Full 5A area playoff pairings listed below, along with notes from our staff on key games in their respective regions. Look for full previews of select games throughout the week.
Printable Bracket (via THSCA.com)
CLASS 5A DIVISION I
Region I
El Paso Chapin (10-1) vs. Canyon Randall (10-1) Saturday 4:00pm Grande Communications Stadium, Midland
Saginaw Boswell (10-1) vs. Burleson Centennial (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Dragon Stadium, Southlake
El Paso Del Valle (9-2) vs. Abilene Cooper (6-5) Friday 4:00pm Grande Communications Stadium, Midland
Denton (9-2) vs. Aledo (10-1) TBD
Region II
Wylie (7-4) vs. Rockwall-Heath (8-3) Saturday 9:00pm AT&T Stadium, Arlington
The Heath Hawks made a late push to get into the playoffs and didn’t slow down last week against Carrollton Creekview. Dual-Threat QB Canaan Smith has led the Hawks all season, something that probably won’t change on Saturday night. -Nick Harris
Mansfield Summit (10-1) vs. Longview (9-2) Friday 7:30pm Eagle Stadium, DeSoto
Wylie East (10-1) vs. Mesquite Poteet (8-3) Saturday 10:30am AT&T Stadium, Arlington
Mansfield Lake Ridge (11-0) vs. Tyler John Tyler (8-3) Saturday 2:00pm City Bank Stadium, Forney
This will be a battle of epic proportions with Lake Ridge QB Jett Duffey, a Texas Tech commit, and junior John Tyler QB Bryson Smith clashing in Forney. John Tyler is on an 8-game winning streak while Lake Ridge hasn’t taken an L all season. Oh my, there will be so many points… -Nick Harris
Region III
Temple (10-1) vs. Houston Stratford (10-1) Friday 7:30pm Green Stadium, Bryan
The Wildcats look better and better each week. Temple faces a stern test to determine how deep it advances in the playoffs. – John Hillman
Houston King (9-2) vs. Richmond Foster (9-2) Friday 7:00pm TDECU Stadium, Houston
Bryan (8-3) vs. Magnolia West (8-3) Friday 7:00pm Waller ISD Stadium, Waller
Magnolia West limped into the postseason, but found their fire in last week’s win against Madison with nearly 300 yards rushing. Look for the Mustangs to continue their plan of attack against Bryan for some redemption. – John Diaz
Nederland (8-3) vs. Richmond George Ranch (11-0) Friday 7:00pm Berry Center, Cypress
Region IV
Austin Vandegrift (9-2) vs. San Marcos (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Rattler Stadium, San Marcos
Vandegrift has one of the better QB/RB combos in the area with Alex Fernandes and Travis Brannan. One of Fernandes’ weapons, Paxton Segina, was injured against Georgetown, so the Vipers have had to adjust, and that has meant utilizing Brannan in the passing game as well. There’s no doubt San Marcos will have to disrupt this duo to move on. The San Marcos defense seemingly gets better every week, and they’ve faced big run teams before, most notably Lockhart. If QB Ahrens and RB Garner are able to find success, we could be in for a high-scoring affair. If the defense is able to come up with stops like they did against Harlandale, don’t be surprised if this goes beyond four quarters. – Michael De Leon
Victoria East (7-4) vs. Edinburg Vela (11-0) TBD
Victoria East handed Uvalde a big loss last week, but Vela is no Uvalde. While East lost some key games early in the season, Vela has been putting up big offensive numbers all season en route to an undefeated season. – Michael De Leon
Cedar Park Vista Ridge (9-2) vs. Lockhart (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Bobcat Stadium, San Marcos
Lockhart looks to running backs DJ Ellison and Stephon Houston to carry their offense. The offense makes it no secret that they are going to run on most plays, but being able to use both players and the creative plays drawn up for them are hard to stop. Vista ridge has their own RB in Isaiah Vilaire who has rushed for over 1300 yards this season, and their QB Snow was on fire last week. – Michael De Leon
Victoria West (10-1) vs. Mission Veterans Memorial (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Buccaneer Stadium, Corpus Christi
CLASS 5A DIVISION II
Region I
El Paso Burges (7-4) vs. Canyon (9-2) Friday 7:00pm Wigwam Stadium, Seminole
Wichita Falls Rider (7-4) vs. Everman (7-4) Friday 7:00pm Ranger Stadium, Fort Worth
El Paso Eastlake (10-1) vs. Lubbock Cooper (9-2) Friday 8:00pm Socorro ISD Student Activity Center, El Paso
Lake Dallas (9-2) vs. Burleson (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Pennington Field, Bedford
Region II
Frisco Lone Star (10-1) vs. Forney (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Clark Field, Plano
South Oak Cliff (8-3) vs. Marshall (10-1) Saturday 3:00pm Eagle Stadium, DeSoto
Lovejoy (8-3) vs. Terrell (10-1) Saturday TBD Eagle Stadium, Allen
Lovejoy is practically playing a home game on Saturday as Eagle Stadium is within walking distance from Lovejoy High School. The “home-field” advantage will give Lovejoy a much needed boost against a Terrell team that is playing relentlessly out of district 12-5A. -Nick Harris
Lancaster (8-3) vs. Hallsville (7-4) Saturday 1:30pm TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler
Region III
College Station A&M Consolidated (8-3) vs. Magnolia (10-1) Thursday 7:00pm Waller ISD Stadium, Waller
Crosby (11-0) vs. Fort Bend Ridge Point (8-3) Saturday 5:30pm NRG Stadium, Houston
College Station (9-2) vs. Houston North Forest (10-1) Friday 7:00pm George Stadium, Spring
Port Neches-Groves (9-2) vs. Angleton (6-5) Friday 7:30pm Eagle Stadium, Mont Belvieu
Region IV
Cedar Park (11-0) vs. Kerrville Tivy (11-0) Friday 7:30pm Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex, Georgetown
Cedar Park is arguably the best team in 5A. Their defense gave up just 18 yards in the first half last week, but they’re facing a high flying Kerrville offense that’s averaging over 65 points in their last three games. Can Cedar Park end Tivy’s season again? – John Diaz
Somerset (10-1) vs. Edcouch-Elsa (7-4) Friday 7:30pm Shirley Field, Laredo
Aside from an early season loss to Calhoun, Somerset breezed through their regular season. But the Bulldogs aren’t without their flaws. They had a scare against Gregory-Portland last week, who played for most of the game without their starting QB, and Edcouch-Elsa will be looking to that game in hopes of pulling off the upset and ending Somerset’s 10 game win streak. – Michael De Leon
Georgetown (8-3) vs. Boerne Champion (8-3) Friday 7:30pm Alamo Stadium, San Antonio
Friday’s matchup will be all about who can contain the opposing teams’ quarterback the best. Josh Green had over 330 yards of total offense for Champion last week, while Chandler Herman put up 228 yards and four touchdowns for Georgetown. Alamo Stadium’s scoreboard should be in for a workout. – John Diaz
Corpus Christi Calallen (9-2) vs. Mission Sharyland (7-4) Friday 7:30pm Javelina Stadium, Kingsville
