West Texas: First (Bi-District) Round Preview, Classes 6A and 5A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's Playoff Time in West Texas. There are 12 games involving schools from the region in Classes 6A and 5A. Interestingly, all 12 games involve at least one school from El Paso/Far West Texas. Here's the preview:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 6A, D1 (District 6A-1 vs. 6A-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EP Pebble Hills vs. Odessa Permian (Fri. 11/10, 4 p.m.)</strong>: Pebble Hills finished second in District 6A-1, D1 with a 6-2 mark (8-2 overall), while Permian finished third based on tie-breakers with a 6-4 overall mark. Permian earned a spot in the playoffs with a 21-14 must-win over Midland in Week 11. Pebble Hill's <strong>Gael Ochoa</strong> is one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in West Texas, and a UTEP commit. He has thrown for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 800 yards. RB <strong>Juzstyce Lara</strong> is Permian's go-to offensive weapon with 1,472 yards. He tied his season high last week with 35 carries against Midland. Both teams love to run the football.      </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EP Montwood vs. Midland Legacy (Thur. 11/9, 7 p.m.)</strong>: Midland Legacy is coming off yet another district championship and possesses one of the most prolific offenses in West Texas with QB [player_tooltip player_id='119032' first='Marcos' last='Davila'], a Purdue commit, throwing for close to 2,700 yards and 23 TD. But Legacy likes to run the ball too with <strong>Damien Johnson</strong> (1,186 rushing yards) and others. Montwood was just 5-5 overall but they finished 3rd in their district. Senior QB <strong>Michael Southern</strong> is the driving force behind the Rams offense with over 2,500 passing yards. His array of receivers is led by <strong>Diego Oaxaca</strong> (78 receptions). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/OdessaPermian/status/1720896306745340051?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/OdessaPermian/status/1720896306745340051?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 6A, D2 (District 6A-1 vs. 6A-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Frenship vs. EP Eastwood (Fri. 11/10, 6 p.m.)</strong>: Frenship makes the long trip to El Paso to face the District 6A-1 champion. It will be a battle between two of the most prolific quarterbacks in West Texas. Frenship QB <strong>Hudson Hutcheson</strong> threw for 3,678 yards and 38 TD during the regular season. FBS prospect [player_tooltip player_id='1420687' first='Leyton' last='Stone'] is his favorite target. Eastwood QB <strong>Evan Minjarez</strong> is an elite dual threat with 2,840 passing yards and 29 TD with nearly 1,000 rushing yards. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Midland vs. EP Americas (Fri. 11/10, 6 p.m.)</strong> : These two teams love to run the football. EP Americas ran the ball about 75 percent of the time with three players amassing 480+ rushing yards. Senior <strong>Brian Gonzalez-Promesse</strong> led the Trail Blazers with 620 rushing yards. Midland, meanwhile, ran the ball more than 90 percent of the time. In fact, they attempted just 54 passes all season long. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1421038' first='Elijah' last='McCoy']</strong> will get the ball early and often after rushing for 1,400 yards and 21 TD in 10 games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/midlandhighfb/status/1722316982643478702?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <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/1722316982643478702?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5A, D1 (District 5A-1 vs. 5A-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tascosa vs. EP Del Valle (Fri. 11/10, 6 p.m.)</strong>: Tascosa makes the LONG trip to El Paso (440 miles one way) to face EP Del Valle for the first time ever. Del Valle QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1305508' first='Jake' last='Fette']</strong> has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 TD. But DV runs the ball the majority of the time. Defense has been their calling card, though, allowing 17 or fewer points is six of their final eight games. Offensively, Tascosa, 21-5 all-time against El Paso schools (6-3 in EP), ran the football more than 80 percent of the time this season with two rushers over 600 yards. Tascosa has scored 179 points in its last four games, so the offense is rolling. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EP Hanks vs. Abilene (Thu. 11/9, 7 p.m.)</strong>: Scott Veliz's first year as Hanks head coach has been a success, and the Knights' appearance in the 5A playoffs is the exclamation point. Senior QB <strong>Marcus Porras</strong> has been everything Veliz had hoped for and probably more. The bad news is they have to face the District 5A-2 champion. Abilene was undefeated in district play, beating Lubbock-Cooper and Amarillo and Tascosa along the way. The Eagles are balanced passing and running with numerous players getting opportunities to touch the football. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lubbock-Cooper vs. EP Parkland (Thu. 11/9, 7 p.m.)</strong>: Lubbock-Cooper finished second in District 5A-2 and won six of its last seven games after a slow start marked by a pair of 35-34 losses. Led by seniors <strong>Anthony Carrillo</strong> (1,000+ yards) and <strong>Erik Ortiz</strong>, Parkland wants to run the ball. They'll make the long trip to Lubbock.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Amarillo vs. EP Bel Air (Fri. 11/10, 6 p.m.)</strong>: Amarillo finished third in their district behind Abilene and Lubbock-Cooper. RB <strong>Pius Vokes</strong> is the centerpiece of the Sandies' offense. Bel Air is more inclined to throw the ball with QB <strong>Noah Moreno</strong> throwing for 2,885 yards, pushing him over the 7,000-yard career passing plateau. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/THS_FB/status/1720831603008557203?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/THS_FB/status/1720831603008557203?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5A, D2 (District 5A-1 vs. 5A-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amarillo Palo Duro vs. EP Canutillo (Fri. 11/10, 2 p.m.):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>EP Burges vs. Wichita Falls Rider (Fri., 11/10, 4 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>EP Andress vs. Abilene Wylie (Thur. 11/9, 6:30 p.m.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>EP Chapin vs. Abilene Cooper (Fri., 11/10, 6 p.m.)&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->