Katy, North Shore aren’t only ones to watch
Garry Dunham understands the argument.
The now-retired Kashmere football coach who spent three decades at the school once had a 3-7 team make the playoffs.
It doesn’t sit well with those who believe too many teams make the Texas high school football playoffs or don’t believe in rewarding mediocrity and failure.
Four per district get in. Some districts have only four teams, meaning there is room for an 0-10 team to make the postseason. Some teams are in small leagues, like Kashmere was in 2015, and wade through losing non-district schedules before rebounding in district play to capture a postseason spot.
“When I played, it was only one,” said Dunham, referring to the old days of the playoffs. “You could be 9-1 and get left at home.”
There are 86 teams with sub-.500 records this postseason. Kashmere is one of them at 2-8. It’s beside the point for Dunham and those infatuated with the state’s pastime, which takes place over the next month.
One more game for exposure and one more game just to say you were there for the experience is worth it.
Some teams will experience six more games, and only 12 will be left standing with state championship trophies in December.
Last year ended in thrilling fashion for the Houston area with North Shore’s last second-win over Duncanville. Maybe a rematch is on the horizon. Maybe someone else is the talk of the state by the end of December.
The questions start getting answered Thursday.
The favorites
Katy (10-0) and North Shore (9-1) are on everyone’s tongue, but other teams merit mention.
Cy-Fair, 2017’s Class 6A Division II champion, is 10-0 and again leaning on a formula built for the postseason: run the ball, play defense and run the ball more.
The Bobcats, however, share a playoff bracket with Katy and North Shore, as does 9-1 Atascocita, whose tenacious defense and high-powered offense have bested everyone except Katy this year.
Westfield’s only loss? That would be to North Shore by three points. Westfield is in the 6A Region II Division II bracket, though, where defending state champion Longview resides.
Is it possible Shadow Creek (5A-III Division I) and Manvel (5A-III Division II) out of Alvin ISD make a state title game? Fort Bend Marshall will have its say concerning Manvel and the rest of that bracket.
The dark horses
The 6A-III Division II bracket is a good place to start when seeking playoff surprises. Cypress Creek was 5-5 entering the postseason last year and went all the way to the regional semifinals in the bracket. Humble could do the same this season. The Wildcats finished just outside the area’s 6A top 20 rankings but went 8-2 and are on the opposite side of the bracket from reigning regional champion Beaumont West Brook.
In 6A-II Division I, Klein Oak is dangerous in the top half of the bracket. It was up-and-down in district but has the defense do damage in the postseason. And keep an eye on Spring in the bottom half of the bracket.
In 5A-III Division I, Hightower has four losses but is as battle-tested as any team in the state.
Best first-round matchups
Spring has an excellent chance of knocking off The Woodlands in the first round. Area 5A No. 4 New Caney and Foster, and No. 7 Porter and No. 10 Hightower collide in 5A Division 1 Region III. No. 3 Fort Bend Marshall is reuniting with Port Neches-Groves. Fort Bend Marshall beat Port Neches-Groves 53-14 in the regional semifinals last year.
Otherwise, it’s easiest to simply circle the entire first-round field in 6A-III Division I, which features 12 of the area’s top 17 teams.
The toughest playoff bracket ever?
Consider this: Dickinson willingly filled a non-district schedule opening last offseason with a road trip to state power Allen.
The idea behind it was experiencing and putting something on film that could pay dividends down the road in the 6A Division
I bracket, specifically in Region III.
MaxPreps ranked the 6A Division I bracket, which includes the entire state, as the toughest in the country last fall (there was a nod to 6A Division II at No. 6 on the list and 5A Division I at No. 9). Getting through Region III in 6A Division I is treacherous on its own.
Either Travis (10-0) or Tompkins (9-1) will be dealt a bitter first-round loss after the teams’ meeting Thursday. Dobie is having its best season in 15 years and is gifted with a first-round date against defending state champion North Shore.
Atascocita and Dickinson could be a second-round game in what would be a matchup of two 10-win teams. Katy and Cy-Fair is a possible second-round game, too, and it would be a matchup of two 11-0 teams. Maybe its state heavyweight Lake Travis waiting on the Region III winner in the state semifinal or behemoths Duncanville and Allen awaiting the winner of that contest in the title game. It’s just a different level of difficulty in this bracket.
Players to watch
RB Mitch Hall, Magnolia: The 5-9, 185-pound workhorse is one of the top 20 rushers in the state with 1,750 yards on 214 carries. The junior surpassed 200 rushing yards four times, with a season-high 314 and four touchdowns in the Mustangs’ season-opening win against Barbers Hill.
WR Cody Jackson, Foster: The 6-1, 175-pound junior led 5A receivers with 1,105 yards and 17 touchdowns on 50 receptions. Jackson, an Oklahoma pledge, supplied 205 yards and three TDs on eight receptions in a win over Magnolia West and four TDs with 157 yards on seven catches in a 52-14 win against College Station.
RB L.J. Johnson, CyFair: The highly rated 5-10, 204-pound tailback put together a perfect junior campaign, leading the Bobcats to their third 10-0 regular season in the last nine years while also leading all 6A rushers in the Houston area with 1,598 yards and 31 rushing TDs. And he did that with the fewest carries among the top seven rushers, averaging 9.9 yards per carry.
QB Brice Matthews, Atascocita: The 5-11, 176pound senior is at the controls of Atascocita coach Craig Stumps’ pass-heavy attack. Matthews tied Conroe QB Christian Pack with 30 TDs to lead area 6A passers, while throwing fewer interceptions than Pack and amassing 2,683 yards on 152-of-241 passing. He also rushed for six TDs while leading the Eagles to an undefeated district title.
CB Cameron Oliver, Travis: Think the Tigers are all offense? Think again. That’s not how they went 10-0 for the first time in school history. Cameron, a 6-0, 148-pound junior, leads a ballhawking defense that made the Tigers a complete team, supplying seven interceptions. He recorded three picks in a win over Fort Bend Austin.
Small school snapshot
East Bernard boasts 29 playoff wins in the last 12 years. That includes a trip to the state semifinals last year and the 3A Division II championship in 2012. But at no time during that span did the Brahmas carry a perfect 10-0 record into the postseason, as they do this year.
Huffman Hargrave is the area’s other undefeated small school. The Falcons aren’t state-ranked and face a 4A Division I road that’s fraught with danger, but after going 10-0 in the regular season for the first time, they’re not likely to go down without a fight.
Columbia will look to make noise in the 4A-IV Division I field — where Needville and El Campo also lurk — after making the playoffs for the first time in three years.
Private school snapshot
The Southwest Preparatory Conference playoffs wrapped up with Episcopal hoisting the 4A title last week. Which teams stand last in TAPPS remains to be seen. St. Thomas might be the area’s best chance in the usually vaunted Division I. The Eagles weathered the storm that was St. Pius X’s reign but now have Plano Prestonwood or Dallas Parish to deal with in the postseason.
Second Baptist and The Woodlands Christian might be the city’s best chances at more TAPPS glory regardless of division. Second Baptist is 10-0 in Division II, and The Woodlands Christian is 10-0 in Division III. One TAPPS crown already resides on this side of the state: The Village School won Division V with a 38-28 win over Austin St. Dominic Savio.