Texas football games to watch: Regional titles at stake this weekend

Video: Xcellent 25 High School Football Rankings
Several teams in the Top 25 are still alive in the Texas playoff guantlet.

Headed into this week's UIL regional championship games, here are a couple of interesting facts:
• Of the 10 state champions in 11-man football last year, seven are still alive this season.
Lake Travis (Austin) 6A-DI; Highland Park (Dallas) 5A-DI; Aledo 5A-DII, Carthage 4A-DI; West Orange-Stark (West Orange) 4A-DII; Gunter 3A-DII; Refugio 2A-DI.
Still rolling in six-man competition is defending Class 1A-DI state champion Borden County (Gail) with a 13-0 record.
• Of the 40 playoff games in 11-man football in this week's round of games, 10 are match-ups of foes from the same district:
6A: Cedar Ridge (Round Rock) vs. Hendrickson (Pflugerville), District 13-6A; Cypress-Fairbanks (Cypress) vs. Langham Creek (Houston), District 17-6A.
5A: Angleton vs. Foster (Richmond), District 27-5A.
4A: Carthage vs. Henderson, District 9-4A-DI; La Vega (Waco) vs. Liberty Hill, District 13-4A-DI.
3A: Grandview vs. Kemp, District 6-3A-DI; Canadian vs. Childress, District 1-3A-DII.
2A: Stratford vs. Panhandle, District 1-2A-DI; Wellington vs. Clarendon, District 2-2A-DII; Timpson vs. Tenaha, District 11-2A-DII.
Three playoffs this week match undefeated teams.
In private school action, this is championship weekend for TAPPS.

Here's a rundown of the top games:
Ryan (Denton) 13-0 vs. Coronado (Lubbock) 13-0, 2 p.m. Saturday, Abilene's Wildcat Stadium; Class 5A-DI Region I
Ryan quarterback Spencer Sanders, an Oklahoma State pledge, has accounted for 58 touchdowns, 47 by the air, and over 4,300 yards of offense. Receiver Gabriel Dougals (Texas Tech pledge) has 82 catches for 1,257 yards and 24 scores. Coronado's passing attack is also lethal with Qua Gray approaching 4,000 passing yards and Blair Conwright already topping 1,300 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. Both teams have scored over 600 points this season and Coronado had 80 in its recent regional semifinal win over Heritage (Colleyville).

McCallum (Austin) 13-0 vs. Calallen (Corpus Christi) 13-0, noon Saturday, San Antonio's Alamodome; Class 5A-DII Region IV
Senior Alex Julian paces McCallum with 2,282 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. Quarterback Max Perez has rushed for 1,204 yards and 24 scores. The attack of last year's state finalist Calallen is also based on a strong ground attack. Alec Brown, a junior, has rushed for 1,811 yards and 22 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Colton Duff has rushed for 1,160 yards and 21 scores.

Albany 13-0 vs. Muenster 13-0, 7 p.m. Friday at Iowa Park's Hawk Stadium; Class 2A-DII Region II
Albany quarterback Brian Hamilton is having an off-the-chart passing season with 49 touchdown passes, only two interceptions and 2,698 yards. Senior receivers Adam Faith and Dax Neece (23 touchdowns) have both gone over 1,000 yards. Muenster quarterback Parker McGrew has had a hand in 51 touchdowns, 35 through the air, and over 3,200 yards of offense. Clay Stevens has rushed for 1,021 yards and leads the defense with six interceptions.

Canadian 13-0 vs. Childress 12-1, 7 p.m. Friday at Amarillo's Dick Bivins Stadium; Class 3A-DII Region I
Canadian, back-to-back 2A state champions in 2015-16, defeated Childress 27-15 in a district meeting on Oct. 13. Canadian junior quarterback Casen Cavalier has thrown for 2,209 yards and 27 touchdowns, but was picked off twice by Childress. Wyatt Bishop is the leading Canadian tackler (14.9 per game). For Childress, junior quarterback Luke Latimer has 28 passing touchdowns and 16 more on the ground while gaining 3,821 total yards. Stephon Harris leads the Childress defense with six interceptions.

Cy-Fair (Cypress) 12-0 vs. Langham Creek (Houston) 11-1, 1 p.m. Saturday at Cypress' FCU Stadium; Class 6A-DII Region III
The teams met in a district encounter won by Cy-Fair 30-21 on Nov. 11. Cy-Fair's defense is allowing just over 11 points per game. Patrick Atkinson, an Air Force Academy pledge, is the tackle leader with 103 and Peyton Lewis is sack leader with 10. Offensively, Trenton Kennedy has rushed for 1,503 yards and 21 scores. For Langham Creek, dual-threat junior quarterback Chris Herron has accounted for 38 touchdowns, 17 through the air, while gaining just shy of 3,000 yards. Senior Chris Mehn is a 1,000-yard rusher.

Wimberley 12-1 vs. Cuero 12-0, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bastrop Memorial Stadium; Class 4A-DII Region IV
Wimberley senior quarterback Jordan Weeks has thrown for 3,675 yards and 47 touchdowns with two 1,000-yard receivers, Gavin Martinez and Cade Stoever. Running back Thomas Carruthers has rushed for 1,415 yards and 19 touchdowns. Keiran Grant leads Cuero in rushing with 1,432 yards and 29 touchdowns. Drew Riemenschneider has thrown for 2,071 yards and 24 touchdowns with Jordan Whittington the top receiver with 1,318 yards and 16 scores. Cuero is 25-1 over the last two seasons.

Highland Park (Dallas) 12-1 vs. Lake Ridge (Mansfield) 12-1, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Arlington's AT&T Stadium; Class 5A-DI Region II
Highland Park, a state champion in 2016, is rolling again behind Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' grandson, John Stehpen Jones (3,502 yards, 48 touchdowns). Cade Saustad is the top target with 1,234 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ryan Coxe leads the defense with 142 tackles. For Lake Ridge, Dewone Jackson and Cartraven Walker share the rushing load. Tavian Wallace leads in tackles with 133 along with three sacks and three fumble recoveries.

St. Pius X (Houston) 10-1 vs. Prestonwood Christian (Plano) 11-2, 7 p.m. Saturday at Waco Midway's Panther Stadium; TAPPS DI state championship game
St. Pius handled previously undefeated Bishop Lynch (Dallas) to reach the title game. Junior quarterback Grant Gunnell, a Texas A&M pledge, has thrown for 4,164 yards and 54 touchdowns. Fellow junior Jalen "Boobie" Curry, a Florida State pledge, has 111 catches for 1,360 yards and 16 touchdowns. Prestonwood, in the title game for the fourth time in five years, is led by Wiley Green's 3,709 passing yards and 47 touchdowns. His top target is Ricky Baker with 66 catches for 1,001 yards. Timothy Taylor leads rushers with 1,211 yards and six scores.

Yoakum 12-1 vs. Goliad 11-1, 6 p.m. Saturday at Austin's Royal Memorial Stadium; Class 3A-DI Region IV
Yoakum, a state finalist last year, has a dependable rusher in Henry Enoch. Jordan Moore, a Texas A&M pledge, leads the team in receiving and interceptions. For Goliad, quarterback Rocky Morris has thrown for 2,155 yards and 23 touchdowns. Logan Bland, a 230-pound running back, has rushed for over 1,500.

Melissa 12-1 vs. Pleasant Grove (Texarkana) 13-0, 7 p.m. Friday at Paris' Wildcat Stadium; Class 4A-DII Region II
A pair of sophomores, dual-threat quarterback Brendon Lewis and running back Ja'Bray Young, have been top offensive threats for Melissa while Thomas Gallardo and Cole McCraw are tackle and interception leaders, respectively, for the defense. For Pleasant Grove, Chauncey Martin rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns in last week's 33-14 victory over Celina, avenging a 23-19 loss to the Bobcats a year earlier. Pleasant Grove's defense allowed only seven first downs and 106 total yards.

Honorable Mention
Mason 13-0 vs. Refugio 12-1, 7:30 p.m. Friday at San Antonio's Alamodome; Class 2A-DI Region IV.
Salado 12-1 vs. West Orange-Stark (Orange), 7 p.m. Friday at Katy's Legacy Stadium; Class 4A-DII Region III.
Wellington 12-1 vs. Clarendon 12-1, 7 p.m. Friday at Childress' Fair Park Stadium; Class 2A-DII Region I.
Lone Star (Frisco) 12-1 vs. Mansfield Legacy 11-2, 2 p.m. Saturday at SMU's Ford Stadium; Class 5A-DII Region II.
Kennedale 12-1 vs. Kaufman 12-1, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Frisco's Ford Center; Class 4A-DI Region II.
Grandview 12-1 vs. Kemp 12-1, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Midlothian ISD Stadium; Class 3A-DI Region II.
Longview 12-1 vs. Lufkin 11-2, 1 p.m. Saturday at Nacogdoches' Homer Bryce Stadium; Class 6A-DII Region II.
Crawford 11-2 vs. Mart 12-1, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Waco ISD Stadium; Class 2A-DI Region II.
Carthage 13-0 vs. Henderson 11-2, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Nacogdoches' Homer Bryce Stadium; Class 4A D-I Region III.
La Vega (Waco) 13-0 vs. Liberty Hill 10-2, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Killeen's Leo Buckley Stadium; Class 4A-DI Region IV.