Week 9 Concho Valley HS Football Preview

SAN ANGELO, TX — District competition continues for most of our teams, and Lake View gets started with a matchup against Seminole.  Two 7-0 teams, #2 Wall and #7 Eastland, highlight this week's slate of games and will be an exciting battle for the district championship.  Central will look to get back on track against Bell and will need to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

Continue reading for a full rundown of all things Concho Valley football and what each game could look like.

Here are links for up to date District Standings or all of last week's scores.

SA Central 4-4 vs. LD Bell 3-4 (Friday at 7:00, San Angelo Stadium)

Central once again dropped to .500 with a heart breaking 30-27 loss in Richland Friday night.  The Bobcat defense could not stop the Rebels' potent, tag team receiving corps of C.J. Nelson and C.J. Baskerville, who combined for 277 yards.  They also could not overcome three interceptions by QB Malachi Brown.  The last of which came with only 27 seconds to play when Central was inside the Richland 30.  Despite the loss, Central is still in the playoff mix and are tied for third place in their district.  They will need to win their last two games to cement their place. 

The good news is their next two opponents, Bell and Haltom, are a combined 6-8.  Bell had the week off after securing its first district win October 11 at home against Richland.  In that game, three Bell running backs ran for over 80 yards.  Sage Thomas, Xavier Hall, and Landry Choate accounted for 295 of the Raiders' 365 total yards.  Central will have to be ready to stop this attack.  Bell's flex bone offense could pose problems if Central is not prepared.  Although a loss will not mathematically eliminate the Bobcats from playoff contention, it will make things much more difficult.

Lake View 3-4 at Seminole 5-2 (Friday at 7:00, Wigwam Stadium)

All four members of the 2-4A DI district had a bye in week 8 in order to give them a quick rest before intra-district games start.  The break came at the perfect time for the Chiefs after losing four straight since their 3-0 start.  Seminole is 5-2 with their only two losses coming against undefeated #4 Greenwood and 3-4 Levelland.  Against Levelland, the Indians allowed quarterback Bryant White to complete 18 of his 25 pass attempts for 296 yards and three touchdowns.  Lake View's Albert Rodriguez and company will have to be firing on all cylinders to duplicate that success.  Offensively, Seminole utilizes the run more so than the pass.  They tend to spread out the carries between 5-7 players, so defenses cannot key in on just one.  They average about one passing yard for every three rushing. 

Wall 7-0 vs. Eastland 7-0 (Friday at 7:30, Hawk Stadium)

Wall earned a hard fought victory in Tuscola Friday night against previously unbeaten, district rival Jim Ned.  Wall's defense has kept them in a handful of their games, and Friday was no exception.  Jim Ned scored only once and was shut down for a vast majority of the game.  Against Eastland this week, Wall will need its offense to play well in order to stick around with the high powered Maverick attack.  Eastland has averaged 52 points per game and has not scored fewer than 25 on the season.  Top ranked quarterback and Texas Tech commit Behren Morton has the arm to make any throw on the field and athleticism to pick up big gains on the ground.  Against Breckenridge last week, Morton threw for 333 yards and seven touchdowns on 24 attempts.  He also added a rushing score.  As a team, they tallied 690 yards and 76 points on the hapless Breckenridge Buckaroos. 

Ballinger 5-2 at Merkel 1-6 (Friday at 7:30, Badger Stadium)

The Bearcats should have no trouble improving to 3-2 in the district with a matchup against one-win Merkel.  The Bearcats routed Grape Creek 33-6 on Friday.  Senior running back Cooper Bean led the team with 82 yards rushing.  Junior QB Tyler Vaughn saw his role expand and completed 6 of 12 attempts for 102 yards.  He also added 58 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.  Merkel, on the other hand, lost in Bangs 47-6 to the now 4-3 Dragons.  Bangs was able to put 308 rushing yards on the Badgers.  Ballinger sits at 2-2 in the district and is tied for third place with Bangs and Coleman. 

Grape Creek 1-6 at Cisco 6-1 (Friday at 7:30, Chesley Field)

Things could get ugly early in Cisco.  The Loboes are rolling right now and have not lost since their week 2 defeat at Wall.  Last week, they went into Lake View Stadium and demolished TLCA 75-0.  QB Gibson Hearne completed 73% of his 11 attempts for 243 yards and five scores.  He ran for 84 yards and a touchdown, as well.  TLCA's only win of the season came against Grape Creek, so the fact that they were outplayed by Cisco by so much is a terrible sign for the Eagles.  Cisco and Anson are tied for first place in the district at 4-0.  Grape Creek has sole possession of last place sitting at 0-4.

TLCA 1-6 vs. Anson 5-2 (Friday at 7:30, Lake View Stadium)

As previously mentioned, TLCA was beaten badly at home by Cisco.  The Eagle's offense could not get anything going and finished the game with only 114 total yards (25 passing/89 rushing).  Anson, meanwhile, improved to 4-0 in the district with its 40-12 defeat of Coleman.  Against the Bluecats, Anson QB Drew Hagler threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns in addition to 134 yards and two scores on the ground.  The Tigers lost its first two games of the season, but have not lost since.  Their losses came against #7 Hamlin and 6-1 Jim Ned. 

Sonora 3-4 at Comfort 5-2 (Friday at 7:30, Comfort Stadium)

The Broncos earned their first win since September 6 in a 30-0 shutout of Ingram Moore Friday night.  RB Wilson Johnson averaged 9.7 yards per carry and received some help from fellow senior Aldo DeLuna.  DeLuna finished the night with 7 carries for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Comfort will be a steep challenge for Sonora this week.  Friday, the Bobcats defeated fellow 13-3A DII district member Blanco 24-21 and are tied for first place with Brady.  Comfort allowed 239 rushing yards from Blanco and Sonora will have to have similar, if not better, numbers to compete.  The Broncos could potentially jump up to a tie for first place with a win and a Brady loss. 

Mason 5-2 at Center Point 4-3 (Friday at 7:30, Pirate Stadium)

Mason did not need their leading rusher Klay Klaerner against Junction last week to get the win.  The Punchers racked up 405 yards of total offense in his absence, and running back Jase Eckert earned 118 of them along with two touchdowns.  Center Point comes into this one following a 44-18 loss to Brackett, a team Mason only beat by one point after a hail mary.  This game could have serious playoff implications.  Mason would separate themseves further from the rest of the field with a win in this one.  Four of the six district teams could be tied at 2-1 in the district with a Center Point win. 

Christoval 7-0 at Menard 2-5 (Friday at 7:30, Findlay Field)

Christoval sat out week 8 with a bye but are eager to get back on the gridiron and improve their winning streak.  Menard does not look like a serious hindrance to that goal, either.  The Yellowjackets are 2-5 overall, 1-1 in district, and ended a four game losing streak Friday evening against Rocksprings by a score of 27-24.  Christoval's most recent win was a 43-0 handling of that same Rocksprings team.  Brayden Wilcox, Josh Fava, and company will be ready to go and should have no problem getting to 8-0. 

Eldorado 6-1 at Rocksprings 3-5 (Friday at 7:30, Larry Mitchel Stadium)

Eldorado got a lot of people's attention after their 70-0 shallacking of then 6-1 Miles.  The Eagles flipped the script from how they normally operate and ran for 358 of their 423 yards.  Quarterback Kevan Covarrubiaz and running back Santiago Hernandez had 134 and 120 yards, respectively.  Covarrubiaz found the end zone four times on the ground in the first half alone.  Rocksprings has been all over the place as a team this season.  They have wins against Brooks Academy, Sabinal, and Benavides Secondary, but none of their losses were by less than 40 points.  Eldorado will be able to jump out on them early. 

*Miles (6-2) and Water Valley (4-4) are both on a bye this week.