By Kevin Lonnquist – NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
The offseason work followed by the laborious regular season has led to this. A chance to make a run and wear a ring.
Chasing a Texas high school football state title chase carries the passion, drama and resolve from each six-man team to every Class 6A team. The playoffs begin on Thursday.
In theory, each team has a chance now that it has earned the right to be in the tournament. Realistically, some programs realize the odds are against them. Then there are the blue bloods which are expected to march all the way through at least Thanksgiving. From there, it’s going to be about matchups and catching some breaks.
These next six weeks of excitement, upsets and fantastic finishes culminate the week before Christmas. From Class 1A-6A, the last teams standing will be crowned Dec. 17-20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. For our TAPPS schools, that’s two weeks prior in Waco.
For NTX Varsity Sports purposes, we’re going to pick the games involving our coverage teams on a weekly basis. Hopefully, a couple of teams will take us all the way to championship week. We have 13 in the postseason. Several play Thursday. The rest competes on Friday.
Let’s do this!
Aledo (10-0) vs. Saginaw (7-3); Class 5A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Tim Buchanan Stadium, Aledo (Radio: 92.1 Hank FM): Judging by the way the No. 1 Bearcats rolled through the season and for that matter the last three weeks, it’s going to be about naming the score. Mike DeWitt has done a great job in his first year at Saginaw. But this is different. This will not be close.
Pick: Aledo
Decatur (6-3) vs. RO Castleberry (6-4); Class 4A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Birdville FAAC, North Richland Hills: A second chance for the Eagles to put some frustrations from the 2025 season behind them and start fresh. Castleberry has had a nice season. But new Decatur starting QB Rhys Ragan is starting to come into his own.
Pick: Decatur
Springtown (10-0) vs. Lake Worth (2-8); Class 4A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Godley: Quietly, the team I’m most excited about watching this postseason is No. 7 Pojo. I’m a huge fan of junior QB Kaine Hill. And this defense can hold its own. I just wish the bracket would be a little more favorable. But that’s the way it goes. Take care of the first one first.
Pick: Springtown
Glen Rose (5-5) vs. Mineral Wells (4-6); Class 4A Division II Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Art Briles Stadium, Stephenville: Perhaps the most interesting game in our coverage area. Maybe the Rams would have been a different team had they not lost their starting QB Brogan Sims to an ankle injury. But he’s back. Glen Rose’s QB Judd Connally has steadily become better and better. This could be high scoring. I’m going to lean to the Tigers.
Pick: Glen Rose
Malakoff (7-3) vs. Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (5-5); Class 3A Division I Region II bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Mount Vernon High School: A rematch from the 2024 regional final. Each team took some non-district lumps this season. However, each responded and improved as the season progressed like proud programs do. I think Malakoff all-everything RB Jerrion Hall is the difference.
Pick: Malakoff
Mildred (8-2) vs. Dawson (5-5); Class 2A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Community National Bank & Trust Stadium, Corsicana (Radio: 106.9 FM): Head coach Jeff Callahan’s team is back to take another run. He has a heady leader in QB Luke McKendree. He also features a great running back in Trent Harris. Dawson will give the Eagles a push for a while.
Pick: Mildred
Krum (9-0) vs. Ferris (4-6); Class 4A Division II Region II bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Friday, Pennington Field, Bedford: Not enough people are talking about the Bobcats. I really like this team. It has a great leader in senior QB Elijah Guerrero. He just knows how to run an offense. This should be fairly routine for Krum.
Pick: Krum
Graham (7-3) vs. Godley (5-5); Class 4A Division II Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m. Friday, Tim Buchanan Stadium, Aledo: As goes Steers QB Jace Gill, so goes this team. This could be an upset alert if Graham isn’t focused coming into it. Godley has allowed 31 points per game. That said, I believe the Steers will be fine.
Pick: Graham
Eagle Mountain (7-3) vs. Benbrook (6-4); Class 4A Division II bi-district; 7:00 p.m. Friday, Birdville FAAC, North Richland Hills: Last year, it was a ‘are you kidding’ moment for the first-year varsity program to make the playoffs. But in year two, head coach Jeremy Mullins has his team playing hard and well. This is a rematch of the non-district meeting in September. Eagle Mountain won then, 46-15. The sequel should feature something similar.
Pick: Eagle Mountain
Boyd (5-5) vs. Tuscola Jim Ned (9-1); Class 3A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m., Friday, Art Briles Stadium, Stephenville: The coach of the year for 2025 in our area is Boyd’s Shawn Sparks. For a program down on its luck, Sparks guided this team to its first playoff appearance since 2020. It’s also been 10 years since Boyd won a playoff game. However, I just thinking Jim Ned is going to have the better of this.
Pick: Jim Ned
Paradise (9-1) vs. Breckenridge (4-6); Class 3A Division I Region I bi-district; 7:00 p.m. Friday, Ram Stadium, Mineral Wells: Back to make another deep run like it did in 2024 – state semifinals – the No. 2 Panthers are poised to do that. Their defense has been opportunistic. That’s how it has won a couple of games this year. This opener should be routine.
Pick: Paradise
All Saints (10-0) vs. Arlington Grace Prep (6-3); TAPPS Division II opening round; 7:00 p.m. Friday, McNair Stadium, Fort Worth: This program officially begins its run toward a second consecutive TAPPS Division II title. It also has a 24-game winning streak. Former Aledo QB Gavin Beard has been very good. Time for the defense to stiffen up just a bit.
Pick: All Saints
