GAMES TO WATCH
HIGHTOWER VS. FOSTER 7 p.m. today, Traylor Stadium
District 10-5A Division 1 is one of the toughest districts in the state, but the playoff picture is easy to understand. Shadow Creek, Friendswood, Foster (6-3, 4-2) and Hightower (5-4, 4-2) already clinched their spots, leaving Angleton – which reached as high as No. 5 in the area 5A poll in Week 5 – as the odd team out. Shadow Creek, the area’s No. 1 5A team, will try to clinch the district title outright this week, but it’s already the No. 1 playoff seed, and fifth-ranked Friendswood is the No. 2 seed. The only thing left to sort out is who are the three and four seeds, and that’s what this game will determine, with the winner being the third seed and the loser No. 4. Hightower still was area-ranked last week, before the Hurricanes’ back-to-back losses to Friendswood (21-2) and Shadow Creek (53-9) knocked them out. No. 9 Foster is coming off a 47-0 win over Texas City that followed a tightly contested 24-17 loss to Shadow Creek. The Falcons edged Hightower 21-20 last season, when their game was scoreless at halftime. The Hurricanes scored the final touchdown in the fourth quarter but missed the extra point.
FURR VS. WHEATLEY
7 p.m. today, Barnett Stadium
How badly do these teams want to avoid facing area small-school No. 3 Huffman Hargrave in the first round of the playoffs? We’ll find out. Navasota, which completed the regular season last week, already has secured the No. 1 playoff seed, and Stafford is the second seed, leaving the winner of Furr-Wheatley as the No. 3 seed – and the loser as likely first-round fodder for the Falcons, who are enjoying one of their best seasons. Furr and Wheatley both are 5-4 overall and 3-2 in 12-4A Division 1. Furr has won three of its last four games after enduring a three-game losing streak earlier this season, including a 13-7 win over Yates in Week 10. Wheatley has lost two of three, including last week’s 42-7 setback against Navasota, but the Wildcats knocked off Yates 23-13 in between those losses. Furr rolled over Wheatley 41-27 last season, snapping a fivegame losing streak against the Wildcats that dated to 2009. Wheatley won 4020 in 2015.
MAYDE CREEK VS. MORTON RANCH 6:30 p.m. Friday, Legacy Stadium
Mayde Creek (7-2, 3-2) may have slipped out of the area 6A top 20 with last week’s loss to No. 1 Katy, but this season will go down as one of the best in school history, regardless of what happens in Week 11 and beyond. The Rams have seven wins for the first time since 1997, when they won 10 games, finished second in district and recorded their last playoff win. In fact, they hadn’t posted a winning record since 2007, when they finished 6-5. Still, the Rams would like to keep the good times going, and a win here certainly would help. Assuming Katy handles Katy Taylor, Mayde Creek-Morton Ranch will determine the final two playoff participants from 19-6A. In that scenario, a Mayde Creek win puts Creek and Taylor in the postseason, and a Morton Ranch win by four or more points sends Creek and Ranch to the playoffs. The outcome also will determine seeding for the Division 2 bracket. Katy and Tompkins are locked into the Division 1 playoffs.
CYPRESS RANCH VS. TOMBALL MEMORIAL 7 p.m. Friday, Tomball ISD Stadium
This is one of the premier matchups in Week 11, and an excellent primer for the postseason. Area 6A No. 15 Cy Ranch (7-2, 6-1) is on a five-game winning streak, and No. 14 Tomball Memorial (8-1, 6-1) has won six consecutive game since suffering its only loss, 31-28 against Cy Woods. The teams are in a threeway tie for first with Cy Woods (6-3, 6-1), which finishes against Bryan (2-7, 1-6). Cy Ranch and Cy Woods are locked into the Division 1 bracket – and Tomball Memorial and Bridgeland are the Division 2 representatives – but their seeding remains undecided. If Cy Ranch edges Tomball Memorial, it will be the No. 1 seed, and if Ranch loses and Woods takes care of business against Bryan, Woods will take the top seed, putting Ranch onto the two-seed path. District 14-6A teams open the playoffs against Austin area-based 13-6A.
PORTER VS. NEW CANEY 7 p.m. Friday, Texan Drive Stadium
This game always is big in the New Caney area, but as the season progressed, it steadily became clearer that this Week 11 pairing would match two of the Houston area’s top 5As in a winner-takes-all district showdown worthy. New Caney (9-0, 6-0), No. 4 in the area 5A poll, is looking to complete its first undefeated regular season in school history – a history that dates to 1955. No. 7 Porter (8-1, 6-0), which hasn’t loss since a seasonopening 15-0 setback against C.E. King, can post its ninth win for the first time in its much shorter history, which dates to 2010. The winner also secures the top playoff seed and an undefeated 9-5A Division 1 championship, which would be the first title for Porter or fourth consecutive for New Caney. New Caney beat Porter last season 34-28 in two overtimes, sending it to 8-0 all-time against its rival.