playoff ceiling for these teams? We’re going to find out the answers to those questions (more or less) on Friday night.

Summer Creek (7-1, 4-1) at Kingwood (5-3, 3-2) – Friday

This game might wind up being a blowout, but Kingwood has held its own against top competition really well this season. The Mustangs lost 48-21 against North Shore and took Atascocita down to the wire in a 42-41 loss. With a 21-20 victory against C.E. King last week, the Mustangs will likely be the fourth playoff team in 23-6A. I’m curious to see if the Mustangs mane this close, or if Summer Creek runs away with it.

Pearland Dawson (6-3, 5-2) at Manvel (4-4, 4-2) – Friday

There are three teams fighting for two spots in district 22-6A: Dawson, Dobie and Manvel. Dawson is off the last week of the regular season, while Manvel faces Dobie. Dawson stands at 5-2 currently while Manvel is 4-2 and Dobie is 3-3. Dawson beat Dobie previously, so it has a leg up there. I’m not sure how the playoff scenario here will work out, but I believe the winner of this game is just about guaranteed to make it (especially if it’s Dawson). Beyond that, this game could determine the third and fourth place finishers in this district. I think these teams are pretty equally matched, so it should be one of the better games of week nine.

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