Friday Night Concho Valley Playoff Preview, Who Will Advance?

SAN ANGELO, TX — The first round of the Texas state football playoffs started off with a bang Thursday night.  In the Concho Valley, the now 10-1 Christoval Cougars made it past Cross Plains in an evenly matched contest in Ballinger while Mason soundly defeated Thrall 41-20.  The Miles Bulldogs fought hard but saw their seven win season come to a close against #2 ranked Albany.

Friday's slate will host everyone else.  San Angelo Central (6-4) travels to Arlington to face #10 Martin (9-1) in Maverick Stadium, click here for a preview, as Lake View, Wall, Ballinger, and Sonora all travel outside of the area.  Eldorado has the shortest trip and will play in San Angelo Stadium (the explosive Eagle offense might be even scarier on turf).

Here's a quick rundown of each team's matchup and how they line up against their opponent.

4A Division I

Lake View 3-7 at Clint 6-3 (Friday at 7:00, Fort Stockton’s Panther Stadium)

It feels like just the other day Lake View was 3-0 for the first time since 1983, and they were set on putting their lackluster football history in the rearview mirror.  But that ended real quick. Fort Stockton gave the Chiefs’ their first loss by a score of 60-21 in San Angelo. They have lost six more since then, and now have to play in Fort Stockton’s stadium against the 1-4A district champion Clint Lions.  Clint is 6-3 this season, and the three losses were against 10-0 #5 Lubbock Estacado, 8-2 Pampa, and 8-2 Austin. Lake View, who gave 2-8 Big Spring their second win of the season last week, will need a herculean effort to put the losing streak behind them, something they have not proven they can do.  Of note, these teams have played one common opponent, 5-4 Fabens. Lake View beat the Wildcats in week two 27-7. Clint beat them in week ten 28-7. 

3A Division I

#1 Wall 10-0 vs. Boyd 6-4 (Friday at 7:00, Cisco’s Chesley Field)

The only thing that could derail the Wall train in the first couple rounds is injuries.  QB Mason Fuchs and RB Chase Rios, two crucial pieces in the championship puzzle, were both injured in the Eastland game and have not played since.  They will be out this week and possibly for the foreseeable future. In addition to them, running back Kye Herbert, who sees the most touches behind Rios, is another question mark for this game.  These injuries put a lot of pressure on the defense in more ways than one. The past two weeks, HC Houston Guy has pulled from his defense to fill the gaps. Linebackers Drew Morrison and Bryson Ballard have done a great job keeping them afloat along with reliable options Grady McCrea and Cinch Dickey.  

Boyd (6-4) comes into this game having lost three of their last four and snuck into the playoffs with a 3-3 district record.  Wall should be able to handle them despite not being at full strength.

3A Division II

Ballinger 8-2 at Childress 4-6 (Friday at 7:00, Graham’s Newton Field)

The Bearcats enter the postseason with only two losses, a seven point loss at 7-3 Anson and a 17 point loss to 9-1 #6 Cisco that was closer than the three-possession deficit implies.  Those two games were back to back in the middle of the season, and Ballinger has won five straight since then. Childress, on the other hand, lost every non-district game they played but rallied and won four out of five district games to finish in second place in the 3-3A DII District, only behind 10-0 #1 Canadian.  In their four wins, the Bobcats outscored their opponents by at least 20 points each time and averaged 44 points per game. The teams they have beaten have a combined record of 18-22 (only 8-2 Muenster had a winning record), while the teams they have lost to are a combined 47-13 (only 2-8 Perryton had more than two losses).

Sonora 4-6 at East Bernard 10-0 (Friday at 7:30, New Braunfels’ Unicorn Stadium)

Brady squeezed out a narrow one-point victory over the Broncos last week to finish above them in the district.  That loss could have devastating ramifications for Sonora. Now, instead of playing 5-5 Tidehaven or 7-3 Ganado, Johnson City and Brady’s opponents, they will have to travel to New Braunfels to face undefeated #2 East Bernard.  The Brahmas have outscored their opponents 417-80 and their defense has four shutouts. Sonora will be in for a battle. QB Aldo DeLuna will have to throw the ball, something Kevin Sherrill’s team rarely does, and do it well. Running back Wilson Johnson will be able to run as effectively as we are accustomed too, but he won’t be able to pull off the huge upset himself.  They will need someone, possibly Oscar Gutierrez, to have a big game and help Sonora become more than a one-dimensional offense.

2A Division II

Eldorado 9-1 vs Haskell 3-7 (Friday at 7:00, San Angelo Stadium)

The 8-2A DII district champion Eagles should have no problem in this rematch.  In their week six contest, Eldorado struggled through most of the game, but scored 21 points in the final 14 minutes to pull away.  The win avenged last year’s 26-22 playoff loss that ended Eldorado’s season. Since that game, the Indians have gone 1-3 with intra-district losses to #6 Hamlin, #2 Albany, and Cross Plains.  Eldorado has been on an absolute tear of late and has all the momentum they could need to carry them to the second round. Kevan Covarrubiaz needs to clean up the mistakes from the Christoval game if they want to go farther than that.  He threw two passes that were just lofted in the air for anyone to grab and were intercepted. He may be able to get away with it this week, but not after that.