CLASS 6A, DIVISION I AREA
WESLACO HIGH VS. LAREDO UNITED
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Cabaniss Stadium, Corpus Christi
RECORDS: Weslaco High (9-2); Lareod United (9-2)
GAME NOTES: These two teams met in the area round last year, with United beating Weslaco 40-28. … During last week’s bi-district round action, the Panthers beat Los Fresnos 49-28 and the Longhorns defeated La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 63-13. … Both teams employ contrasting offensive styles. Weslaco High will look to run the ball once more behind a coral of running backs led in rushing yards by Brian Guerra (1,090) and rushing touchdowns by Jonathan Martinez (14). … United obtains the bulk of its yardage through the air. Senior quarterback Ignazio Tellez has completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,402 yards and 42 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. … The Longhorns have the ability to run the ball, as well. Alexis Villanueva leads United in rushing yards with 1,062 and nine touchdowns. … Weslaco coach Tony Villarreal says the speed of his defense, led in part by safety Diego Rodriguez and linebacker Jordan Nichols, will play a major role in determining the outcome of the game.
run the ball, as well. Alexis Villanueva leads United in rushing yards with 1,062 and nine touchdowns. … Villarreal says the speed of his defense, led in part by safety Diego Rodriguez and linebacker Jordan Nichols, will play a major role in determining the outcome of the game.
PREDICTION: Laredo United, 40-28
—Jon R. LaFollette
CLASS 6A, DISIVION I AREA
McALLEN MEMORIAL AT HARLINGEN HIGH
WHERE: Boggus Stadium, Harlingen
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Friday
RECORDS: McAllen Memorial (11-0); Harlingen High (9-2)
GAME NOTES: Memorial rallied to beat Laredo United South 27-24, while Harlingen looked dominant in their 60-7 win over Edinburg Economedes. …Trevor Speights ran for 262 yards and three touchdowns last week, but the Mustangs did very little elsewhere. McAllen Memorial had 289 yards of offense and no passing yards, but took care of the football. … Harlingen looked better than they had all season. The Cards scored 36 points in the first quarter as Jesse Castro, Leo Tienda and Michael Allen Gonzalez had a hand in six touchdowns in under three quarters. … Memorial held United South to just three second half points and have allowed an average of 300 yards to opponents this season. … Harlingen held Economedes to 52 yards of offense and has allowed just one touchdown in their last three games, but it was allowed by the reserves in the fourth quarter last week. … McAllen Memorial has the best player in the Valley with Trevor Speights in the backfield, but the Harlingen defense has what it takes to make the Mustang offense one dimensional.
PREDICTION: Harlingen High, 28-24
—Mark Molina
CLASS 6A, DIVISION II AREA
SAN BENITO VS. LAREDO ALEXANDER
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Wildcat Stadium, Corpus Christi
RECORDS: San Benito (9-2); Laredo Alexander (5-6)
GAME NOTES: San Benito defeated PSJA North in bi-district play 35-7, while Alexander defeated McAllen High 49-21. … San Benito’s win last week was their first playoff win under Dan Gomez and their first since 2011. … Alexander has a 5-6 record, but five of their six losses were to playoff teams. Four (San Angelo Central, Sharyland, Laredo United and Del Rio) are still playing. …San Benito’s JR Gaitan and Edward Alvarez led the way as the Greyhounds racked up over 500 yards of offense against PSJA North. The pair rushed for more than 280 yards and scored three touchdowns behind solid play from the offensive line. The Greyhound defense also played well, holding PSJA North’s offense to just seven points, which matched their season low. … . Alexander, meanwhile, put up 494 yards of offense against McAllen and was led by running back Fernando Alexander (69 yards, TD) and Jonathan LaCroix (69 yards, 2TD). The Bulldogs’ defense also held McAllen to 237 yards of total offense. … Both teams have strong offenses, but look for San Benito to pull out a close one.
PREDICTION: San Benito 35-31
—Mark Molina
CLASS 6A, DIVISION II AREA
WESLACO EAST VS. DEL RIO
WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Alamo Stadium, San Antonio
RECORDS: Weslaco East (8-2); Del Rio (9-3)
GAME NOTES: Weslaco East enters the area round having won seven of their last eight games, including a 21-20 bi-district win over Brownsville Veterans Memorial. … Del Rio have won five in a row, including a 58-30 victory against La Joya Palmview to open the playoffs. … Wildcats running back Emilio Tamez led District 31-6A with 1,250 rushing yards. Tamez scored all three of East’s touchdowns against Brownsville Vets. … Ciro Rojas has flourished at multiple positions throughout the season, including safety, where he made the game-winning defensive stand a week ago. Rojas has scored as a receiver, rusher and kick returner. … East’s defense is led in tackles by Adrian Duran with 113. Senior linebacker Miguel Santos has the fourth highest tackle count (63) despite playing in just eight games due to injury. East coach Mike Burget refers to Santos as the leader of the East defense. … Though the Wildcats will look to run the ball and control the clock, don’t overlook sophomore quarterback Richard LeFevre (628 yards and eight touchdowns), who has played well in limited snaps under center.
PREDICTION: Del Rio, 35-28
—Jon R. LaFollette
CLASS 5A, DIVISION I AREA
MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL VS. VICTORIA WEST
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Buccaneer Stadium, Corpus Christi
RECORDS: Mission Veterans (8-3); Victoria West (10-1)
GAME NOTES: Mission Veterans returns to the area round once again. The Patriots are taking on a Victoria West team that was the co-champions in District 30-5A. … In six games under center, freshman Landry Gilpin has thrown for 1,332 yards and 11 touchdowns to six interceptions for Mission Vets. Overall, he’s rushed for 869 yards and 11 touchdowns. … Hugo Cabrera and Kevin Liebano have been the catalyst for the Patriots’ defense. In the regular season, Cabrera recorded 121 tackles (15 for a loss) and Liebno had 110 tackles. … Victoria West has won five straight games. … The Warriors have generated an average of 330.2 of its 413 yards per game on the ground. … Victoria West has allowed a mere 22 points combined in the past three games, including a 56-10 bi-district win over Laredo Nixon. … Gamarquis Girdy, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior, has thrown for 799 yards (50.6 percent accuracy) and 11 touchdowns to one interception, while rushing for 1,417 yards and 25 touchdowns for Victoria West.
PREDICTION: Victoria West, 42-21
—Mario Aguirre
CLASS 5A, DIVISION I AREA
EDINBURG VELA VS. VICTORIA EAST
WHEN: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Buccaneer Stadium, Corpus Christi
RECORDS: Edinburg Vela (11-0); Victoria East (7-2)
GAME NOTES: The SaberCats haven’t lost a game since this time last season, when Victoria West won their area-round battle 61-45. … Vela is coming off a 48-21 win over Brownsville Porter to open their second straight postseason trip after winning District 31-5A title. … Victoria East finished third in District 30-5A. … On paper, both teams are relatively even offensively. The Titans are averaging 447.9 yards and 44.1 points per game to Vela’s 402.3 yards and 47.4 points. … QB Fabian Pedraza (1,617 yards, 21 TDs) and Robert Guerra (1,321 yards, 20 TDs) led a balanced Vela offense to its first 10-0 season. … Victoria East relies much more on the run. It posts 279.3 yards on the ground and 198.5 in the air. … The Titans are led by Bailey Zappe, who has thrown for 3,308 yards and 38 TDs to six interceptions. Desmond Molina (705 yards, 4 TDs) and Brandon Tumlinson (605 yards, 5 TDs) lead their rushing attack.
PREDICTION: Edinburg Vela, 42-24
—Mario Aguirre
CLASS 5A, DIVISION II AREA
EDCOUCH-ELSA VS. SOMERSET
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Shirley Field, Laredo
RECORDS: Edcouch-Elsa (7-4); Somerset (10-1)
GAME NOTES: Edcouch-Elsa came alive at the perfect time, snapping a three-game losing skid with a demonstrative 50-32 win over Roma in the bi-district playoffs last week. … The Yellowjackets’ offense regained its rhythm that was lost in the four previous games. E-E totaled 368 yards against a defense that was ranked No. 2 overall among Class 6A and 5A teams in the Valley. … The return of senior running back Tey Valdez ignited things. Valdez had missed the previous four games with a high ankle sprain, and, not coincidentally, E-E’s offense slumped. But Valdez returned to the field last week and caught six passes for 102 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 24 yards and two more TDs. … It gets better for E-E: starting quarterback Marco Aguinaga is expected to play Friday after missing the previous eight games with a finger injury. … Senior Andrew Segura, who threw for two TDs and rushed for another last week, will still start, however. Aguinaga will see a lot of time at receiver. … Like Roma. Somerset is a team that runs the ball. The Bulldogs have rushed for 3,419 yards and thrown for 1,052. …Joshua Avila is Somerset’s workhorse. He has rushed for 2,209 yards and 21 touchdowns and averages 10.7 yards per carry. … The Bulldogs average 31 points per game and surrender 17.6.
PREDICTION: Edcouch-Elsa, 28-21
—Dennis Silva II
CLASS 5A, DIVISION II AREA
CALALLEN VS. SHARYLAND HIGH
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Javelina Stadium, Kingsville
RECORDS: Calallen (9-2); Sharyland High (7-4) GAME NOTES: This is rematch of last year’s second-round battle, in which Sharyland won 28-0. It marked the first time a Valley school had beaten Calellen in the postseason. … Contrary to the Rattlers, Calallen has a fair amount of returners who played in that 2014 game, led by quarterback Gaige Lamb. Now a junior, Lamb has thrown for 997 yards and 15 touchdowns, while rushing for 711 yards and 12 scores. … Sharyland is set to face a Wildcats team that tied for the District 30-5A title with Victoria West. … Like Calallen, the Rattlers also run a spread offense. Seth Carter and Manny Campos have worked well as interchangeable parts at quarterback, running back and receiver. … Carter has thrown for 1,241 yards and 11 TDs, and Campos has 1,092 yards and 9 TDs. … Though Sharyland’s defense was balanced this season, it will expect a persistent rushing attack from Calallen, which averages 240 of its 357 offensive yards on the ground.
PREDICTION: Calallen, 35-20
—Mario Aguirre
CLASS 4A, DIVISION I AREA
LA FERIA VS. CHINA SPRING
WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Rutledge Stadium, Converse
RECORDS: La Feria (8-2); China Spring (10-1)
GAME NOTES: The Lions defeated Beeville Jones 67-31 last week. … Senior quarterback Isaac Galpin has had plenty of weapons at his disposal this season. Last week, Galpin passed for 281 yards on 12 of 21 attempts to receivers Isaiah Martinez and Brandon Perez. Russ Gonzalez has been a potent attacking option since returning from injury. The senior running back rushed for 155 yards on 22 attempts against the Trojans. … China Spring will be tough test for the Lions. China Spring has outscored opponents 491-193
PREDICTION: La Feria, 21-14
—Freddy Gonzalez