Details: Week 9 of Texas High School Football is Here and Playoff Spots Hang in the Balance

SAN ANGELO – It’s Week 9 of the 2022 Texas High School Football season and we have some games that could feature the respective district champions.

The Central Bobcats are squaring off against the Midland Legacy Rebels in what could be a high scoring affair. The “Kids from the North Side” need a win tonight to stay in the playoff conversation. We’ll see if Frenship is really as good as their 2-0 district record reflects when they face the Permian Panthers and two teams that were six-man last year that moved up a classification matchup.

SAN ANGELO CENTRAL (5-2, 2-0) vs MIDLAND LEGACY (3-4, 1-1)

The Bobcats are having a great season and will face a tough district test in the Rebels. Midland Legacy isn’t having the same success that they had last season, but they have playmakers across the board.

It seems like every week, Bobcat quarterback Tyler Hill, goes off and has himself a game. Hill is a threat every time he has the ball either on the ground or through the air. He has gone 103-160 for 1,240 yards, 13 touchdowns, and two interceptions. On the ground, Hill has rushed for 970 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Bobcat backs, Tyree Brawley, Aiden Barron, and Jayvion Robinson have 840 yards and 10 touchdowns combined.

Hill has playmakers at receiver as well starting with his go-to guy, Jacob English, who has 17 receptions for 288 yards and five touchdowns. Keevon Rice has 16 catches for 166 yards and four scores. Ben Imler, Tyler Walker, and Jacob Gallegos have gone for 179, 204, and 127 respectively and Imler has three touchdowns.

The defense is led by Darius Floyd who has 105 tackles, eight for loss, four sacks, two caused fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Andrew Gonzales, Evan Arnold and James Burney have two sacks each and together they have one interception, three fumble recoveries, and three caused fumbles. The Bobcats have seven interceptions and 15 sacks as a team. Luke Gould is responsible for three of those picks.

The Legacy team was caught off guard in their first district game and lost to the Frenship Tigers 49-34 which is much closer that the actual game. In the first half the Rebels were down 42-7 and tried to comeback in the second half. The Tiger offense went up early and often on the Rebels. Last week was very much a dog fight between Legacy and Permian that the Rebels won 33-25.

Legacy has a very good quarterback in Marcos Davila who has gone 118-203 for 1,851 yards, 24 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Running back Zeke Luna has rushed for 590 yards and five scores. Madden Milloy and Tommy Johnson III have rushed for 308 yards. Davila has some very good receivers out wide starting with Deonta Sonnier who has put up 548 yards and 10 touchdowns. Sonnier isn’t the only playmaker as Aiden Serrano has 457 yards and six scores. Brex Stevens, Colin Brazzell, and Skylar Wilburn have 332, 256, and 177 yards respectively and eight touchdowns.

Defensively, Mario Serrano and Esus Robledo both have over 60 tackles and lead the team. Trace Low has four sacks and Emanuel Lide has gotten to the quarterback three times. Legacy has eight interceptions, 14 passes defended, five fumble recoveries, and five caused fumbles.

Frenship may have given the rest of the Little Southwest Conference a blueprint on how to beat the Rebels. Go up early and put Legacy in a hole they can’t climb out of.

COVER1 PICKS:

• James- Legacy
• Matt- Central
• Yantis- Legacy
• Joe- Central
• Chadwick- Central
• Jake- Legacy
• Ernesto- Legacy
• Isaiah- Legacy

LAKE VIEW (3-5, 0-2) vs BIG SPRING (4-3, 0-1)

This game could very well feature the fourth-place team that squeaks into the playoffs so this is as much of a “must win” as the Chiefs have played all season. Last week, Lake View was beaten by the Brownwood Lions 60-13. The score is what it is and the Lions had the game in hand but Lake View did move the ball against a very good team and did score two touchdowns.

Quarterback Bryce Medley has gone 27-77 for 410 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions in four games. The running game saw the two-headed monster that is Ricky Ramirez and Ian Cortez. They play very well together, and Ramirez might be the key to the offense. Medley does have a few wide outs that can play. Davashtian Manley, Derrick Taylor, and Adam Robles have put together 599 yards and five touchdowns in five games.

On the defensive side, Taven White and Eric Paez Jr., along with Elijah Stone and Juan Ortiz, lead in tackles. The Chiefs have had success in taking the ball away this season as they have 10 interceptions, five fumble recoveries, and one caused fumble in seven games. They could see an increase in those numbers if they can get to the quarterback.

The Big Spring Steers were off last week but lost to Brownwood in the first week of district 41-10. Stats are based off of two games as they have not been updated. Quarterback Gavin Padron went 52-80 for 583 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception. Kavien Ford had over 150 yards in those two games.

Big Spring has weapons in Donavyn Hilario, Derick Walleck, Zeyire Franklin, Eli Cobos, and Ford as those five had most of the yardage and all the passing touchdowns.

This could be a very winnable game for the Chiefs. The playoffs aren’t guaranteed like they have been the last couple of seasons as the UIL realignment put five teams in Lake View’s district. Against Brownwood, the Chiefs had a couple of fumbles that put them in a bad spot. They fumbled in the redzone and in the beginning of the game. They did have 275 total yards against the Lions. It will just come down to who wants it more.

COVER1 PICKS:

• James- Big Spring
• Matt- Lake View
• Yantis-Lake View
• Joe- Big Spring
• Chadwick- Big Spring
• Jake- Big Spring
• Ernesto- Big Spring
• Isaiah- Big Spring

FRENSHIP (6-1, 2-0) vs PERMIAN (6-1, 1-1)

Frenship is having a very good season and really put it on Legacy in their district opener. Tiger quarterback Hudson Hutcheson has been on fire and has gone 161-214 for 2,135 yards, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He currently has a completion percentage of 75%. Hutcheson has 356 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns

Landon Hutcheson has rushed for 221 yards and four scores. Through the air, the Hutcheson-to-Hutcheson connection is deadly as Landon has 624 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Tate Beeles has caught 37 passes for 575 yards and eight scores. Leyton Stone is a threat with 638 yards and nine touchdowns. The Tigers can kill you through the air.

Elyas Soliz has 51 tackles followed by Josiah Pauda with 38. The Tiger defense has 16 sacks and Caydin Blakely, and Kobe Ayers have four sacks each. Frenship has five interceptions, four fumble recoveries, and 11 caused fumbles.

Permian will limit the Tiger’s opportunities due to their offense. Mojo has 1,247 total rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. Juzstyce Lara leads the team in rushing yards with 436 and nine touchdowns. Quarterback Rodney Hall Jr. has 269 yards and two scores.

This could be a very good game of high-powered offense against stout defense as the Panthers get after it. Jace Gilliam has 57 tackles, 13 for loss, two sacks, one interception, three fumble recoveries, and one caused fumble. Parker Haynes leads the team in sacks with four of Permian’s 14 total. The Panthers have 11 total interceptions, eight fumble recoveries, and three caused fumbles.

This is going to be a great game to watch. Permian is coming off a loss and Frenship is coming in hot. If they can get up early on Permian, it could be a long night for Panther fans.

COVER1 PICKS:

• James- Permian
• Matt- Frenship
• Yantis- Permian
• Joe- Permian
• Chadwick- Permian
• Jake- Permian
• Ernesto-Permian
• Isaiah- Permian

STERLING CITY (4-3, 2-1) vs WATER VALLEY (2-6, 0-4)

Both the Eagles and the Wildcats were six-man schools last year and had successful seasons. This year, they both moved to 11-man football.

Sterling City had an up and down season never getting on a win streak. They sat out last week due to Midland TLCA forfeiting their season. They have scored 255 points this season and Water Valley has given up 239 points to opponents. They have played with some good teams like the Miles Bulldogs. While they did end up losing that game, Miles had to come back from a halftime deficit.

The Eagles do have some really good players to watch. Jonathan Monreal, Ty Turner, Tristen Himes, and River Kinsey to name a few. They are currently third in district with a record of 2-1. The Eagles beat Iraan in the district opener the lost to McCamey 39-22.

Water Valley is having a rough season. They started out strong against Abilene TLCA with an 80-19 win then dropped two games in a row to Hamlin and Miles. In Week 4, they shut out Compass Academy 34-0 and have lost four district games in a row. The Wildcats do have a first-year head coach in Charles Boles so growing pains are to be expected.

Neither team has stats available in Maxpreps.

COVER1 PICKS:

• James- Sterling City
• Matt- Water Valley
• Yantis- Sterling City
• Joe- Sterling City
• Chadwick-
• Jake- Sterling CIty
• Ernesto- Sterling City
• Isaiah- Sterling City

ELDORADO (3-4, 2-1) vs IRAAN (4-4, 2-2)

Eldorado and Iraan are currently fourth and fifth in district respectively so a possible playoff spot is in the balance in this matchup.

Eldorado had their bye week last week but before that, lost to Wink 49-7. Against the Wildcats, the Eagles went in down only 14 at halftime. Also, starting quarterback Jason Covarrubiaz did not play. While being down a starting quarterback certainly does not help, neither does four turnovers. A loss is a loss but playing with a ranked team like Wink is a positive.

Points have been difficult to come by but the Eagle defense isn’t given up much either. Guys like Sam Griffin and Tony Kmeic clamp down on offenses. Garrett Porter leads the team in tackles with 51 and Porter and Griffin have two sacks each. The Eagle defense takes the ball away as well with seven interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and one caused fumble.

Offensively, Omar Barajas stepped up when Covarrubiaz couldn’t go. On the ground, the Eagles have put up 824 yards in six games. Paul Luna, Barajas, Covarrubiaz, and Aizik Soto account for most of the rushing yards and Luna has three scores. Through the air, Nino Tambunga and Ethan Elias combined have 217 yards and two scores.

Iraan knows they need to win this one and could have the pieces to do it. Freshman Prather Schneemann has gone 33-69 for 300 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and junior Cole Bowman has gone 49-91 for 627 yards, four scores, and three interceptions.

The rushing attack has 680 total yards and five touchdowns. Schneemann, Bowman, Alex Reyes, and JD Solis have 135, 108, 144, and 141 yards respectively. Christopher Quintero is the go-to guy with 321 yards and three scores while Angel Zapata has 216 yards and two touchdowns. The Braves had 915 total receiving yards on the season.

Matthew Willock has 88 tackles, 18 for loss, three sacks, two caused fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Zapata follows that performance with 49 tackles, seven for loss, one sack, two interceptions, one fumble recovered, and one caused. There are playmakers on the Braves defense.

Both teams are young and have weapons across the board.

COVER1 PICKS:

• James- Eldorado
• Matt- Eldorado
• Yantis- Eldorado
• Joe- Eldorado
• Chadwick- Eldorado
• Jake- Eldorado
• Ernesto- Eldorado
• Isaiah- Iraan

OVERALL SEASON PICKS:

• James- 26-14
• Yantis- 23-16
• Joe- 23-17
• Jake- 22-18
• Isaiah- 21-19
• Matt- 20-20
• Chadwick- 20-20
• Ernesto- 20-20

COVER1 picks are brought to you by Thieman Investments. Tune into COVER1 at around 4:00, 8:00, and 10:00 p.m. on Fridays only on San Angelo LIVE!