The playoffs begin this week in high school football. Hundreds of schools are starting what they hope will be a six-week sprint to the finish line, but only a couple dozen will realize their goal of making it to AT&T Stadium and the Texas High School Football State Championships. KRLD’s Chris Sommer breaks down the regional brackets that involve North Texas high schools:
Class 6A Division I
Region I Bi-District
Arlington Martin 35, Irving Nimitz 20
Region II Bi-District
De Soto 65, Killeen Harker Heights 28
Rockwall 55, North Garland 14
Class 6A Division II
Region I Bi-District
Saginaw Boswell 40, Northwest Eaton 37
Class 5A Division I
Region II Bi-District
Denton Ryan 49, Dallas White 14
Frisco Lone Star 74, Dallas Adams 6
Class 5A Division II
Region I Bi-District
Canyon Randall 63, FW Wyatt 21
Grapevine 44, Wichita Falls 7
Lubbock Cooper 42, FW Southwest 0
Region II Bi-District
Aledo 77, Dallas Hillcrest 0
Dallas South Oak Cliff 49, Everman 28
Class 4A Division I
Region II Bi-District
Kaufman 24, Dallas Carter 0
Melissa 73, North Dallas 20
Midlothian Heritage 49, FW Benbrook 20
Paris 49, Dallas Lincoln 29
Stephenville 49, FW Dunbar 21
Waco La Vega 65, FW Western Hills 6
Class 4A Division II
Region II Bi-District
Caddo Mills 24, Hillsboro 14
Glen Rose 15, Nevada Community 0
Quinlan Ford 49, Godley 23
Texarkana Pleasant Grove 49, Canton 21
Class 3A Division I
Region I Bi-District
Brock 40, Wall 6
Class 3A Division II
Region I Bi-District
Grandview 49, Teague 7
Region II Bi-District
Gunter 62, Scurry-Rosser 7
Holliday 63, Jacksboro 12
Palmer 32, Whitewright 7
Class 2A Division I
Region I Bi-District
Italy 44, Hamilton 13
Class 2A Division II
Region II Bi-District
Muenster 56, Cross Plains 7
6A Division I
Region I
Unbeaten Southlake Carroll may be the consensus favorite to repeat as regional champions in this bracket, but there are several other teams that are capable of knocking off the Dragons. The top half includes 9-1 Euless Trinity, 9-1 Lake Highlands and 8-2 Allen, which took two regular-season losses for the first time since 2005. Still, the Eagles are a squad that's no fun to face come playoff time. The bottom half of the bracket includes 10-0 Carroll, 9-1 Lewisville, 8-2 Arlington Martin and state-ranked 8-1 Midland Legacy. I see Southlake Carroll and Euless Trinity matching up in the state quarterfinal, and Trinity QB Ollie Gordon is on a mission. PICK: EULESS TRINITY
Region II
Among the 16 teams in this bracket, only Spring Westfield remains unbeaten. That being said, this group also includes 8-1 Duncanville, 9-1 Spring, 8-2 DeSoto and always dangerous 8-2 Rockwall. DeSoto-Rockwall would be a fun matchup in the area round, as would Duncanville-Spring. Spring Westfield has been dominant all year, and they are the only school to defeat Galena Park North Shore. They will emerge from the bottom half to face Duncanville in the state quarterfinal. PICK: SPRING WESTFIELD
6A Division II
Region I
Every team in this bracket has at least one loss. Denton Guyer, Dallas Jesuit and El Paso Eastlake are all 9-1. Assessing the chances of the big El Paso schools is always a dicey proposition. I would not be surprised if the Weatherford-Trophy Club Byron Nelson winner advances to the regional semifinal. Guyer-Jesuit could be interesting in the second round. The bottom half of this bracket is more wide open. Flower Mound Marcus and Haslet Eaton are both 8-2, and everybody else has between three and six losses. Watch out for Prosper and Abilene. Prosper showed they can compete with anyone with that big win over Allen two weeks ago. I see Marcus coming out of the bottom half to face Denton Guyer. PICK: DENTON GUYER
Region II
This bracket includes just one 10-0 team: Garland, which is enjoying its best season since 1999. QB Cergio Perez has thrown for more than 50 TDs this season, and if he can maintain his roll in the postseason, the Owls could be playing for a while. Garland may have to survive Cedar Hill and then Bridgeland in rounds two and three, and neither is an easy task. Rockwall-Heath at 9-1 appears to be the class of the bottom half of the bracket, but don't count out 9-1 Cypress Park and 8-2 Temple. In the end, I think we will see a state quarterfinal between Bridgeland and Rockwall-Heath. Rockwall-Heath is a one-point loss to Southlake Carroll from being undefeated. PICK; ROCKWALL-HEATH
5A Division I
Region I
This bracket features zero unbeatens, and only 9-1 Colleyville Heritage has one loss among these 16 teams. The potential third-round matchup between Colleyville Heritage and Amarillo Tascosa would be a treat. I think one of those two will advance to the state quarterfinal. The top half of the bracket is wide open. Azle, Fort Worth Brewer and El Paso Chapin are all 8-2. Don't count out 7-3 Mansfield Summit, which gets Azle in the opening round. I see the Summit-Azle winner facing Brewer in the regional semifinal. It's a very tough call, but give me Brewer-Tascosa in the quarterfinal. PICK: AMARILLO TASCOSA
Region II
Once again, this regional is just flat out brutal. You have the wire-to-wire 5AD1 No. 1 in Denton Ryan. There's 10-0 College Station. But wait - there's more. This 16-team battle royal also includes 9-1 Magnolia West, 9-1 Lancaster, 9-1 Highland Park AND 8-2 Frisco Lone Star, which fell to Ryan by a point in the regular season finale. We haven't even talked about 7-3 Longview and 7-3 Magnolia. Whew. Imagine a Highland Park-College Station matchup in round three. A state quarterfinal between Denton Ryan and College Station would mean the state's top two teams meeting for a spot in the semifinals. That would be an epic confrontation. PICK: COLLEGE STATION
5A Division II
Region I
This is another bracket that has no remaining unbeaten teams. The top half includes 9-1 Canutillo and 9-1 Wichita Falls Rider. On the other side, you have 9-1 Lubbock-Cooper and 8-2 Grapevine. WF Rider is the favorite to motor through to the fourth round, where they should face the winner of Lubbock-Cooper and Grapevine in the state quarterfinal. Don't be surprised if we get a rematch between district rivals WF Rider and Lubbock-Cooper, not to mention a different outcome in the second clash. PICK: LUBBOCK-COOPER
Region II
This bracket rivals its sibling in 5AD1. The contenders include wire-to-wire 5AD2 No. 1 Aledo (10-0), 10-0 Ennis, 9-1 Lucas Lovejoy, 9-1 Frisco, 9-1 Frisco Liberty and 8-1 South Oak Cliff. Frisco-SOC would be highly entertaining in the area round, with the survivor likely facing Aledo, which is going for its record 11th state title. In the bottom half, Lovejoy and Ennis appear to be on a collision course for a third-round matchup. I think Lovejoy's Week 11 loss to Frisco Liberty was a wakeup call and they will be highly motivated in this postseason. We didn't get an Aledo-Ennis meeting last year. This year, we do. PICK: ALEDO
4A Division I
Region I
In this 16-team grouping, only El Paso Riverside (9-1) has a single loss, and I can't see them lasting long as the competition gets tougher. There are several salty 8-2 squads in this bracket, including Lake Worth, Canyon and Wichita Falls HIrschi. Don't overlook 7-2 district champion Dumas or 7-3 Springtown. I like Lake Worth facing the Canyon-Springtown winner in one regional semifinal. Give me Dumas-Hirschi in the other. PICK: DUMAS
Region II
This bracket includes 10-0 Stephenville, 9-1 Kennedale, 9-1 Argyle and 8-2 Melissa. Then there is 7-3 Waco La Vega, which may be the best three-loss team in the state. My dark horse in this grouping is 7-3 Midlothian Heritage, which can line up with anybody and has racked up some quality wins this season. A potential second-round meeting between Melissa and Midlothian Heritage could be really interesting, as would Kennedale-Argyle. I think Stephenville has enough firepower to hold off the Kennedale-Argyle winner in one regional semifinal. I would not be surprised if Melissa, Midlothian Heritage or Waco La Vega survives to reach the fourth round. PICK: STEPHENVILLE
4A Division II
Region I
This may be the most wide-open of any of the regional brackets including DFW-area schools. Aubrey is 9-1, but they were unable to crack the state top ten this year. Many will point to 8-1 Celina as the favorite here. The Bobcats have been highly-ranked all year, they have recorded several quality wins, and maybe this is just the year Celina returns to glory. I think they should have a relatively easy road to the state quarterfinal. In the top half, I have been very impressed with Sweetwater over the second half of the season. I see Lubbock Estacado facing the Aubrey-Sweetwater winner in the regional semifinal. Give me Sweetwater-Celina in the state quarterfinal. PICK: CELINA
Region II
Van and Quinlan Ford both enter the postseason 10-0, but the consensus favorite in this bracket is 9-1 Gilmer, which was a 4AD2 state finalist last year. That one loss for Gilmer was their third in two years to Carthage. A potential third-round matchup between Van and Gilmer could be a head-knocker in the bottom half of the bracket. Among the eight teams in the top half, unbeaten Quinlan Ford and 9-1 Glen Rose appear to be the class of the group. There is a mysterious aspect to Quinlan Ford, which has run for more than 500 yards per game this season. Let's go with Gilmer and Glen Rose in the state quarterfinal. PICK: GILMER
3A Division I
Region I
Defending state champion Tuscola Jim Ned (10-0) and Brock (10-0) are likely to meet in the third round. The survivor will being punching their ticket to the state semifinal - and possibly a 3AD1 state championship. PICK: TUSCOLA JIM NED
3A Division II
Region II
Undefeated Gunter (10-0) is geared up and ready for another deep run. They should face 10-0 Holliday in the state quarterfinal. PICK: GUNTER
2A Division I
Region II
I give Italy (8-2) a really good shot of reaching the regional semifinal, where they likely will see 10-0 Crawford. The winner should face off with 10-0 Cooper in the state quarterfinal. PICK: CRAWFORD
2A Division II
Region II
Muenster (10-0) and Albany (9-0) seem destined to square off in the third round. The winner will be on their way to a state semifinal, regardless of whomever emerges from the top half of the bracket. Muenster knows how to win big games this time of year. PICK: MUENSTER