The final week of high school football season kicked off in earnest Thursday night with 10 of the 11 Denton-area teams in action due to the threat of inclement weather on Friday.
Lake Dallas clinched a playoff berth with a key win over Denton, Ryan grabbed a third-place finish in its district by routing Justin Northwest, and Sanger secured a playoff spot by beating Bridgeport. The only game left is Krum’s Friday night showdown with Gainesville that will decide Sanger’s playoff seeding.
Braswell 39, McKinney Boyd 32
Braswell was able to end its seven-game losing streak and take home a district win before the end of its season in a matchup against McKinney Boyd.
Quarterback Nicholas Johnson had a strong offensive showing, putting up 386 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Brailyn Strickland amassed 246 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and wide receiver Ja’Ryan Wallace had 173 receiving yards and two scores.
A pair of field goals and a rushing touchdown had McKinney Boyd (2-8, 2-5) up 13 points at the end of the first quarter. The Bengals (3-7, 1-6) rallied back with a 5-yard touchdown run from Strickland to put points on the board.
A field goal and an 80-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Wallace gave Braswell a 17-13 lead. Another Strickland running touchdown and catch from Wallace gave the Bengals a sizable lead of 31-19, but a quick pair of McKinney Boyd touchdowns put them back on top by one point.
McKinney Boyd picked off a pass from Johnson for the chance to increase its lead but had a fumbled run to turn the ball over to Braswell. Each team punted, and Braswell was left with the final minutes to make a play.
With 23 seconds left on the clock, Strickland ran in a touchdown to end the Bengals’ season with a win.
Guyer 31, Prosper Rock Hill 3
Guyer was able to finish out its regular season undefeated with a win over Rock Hill before heading to the playoffs.
Quarterback Jackson Arnold had 154 passing yards and three total touchdowns. Receivers Josiah Martin and Sutton Lee each put up a touchdown.
A Rock Hill (6-4, 4-3) field goal to start the scoring would be its only score for the night. Arnold found Martin for a 40-yard touchdown pass for Guyer’s (10-0, 7-0) first points.
Arnold ran 43 yards for another touchdown and found Lee for an 8-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-3.
A 59-yard punt return touchdown from defensive back Eli Bowen sealed the deal for Guyer as it tacked on a field goal to finish out the night.
Guyer holds the top spot in its district and is ranked No. 6 in the state for Class 6A. It will take on Flower Mound Marcus (6-4, 5-2) in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Argyle 50, Carrollton Creekview 24
Argyle ended its regular season perfect after taking home its 10th win in a matchup against Carrollton Creekview.
Quarterback John Gailey threw for 94 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter before turning the game over to Alex Moeller, who put up 65 yards and a touchdown.
Argyle (10-0, 6-0) scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter with rushing touchdowns from RJ Bunnell and Landon Farris followed by a touchdown pass from Gailey to wide receiver Wayne Pritts.
Creekview (0-10, 0-6) trailed by 16 points before Moeller found wide receiver Maguire Gasperson for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Linebacker Bud Petter had a 30-yard interception return touchdown to further increase the Argyle lead.
Moeller hit tight end Max Bland for a final touchdown pass on the night.
Argyle is ranked No. 1 in all of Class 5A Division II and will take on Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt (7-3, 4-3) in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Aubrey 59, Farmersville 0
The Chaparrals utterly dominated Farmersville en route to finishing their district slate unbeaten.
Aubrey (8-2, 6-0) entered the contest with the district championship already secured, but still came out with plenty of motivation for the relatively unimpactful contest. The yardage statistics told the tale of the Chaps’ dominance as they outgained the Farmers 507 to 18 and ran for 412 yards.
Running back Emerson Cagle led the way with nine carries for 186 yards and three touchdowns while LaBraylon Bell added nine carries for 103 yards and a score. Kai Bagley chipped in five carries for 62 yards and a touchdown, and Everson Strain ran three times for 36 yards and a score of his own.
Scoring 21 points in the first quarter helped Aubrey build a 28-0 halftime lead before three more third-quarter touchdowns put it out of reach. The Chaps found the end zone once more in the fourth quarter along with hitting a field goal to set the final margin.
Aubrey will face Dallas Lincoln (3-7, 2-3) in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Brock 48, Pilot Point 0
The Bearcats struggled to muster much either way against the No. 7-ranked 3A-DI team in the state. They trailed 28-0 at halftime and could not rally to pull off a win in their regular-season finale.
Pilot Point (3-7, 2-4) can still make the playoffs, though, if Peaster (2-7, 1-4) beats Boyd (5-4, 2-3) on Friday night. That result would pit the Bearcats against Tuscola Jim Ned (7-3, 5-0) in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Whitesboro 69, Ponder 29
Although the Lions were already eliminated from the playoff race, they had a chance to end their season with a win Thursday night.
Instead, Ponder’s (3-7, 0-6) losing streak extended to seven games as it could not keep up with Whitesboro (8-1, 5-1).
A potent offense helped the Lions get out to a promising 3-0 start in coach Kyle Cooper’s second year at the helm. Defensive struggles ultimately doomed Ponder’s playoff chances, though, as it allowed 55.3 points per game this fall.
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