All games District 19-6A

Friday

Taylor (1-3, 1-0) vs. Seven Lakes (1-1), 6:30 p.m. at Rhodes Stadium

Last year: Taylor 35, Seven Lakes 28

• Taylor and Seven Lakes meet on Friday in a huge game for both teams which have playoff aspirations.
  Taylor earned an important win last week despite being shorthanded, topping Cinco Ranch 11-7 and will be trying to do it again this week. It was a defensive battle in their win. Ethan Jacobson led the Mustangs in rushing yards with 41, adding 35 yards receiving and the teams only touchdown while Oluwatosin Adeyemi had 51 yards receiving. Daniel Bruns threw for 90 yards in the win, throwing one touchdown and one interception. The biggest thing for Taylor was the defense, as they allowed just one touchdown while forcing Cinco into three interceptions and limiting the Cougars to just 115 yards through the air and 40 yards on the ground.
  Seven Lakes comes off a bye week and will have a chance to get very prepared and rested for this game. The Spartans last game was a hard loss to Klein and they will be looking to bounce back after it. Shaan Patel has continued to impress as a sophomore and in the game against Klein completed 12 of 16 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. The Seven Lakes run game struggled in the matchup, with Barrett Hudson rushing for 31 yards and Jake Farris running for 33, while Davis Yates caught six passes for 60 yards and a touchdown to lead the Spartans in the pass game. But the Spartans struggled on defense, allowing over 270 yards on the ground and 180 yards through the air.
  The game will come down to how much Seven Lakes offense can push across against a very strong defense and if Taylor can get any healthier on the offensive end going into the matchup. The Mustangs will look to shut down the run game and make things hard on Patel, while Seven Lakes will be working on improving their defensive performance, especially against the run.

Tompkins (1-2, 0-1) vs. Cinco Ranch 1-2, 0-1), 7:15 p.m. at Legacy Stadium

Last year: Cinco Ranch 42, Tompkins 14

• Tompkins and Cinco will face off on Friday in a matchup where both teams are trying to bounce back and get their first district wins of the season, and both are trying to heal up from early season injuries.
  Tompkins lost to Katy in the teams district opener and will be trying for a bounce back performance. The Falcons struggled to get things going on either side of the ball. Offensively, Caleb Blocker ran for 79 yards on 20 carries and Wyatt Young ran for 64 yards on four carries, and in the pass game, the Falcons managed just 34 yards overall. The Tompkins defense allowed nearly 300 yards through the air in the loss which is also something they will need to improve.
  Cinco was in a very close game last week which they lost by one score to Taylor. The Cougars defense played well in the game, but the offense struggled. Cinco ground attack did not with Marcus Gadlin accounting for 53 yards on the ground. The pass game also wasn’t able to make a big impact, with Cinco gaining 115 yards through the air and in total throwing three interceptions. Gavin Beavers led the way receiving with 56 yards on five catches, while Scott Eckel had 38 yards on seven catches, including a touchdown.
  Defensively, the Cougars only allowed 93 yards through the air and 90 on the ground.
  This will be a game of two teams that will be determined to gewt back on track defensively and lots will be determined by which team is able to establish a strong run game and defense.

Saturday

Morton Ranch (1-2, 1-0) vs. Katy (2-1, 1-0), 6:30 p.m. at Rhodes Stadium

Last year: Katy 41, Morton Ranch 20

• Morton Ranch and Katy will battle it out in the only matchup this week that includes two teams coming off district wins. As Katy looks to continue their hot play and Morton Ranch tries to find an upset.
  Morton Ranch comes into the game after the closest game of the week, narrowly beating Paetow 22-21 and giving themselves an important game to start district play. Ryan Hall was huge for the team in the win, rushing for 151 yards on 29 carries, while quarterback Treylin Dixon threw for 23 yards and ran for 41 yards and a touchdown. Mike Gerald led the way receiving wise with three catches for 19 yards.
  Defensively, Morton Ranch was able to shut down the Paetow run game and do a decent job against the pass to go to 1-0 in district play.
  For Katy, the Tigers come off a huge win against Tompkins in what was easily the Tigers best performance of the season. The pass game was perfection for Katy in the win, with all three of Katy’s quarterbacks who played not throwing an incompletion. Gunner Nelson went 10-10 with 192 yards passing and three touchowns to lead the way, with Oliver Ginn having over 100 yards receiving and Cade McCall and Colton Sanders going over 50 yards receiving. Romel Jordan had 111 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while Tremayne Hill added 42 yards and two touchdowns as well. The Katy defense also held Tompkins to under 200 yards of total offense.
  It’s a matchup that Katy will be heavily favored coming into and for Morton Ranch it will come down to how well they can slow down a Katy offense that looked balanced and strong last week. Katy’s main focus meanwhile will be slowing down a very good Morton Ranch running attack.

Mayde Creek (1-2, 0-1) vs. Paetow, (0-3, 0-1), 7:15 p.m. at Legacy Stadium

Last year: Paetow 42, Mayde Creek 17

• Mayde Creek and Paetow head into Saturday’s game against each other with both looking for some positive signs and an important first district win after coming off losses.
  Mayde Creek struggled mightily against Jordan in the first week of district and will be looking to improve heading into the teams meeting with Paetow. The Rams couldn’t get much going on offense in the game. One bright spot in the offense was Christian Bradford, who ran for 72 yards and a touchdown, Tavious Mitchell added 12 rushing yards while Cole Jensen threw for 118 yards with Trey Williams leading the way receiving with 36 yards. Defensively, the Rams couldn’t stop the pass, allowing nearly 300 yards through the air, but were solid against the run, only allowing 87.
  Paetow meanwhile, came very close to taking its game against Morton Ranch but fell just short. The Panthers were solid throwing the ball, with Brock Nichols completing 12 of 28 passes for 122 yards, and Jabari Bush catching four passes for 71 yards, but struggled running the ball, only managing 57 yards. The Panthers held Morton Ranch well in the passing game, but allowed 192 yards on the ground in the loss.
  This game will be about how each team improves heading into the week. Paetow will need to slow down the ground attack better than it did last week, and will need to run the ball well, while Mayde Creek will need to be able to move the ball through the air and limit Paetow’s success passing as well.