High School Football Playoffs Bi-District Round Preview

The regular season has wrapped up and El Paso teams are now gearing up for the bi-district round of the Texas high school football playoffs on Friday.

Football Friday Night will have an early start this Friday on 600 ESPN, beginning at 6 p.m with Paul MacKinnon and Beau Bagley. Listen live on 600 ESPN El Paso for live scores, highlights and recaps of each game.

Playoff Schedule (Friday, Nov. 12)

• San Angelo Central vs. Eastlake, 6 p.m. (SAC) Steve Escajeda
• Eastwood vs. Abilene High, 6 p.m.
• Pebble Hills vs. Midland Legacy, 6 p.m.
• Amarillo High vs. Del Valle, 6 p.m. Jaime Chavez 
• Amarillo Caprock vs. Chapin, 6 p.m. (Austin) Adrian Broaddus
• El Dorado vs. Amarillo Tascosa, 6 p.m.
• Clint vs. San Angelo Lake View, 6 p.m.
• Anthony vs. Brady, 6 p.m.
• Permian vs. Franklin, 6:30 p.m. Alex Nicolas
• Horizon vs. Burges, 7 p.m. Brandon Cohn 
• Jefferson vs. Canutillo, 7 p.m. Jeremy Carranco
• Mountain View vs. Fort Stockton, 7 p.m.
• Las Cruces vs. Centennial, 7 p.m.
• Santa Teresa vs. Farmington, 7 p.m.

Thursday night rundown: 

• Lubbock Coronado 67 - Bel Air 7
• Parkland 42 - Austin 21
• Andress 42 - Ysleta 6
• Riverside 34 - Big Spring 7
• Andrews 73 - Fabens 0

Three El Paso teams advance to the next round of the playoffs after Thursday night.

The headline from Thursday is Parkland upsetting Austin, 42-21, in the bi-district round. Parkland was the fourth seed heading into last night's game against top-seeded Austin, who had been banged up over the past few weeks. The Matadors and Panthers were locked in a close game in the first half before Parkland exploded in the second half thanks to some nice touchdown runs by tailback Isaiah Beasley. Parkland will now play Lubbock Cooper in the Area playoff round.

Andress blew past Ysleta last night and their stout defense came through again. Defensive back Jeremiah Cooper had a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown. They will face the winner of Rider and Creekview next week.

Riverside handled Big Spring with ease on Thursday, claiming the bi-district title with a 34-7 win. I'm picking the Rangers as a dark horse candidate to make a playoff run in the 4A playoff ranks. They will play the winner of Lake Worth and Hereford next week.

Game of the week: Franklin vs. Permian 

Franklin is the hottest team out of El Paso, racking up eight straight wins heading into the 6A Division I playoffs. They swept their district slate with an impressive 7-0 record in 1-6A. But the Cougars will see their toughest defensive opponent on Friday when Odessa Permian comes into town.

The Panthers (7-2) won four of their last five games heading into the playoffs. They run a balanced offense led by junior quarterback Rodney Hall, who has thrown for 1,452 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and rushed for 686 yards. But their defense is Permian's strong point. They have nine interceptions and a whopping 29 sacks on the season.

Make no mistake though, Franklin has some stout players all across their roster. Quarterback Cameron Byrd is the city's best gunslinger and ended the year with 2,649 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Running back Miles McWhorter has 1,213 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Wide receiver Beau Sparks totaled 1,210 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. They have guys everywhere.

Franklin's a tough squad and this will be a great test for them. The key for Franklin is limiting turnovers on offense and forcing takeaways on the defensive side of the ball.

Prediction: Franklin 48 - Permian 35 

Don't sleep on: Chapin vs. Caprock 

If you're talking about the hottest teams in town, you have to include the Chapin Huskies in the discussion, who finished the year 8-2 overall and won seven straight games en route to the first district title under head coach Ryan Warner. Now, they get Lubbock Caprock on Friday night in a key bi-district game.

Caprock (4-6) went through a rough patch in the middle of the season, having lost four of five games. They closed out the year with back-to-back wins against Palo Duro and Lubbock High. They are led by standout running back Damon Carrasco (1,018 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns). They also have 23 sacks as a defense on the year.

Chapin has a heap of weapons they like to use in the passing game. Led by quarterback Mason Standerfer (2,583 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and seven interceptions), the team has a pair of wide receivers that could each hit the 1,000-yard mark this year in Timothy Pastran (986 yards, 17 touchdowns) and Anthony Rivera (981 yards, 16 touchdowns). This should be a competitive matchup on both ends.

Winner of this gets the winner of Azle and Mansfield Summit.

Prediction: Chapin 42 - Caprock 41

Watch out for: Canutillo and another playoff run

Can the Eagles (9-1) make magic again like their run back in the 2014 playoff stretch? It could be possible with the talented squad they have this season. The Eagles have won seven straight heading into the playoffs, along with sole ownership of the 1-5A Division II district title. They will face Jefferson (6-4) on Friday in the bi-district round to start things off.

Canutillo is led by junior standout running back LJ Martin (2,030 yards, 23 touchdowns), who recently picked up an offer from Texas Tech. The Eagles' defense is also one not to mess with.

The winner of Friday's matchup will have to play Canyon Randall in the Area Round next week. Randall beat Wyatt 63-14 to claim the bi-district title on their end.

Prediction: Canutillo 55 - Jefferson 13

Upset watch: Can Horizon surprise Burges? 

Here's another intriguing bi-district game. The Horizon Scorpions (5-5) have overachieved by every standard this year. Head coach Paulo Melendez and his squad went toe-to-toe with the likes of Canutillo and gave a great game to the Eagles last week in the district title fight. But because of seeding, they will be traveling to Burges to face the Mustangs on Friday.

Burges is led by senior tailback and Missouri football commit Tavorus Jones (1,557 yards and 18 TDs). They have won three straight games, including a narrow 35-34 win against Andress. Make no mistake, this Burges team can still handle opponents whenever they rise up in games. If they can get the passing game going under quarterback Andrew Routledge, they will be tough to stop on Friday.

The Scorpions have a dynamic senior duo in quarterback Jacob Quijas (1,564 passing yards, 1,096 rushing yards and 32 TDs) and running back Ernie Garcia (1,497 rushing yards, 21 TDs). Defensive back Aaron Sigala has seven interceptions this year for the Scorpions. He could be a difference-maker in this one.

Horizon has proved a lot of people in town wrong week after week. Can they do it again in what could be coach Melendez's best win in his career at Horizon? I smell an upset brewing here. Winner of this faces Grapevine in the Area Round.

Prediction: Horizon 44 - Burges 35