West Texas: Preview of Top Week 5 games

The 2023 West Texas high school football season enters Week 5 with several scintillating games on the schedule. Here the top five games in each region:   PANHANDLE   Game of the Week: Plainview at Hereford   Pair of unbeaten teams matchup in a 5A vs. 4A battle. Plainview (4-0) has beaten Levelland, Pampa, Wichita Falls (those three wins by average margin of 24 points) before edging Dumas by six points last week (30-24). Hereford got past Tascosa last week with a balanced attack led by QB Kalub Ramirez (209 passing yards) and RB Brylyn Lopez (112 rushing yards).   Tascosa vs. Amarillo (at West Texas A&M): One of the biggest rivalry games in the Panhandle promises to attract a large crowd to West Texas A&M's stadium in Canyon. Both teams come into the game with 1-3 records. Tascosa has struggled to stop the run during its three-game losing streak. Amarillo has lost a pair of nailbiters to Midland (32-27) and Odessa (36-35). RB Pius Vokes is the Sandies' top offensive threat.       Dumas at Bushland: Bushland is ranked No. 2 in the latest MaxPreps Amarillo Region poll with its lone loss being to No. 1 Canadian. The Falcons have trounced Childress and Borger in the last two weeks. Dumas is just 1-3 but they had a scrappy Week 4 performance against Plainview.      Randall at Palo Duro: The Randall Raiders have won three straight game since a Week 1 loss to Andrews, including last week's 30-28 thriller over Wichita Falls. RB Dylan Ray has 625 rushing yards in 4 games, putting him on pace to eclipse 1,500 yards this season. Palo Duro has scored just 48 points in the first four games, so they're looking for a boost offensively.          Wellington at Panhandle: Both teams are ranked in the Top 12 of the MaxPreps Amarillo Region poll. No. 6 Panhandle is off to a perfect 4-0 start behind a lethal offense that is averaging 56.3 points in the last 3 games. Wellington's defense has already posted two shutouts and allowed just 6 points in another game thus far this season. So, it will be strength vs. strength.            More Games To Watch: Midland Greenwood at Canyon; Farwell at Friona; Bowie at Childress; Dalhart at Borger; Crosbyton at Sunray; Highland Park at Dimmitt; Perryton at Pampa.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HerefordHerdFB/status/1703250743635902874?s=20 </div></figure>   SOUTH PLAINS   Game of the Week: West Plains at Lubbock Estacado   Two teams on an upward trajectory as we approach midseason. Lubbock Estacado is hitting on all cylinders offensively, scoring an average of 56 points through the first four games. QB DJ Johnson and RB [player_tooltip player_id='923475' first='Bobby' last='Ross'] ignite the Matadors offense. West Plains has won three straight since dropping a shootout to Bushland in Week 1, and they've won in different ways. Sophomore QB Reid Macon has thrown for 1,107 yards and 9 TD in 4 games. RB Jordi Hernandez and WR King Tallant give the Wolves an exemplary QB-RB-WR trio.   Frenship at Rio Rancho (NM) Cleveland: Frenship crosses the border and heads to Rio Rancho, NM, a northern suburb of Albuquerque where the four-time defending Class 6A champions Cleveland Storm reside. Tigers QB Hudson Hutcheson directs a high-scoring offense. He has thrown for 1,306 yards and has three elite receivers at his disposal, including Power 5 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1420687' first='Leyton' last='Stone'].           Abilene at Lubbock Monterey: Even though No. 3 Lubbock Monterey lost to Midland last week, the Plainsmen have still been an early season surprise. They battled Frenship for four OT before falling. A productive running game fuels Monterey's offense. Abilene looks to snap a two-game losing streak.          Pecos at Seminole: Seminole has raced through the first four weeks the season unbeaten with a balanced offensive attack. QB Wyatt Holmstrom has passed for over 1,000 yards and 15 TD while four RBs have 21+ carries. Pecos is 2-1 and also runs a balanced attack. The Eagles lean towards running the ball with RB Johnny Morales averaging 9 yards per carry.     Muleshoe at Abernathy: Unbeaten Muleshoe is ranked No. 10 in the latest MaxPreps Lubbock Region poll. Junior QB [player_tooltip player_id='1131353' first='Nathan' last='Martens'] (882 passing yards) and sophomore RB Josue Sigala (526 rushing yards) are putting together outstanding seasons. And both are back in 2024. Abernathy has alternated wins and losses with the Antelopes defeating Post, 20-3, last week.       More Games To Watch: Lubbock Coronado at Caprock; Trinity Christian at McKinney Christian Academy; Roscoe at New Home; Shallowater at Idalou; Coahoma at Merkel; Big Spring at Snyder; Littlefield at Brownfield.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/806hsscmedia/status/1703978200441761799?s=20 </div></figure>   PERMIAN BASIN   Game of the Week: Converse Judson at Midland Legacy   Any hope of an undefeated season by Midland Legacy ended last week with the loss to 6A power Cibolo Steele. Now they have a Converse Judson team coming to the Permian basin that has struggled to score points in the first four games. As always, Legacy will rely on the throwing arm of Purdue commit [player_tooltip player_id='119032' first='Marcos' last='Davila'] (1,191 passing yards) and a deep, balanced running game. Expect the Rebels to bounce back strong.   Odessa Permian at Abilene Cooper: Odessa Permian has been a different team since the disappointing Week 1 loss to Abilene, last week's heartbreaking 27-25 loss to Harker Heights notwithstanding. The Panthers love to run the football and run it some more with the talented RB duo of Juzstyce Lara and Issac Herrera.     Midland at El Paso Andress: Speaking of running the football, nobody is doing it better than Midland right now. The Bulldogs went 5-5 and missed the playoffs last season. This year? They're 4-0 and looking like a legitimate threat to win the district championship. The Bulldogs are averaging 7.8 yards per rush.      Denver City at Monahans: Yeah, Monahans is for real. The Loboes are 4-0 and ranked No. 3 in the MaxPreps Odessa Region poll behind only Midland Legacy and Midland. Monahans has scored 43+ points in all four games. Denver City's two losses have come by a combined total of 5 points.           Odessa at Schwertz Clemens: It seems every Odessa game goes down to the wire. Last week they outscored Amarillo, 36-35. That result came after 44-42 and 22-20 outcomes in their first two games. This week they head to Schwertz, a northeast suburb of San Antonio, to face Clemens. Odessa' best offensive strategy this season is get the ball to WR Ivan Carreon.            More Games To Watch: El Paso Ysleta at Fort Stockton; Wink at Lamesa; Andrews at Lubbock; Kermit at Forsan; Big Spring at Snyder; Alpine at Compass Academy.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/midlandhighfb/status/1704180806854271471?s=20 </div></figure>   FAR WEST TEXAS   Game of the Week: Eastlake at Americas   Only two teams in Far West Texas are still undefeated and Eastlake is one of them (Bel Air is the other). All four of their wins have come by double digits, so the Falcons are dominating opponents. Offensively, they've been incredibly consistent, scoring 33-35 points each week. QB Luke Lomeli has thrown for 752 yards and – just as important – just 1 interception compared to 7 TD passes. The run game is well balanced. Americas snapped a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought 16-10 victory over Franklin in Week 4. Sophomore Cam'ron Johnson is the real deal with nearly 500 yards rushing in 4 games.         Pebble Hills at EP Coronado: Pebble Hills is ranked No. 2 in the latest MaxPreps El Paso Region poll. The Spartans crushed El Dorado, 49-10, last week. UTEP commit Gael Ochoa is an elite dual threat QB. EP Coronado is 1-3 but the Thunderbirds could easily be 3-1. Their losses to Canutillo and Franklin came by a combined three points. Thomas Murray is their top offensive threat.        Chapin at Del Valle: Battle between the No. 9 and No. 5 ranked teams in the latest MaxPreps El Paso Region poll. Del Valle likes to be balanced on offense. Carey Wade is a nice RB for the Huskies.      Franklin at Socorro (Thur.): Franklin's last two games have been close, hard-fought affairs. The Cougars look to get back on the winning track after last week's loss to Americas. QB Shay Smith will be counted on to have a big game. Socorro is desperately searching for its first win. Sometimes those are the most dangerous teams.      Canutillo at Parkland: Another intriguing matchup between two Top 10 teams in the Latest MaxPreps El Paso Region poll. Parkland (#10) suffered its first loss last week to Chapin in a shootout. The Matadors are going to try to run the football with RB Anthony Carrillo (575 yards, 6 TD). Canutillo is 2-2 and ranked No. (). The key for the Eagle sis playing solid defense. When they allow 20+ points this season they are 0-2. Less than 20 points, 2-0.        More Games To Watch: Eastwood at El Dorado; Jefferson at Bel Air; Austin at El Paso; Burges at Hanks.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CanutilloFBBC/status/1703503111694786845?s=20 </div></figure>

The 2023 West Texas high school football season enters Week 5 with several scintillating games on the schedule. Here the top five games in each region: