MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week

The final week of the high school football season brings with it state championship weekends in hotbed states California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Trinity (Euless, Texas) could pick up its first mythical national championship if it beats Pearland in Saturday night's 5A/I title game at Cowboys Stadium. It's the third consecutive playoff game against an undefeated opponent for the Trojans, who for all season have held the No. 1 ranking the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

MaxPreps' Texas football playoff brackets

In California, there are five nationally ranked teams taking part in the state bowl games at the Home Depot Center on Friday and Saturday. No. 8 De La Salle (Concord) takes on No. 10 Servite (Anaheim) in the Open Division; No. 5 Centennial (Corona) battles undefeated but unranked Palo Alto in the Division I final; and the Division II game has No. 18 Serra (Gardena) taking on No. 20 Folsom.

After posting a 9-1 record last week, the MaxPreps Projections has taken over the season-long prediction contest. With only 10 selections left, the computer picks (71.8 winning percentage) hold a one-game lead over Stephen Spiewak, who was in first place from the beginning of the season up until this week. Jamie DeMoney remains 11 games back in third place, followed by Steve Montoya, Kevin Askeland and Mitch Stephens. You can track the season-long standings and all the weekly results here.

Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games of the week along with predictions from MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Steve Montoya, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Jamie DeMoney and projections for the games by the MaxPreps computer rankings:

Pearland (Texas) vs. Trinity (Euless, Texas), Saturday
Don't expect Pearland to be intimidated when it looks across the field to see Trinity on the other side in Saturday night's 5A/I championship game at Cowboys Stadium. The Oilers (15-0) have already vanquished a nationally ranked and seemingly unbeatable foe in Katy (38-35 in the quarterfinals), and followed that up with a dominant 51-21 win against Stevens (San Antonio) last week. Senior running back Dustin Garrison led the way with 269 rushing yards and four touchdowns and the Oilers totaled more than 500 total offensive yards as a team. This is the first trip to a state championship game for Pearland.

Video of Pearland vs. Clear Lake
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Trinity has survived close games against undefeated opponents in back-to-back weeks. Now, the Trojans (15-0) must win their third straight game against an unbeaten foe in order to repeat as Class 5A/I champion and likely finish the year where they started in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 – with the No. 1 ranking. Trinity totaled nearly 400 rushing yards in last week's 28-24 semifinals victory over Stony Point. Oklahoma-bound quarterback-slash-receiver Brandon Carter accounted for 120 yards on the ground with two touchdowns. The Trojans are shooting for their fourth state title in six years.

Video of Dustin Garrison

Mitch Stephens: Trinity 42, Pearland 35
Steve Montoya: Pearland 24, Trinity 21
Stephen Spiewak: Trinity 42, Pearland 28
Kevin Askeland: Trinity 41, Pearland 28
Jamie DeMoney: Trinity 38, Pearland 17
MaxPreps Projection: Trinity 42, Pearland 28

Week one video of Trinity vs. Shiloh Christian
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