Playoffs in 4A and below are a week old, and we're nearing the end of the 6A, 5A and private school regular seasons. Because of this pandemic-caused overlap in schedules, there's a lot to unpack from this past week, but here are five of the most keen observations.
Argyle is Winning State
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Put it in the books. Place your bets. Go ahead and hand them the trophy, Argyle is clearly the best team in 4A Division I. In Region II, Argyle has already taken down Waco La Vega and Melissa this season - opponents it would theoretically have to face to get to state - and with three combined district champions being knocked out in Regions III and IV, the path to a state title is looking very good for Argyle.
CJ Rogers is poised. Tito Byce is unstoppable from the backfield and the weapons on the outside just completely dominate the defenders. That doesn't even account for the defense, which has just shut down opponents this year and did so again against a very overmatched North Dallas team in the Bi-District round.
Sunnyvale's Twofer & COVID thoughts
I'm no Texas high school football historian by any means, but I think Sunnyvale becomes the first team in history to advance two rounds in one weekend. Granted one of those advancements was earned while the other is due to COVID, but still quite an unique moment for the program. Mexia had to cancel the rest of its season due to a COVID case with one of its players, which allows Sunnyvale to move to the Area Quarterfinals after beating Ferris.
As cases swell in the nation and in Texas, we're getting into dicey territory in the year. What happens when two teams have to cancel? Does that matchup become delayed or does the winner of the other game that the winner of the canceled teams move on automatically? What happens if three teams from the same region have to cancel. While the impact of COVID has been felt here and there, the playoffs could become a logistical nightmare.
TAPPS Playoffs Will Be Fun
Parish Episcopal won a very entertaining state title rematch with Plano John Paul II a couple weeks ago. This past week, Fort Worth Nolan took down Parish in a 1-vs-2 matchup, scoring 31 unanswered points. Nolan Catholic remains undefeated, but hasn't had a dominating win over other top teams. Parish has also played in some close games. JPII is an unknown variable as well as All Saints.
TAPPS could be in for a fun playoff ride when it gets going.
The Usual Suspects
53-0. That's what Allen is at home since opening Eagle Stadium. In a de facto 5-6A district title game, Allen rolled right over Denton Guyer to stay perfect and continue its regular season winning streak. Allen has had an abbreviated schedule because of COVID and hadn't looked like the Allen of old this year. Well it did Friday night against a state-ranked team, which should serve notice of what to expect come playoff time.
Duncanville had a showdown as well with a Top 10 team and came out unscathed. It was tied at 14, but Duncanville was able to put the clamps down defensively and pull out the 28-14 win at home in what was the 11-6A championship game.
Expect both of the teams to get deep into the playoffs once again with the possibility of having another showdown - probably at AT&T Stadium - a few rounds into the playoffs.