Texas teams have stock, rankings fall after escapes

Expected to be one of the most difficult districts in the country when it was formed this February, the Texas 7-6A was nearly wiped out of the playoffs in the first round.

The bottom two qualifiers were crushed by HSFB100 members as Coppell (TX) was pounded by DeSoto (TX), 61-35, and Heritage (Colleyville, TX) barely showed defensive wounds as it was soundly beaten by Cedar Hill (TX), 50-26.

That is not the cause of concern as much as the performances by namebrand programs Southlake Carroll (TX) and Trinity (EUless, TX), where both barely survived by a combined 10 points against two teams that were 12-10 on the season with an average loss of 18 points.

Each of those two will slide out of the HSFB100 Top 25 come Monday and the results headline what was otherwise a strong weekend for the Top 50 teams.

The new feature from NationalHSFootball.com takes the place of HSFB100 Rankings Preview but will contain similar elements and as National Week Nine of the high school football season wraps up there were results that stood out more than others.

The previously-ranked No. 14 Dragons trailed by 17 points late in the third quarter and responded with a furious comeback, socring the winning points with 13 seconds remaining to secure a 38-31 victory over Mansfield (TX).

It was the fifth time this season that Southlake Carroll has fought back for a victory.

It managed to comeback to defeat Euless Trinity three weeks ago, 10-6.

Southlake Carroll opened its season trailing Westlake (Austin, TX) before holding off a final drive to win, 17-14. The next week it used a direct snap, jet sweep, pass-to-the-quarterback to beat Union (Tulsa, OK) in overtime, 42-41. Then it needed a 10-play, 77-yard drive in the final three minutes to score a winning touchdown versus Coppell (TX) in a 28-24 victory.

Against Mansfield the team trailed 31-17 entering the final frame before it scored on a Ryan Agnew pass to Parker Fentriss with just over five minutes to play.

After making a stop it quickly tied the game on a 76-yard pass from Agnew to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey on a play that Agnew escaped a sack to find Humphrey who broke two tackles and raced to the endzone.

The final score was from Agnew to Tariq Gordan from 31 yards out to win the game and advance the Dragons into the second round of the Texas Class 6A-Division II playoffs.

The final score was only the second time in the game that Southlake Carroll lead after scoring the opening touchdown and then falling behind 24-7.

Mansfield has downed Cedar Hill and was playing with confidence but it had been beaten by Midway (Waco, TX), Duncanville (TX), and DeSoto prior to giving a scare to Southlake Carroll.

Mansfield also blew out Euless Trinity opponent, South Grand Prairie, 49-28.

Trinity had fallen behind 29-7 in its playoff contest before rallying for a 32-29 overtime win.

The Trojan opened the game with a 90-yard kickoff return and then did not score until the final ticks of the third quarter clock to cut the lead to 29-15 when quarterback Tyler Natee scored on a 35-yard rush.

Natee is a converted fullback/linebacker playing quarterback which limits the Trojan offense.

Sticking to the ground it was a 32-yard sweep from Ja’Ron Wilson that cut the deficit to one score midway through the fourth and on the following drive, Natee pounded his way for a 19-yard score to tie the game.

Trinity has one of the best defenses in the state of Texas and it stood tall in the second half only allowing 55 total yards to preserve any chance the team had at winning after allowing 322 in the first half.

South Grand Prairie had the first chance with the ball in overtime but it missed a 37-yard field goal allowing the Trojans to kick a 25-yarder by Luis Martinez to advance.

Both teams will drop out of the Top 25 in advance of the second round games.

Southlake Carroll will face HSFB100-ranked Denton Guyer while Euless Trinity will get Plano West.

Here is the rest of the Sunday Stock Watch:

Dr. Phillips (Orlando, FL) — The Panthers trailed 14-3 entering the second half against Bloomingdale and were fortunate to recover a fumble in the final minute to preserve a 24-21 victory. Bloomingdale had marched 11-plays into scoring range prior to turning it over on fluke play where Isaiah McIntyre simply lost his grip on the football as he pulled his arm back to pass. Dr. Phillips will fall from its previous No. 72-ranking in advance of its contest with nationally relevant, Plant (Tampa, FL). Dr. Phillips has not lost at home in five years and is still the perception favorite although the game is a toss-up with Plant.

Lakeland (Florida) — Lakeland allowed 498 passing yards and five touchdowns to to Tucker Isreal of Lake Nona (Orlando, FL) and didn’t get the lead in the game until nearing the end of the third quarter after a special teams play turned the momentum for the Dreadnaughts. Lakeland relied on running back Anthony Davis — who broke away in the second half with 139 of his 187 yards on the ground — and the blocked punt by DC Campell to turn the 32-21 deficit into a 48-38 victory. Lakeland will move on to play Kissimmee Osceola (FL) in the second round.

Carmel (IN) and Ben Davis (Indianapolis, IN) — It was covered on Saturday but neither Carmel nor Ben Davis looked particularly good in their wins this weekend. The pair were each fortunate to escape with victories as Carmel survived a series of errors from its opposition, Ben Davis made a mad dash to the finish like the others mentioned in this Stock Down edition. The two will meet for the state title but both slipped in the HSFB100.

Crespi (Encino, CA) — In pass-happy California where quarterbacks have owned the headlines in 2014 it is the run-first, run-second, run-third Celts of Crespi that are making noise in the Pac-5 playoffs. The team piled up 385 yards, 252 in the first half, in bulldozing through a quality Santa Margarita team, 45-13. Santa Margarita got out fast with an 80-yard touchdown but then was bullied to a 28-7 deficit just into the second quarter and Crespi had pushed to the final margin of victory just inside the fourth quarter. Crespi is moving into the Top 50 in anticipation of a showdown with Long Beach Poly in the next round.

St. Joseph Prep (Philadelphia, PA) — After starting in the Top 25 of most every national poll and getting humbled in the opening month of the season the Hawks are back to flying high. St. Joseph’s Prep owned La Salle in the Philadelphia Catholic League finals, 46-13. It will push the team into the HSFB100 after being eliminated following its Week One departure.

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