After beating El Paso teams, Abilene High, Cooper, Wylie go east for challenging 2nd round
The three local Class 5A teams – Abilene High, Cooper and Wylie – got big wins last week against El Paso schools that, as a whole, traditionally don’t fare well in the playoffs.
The going gets a lot tougher this week as all three head east to play Dallas-Fort Worth area teams – programs that are used to making deep runs in the playoffs.
Then again, AHS, Cooper and Wylie have made their own deep runs, too.
Yet, it had been a while since all three won a postseason game before last week.
AHS, which was stunned by El Paso Eastwood in a Region I-6A Division II game in the first round last year in Abilene, beat El Paso Del Valle 42-14 in a Region I-5A DI game in El Paso. It was the Eagles' first win in Sun City since beating Ysleta 40-6 in the 1958 playoff opener and avenged a second-round loss to Del Valle the last time they played in El Paso in 2001. AHS is 23-3 all-time against El Paso teams.
Cooper, meanwhile, also won in El Paso – beating Andress 49-20.
Cooper, playing in the postseason for the 16th consecutive season, had lost its two previous playoff openers to Colleyville Heritage (63-21 at Heritage in 2021) and Mansfield Summit (49-28 in 2020 in Abilene.).
The Coogs are 18-0 all-time against El Paso teams, including a 49-41 win over Eastwood in El Paso in 2018.
Wylie beat El Paso High 54-14 at Sandifer Stadium. It was the Bulldogs’ first on-field playoff victory since making the move to Class 5A in 2018.
According to the Lone Star Football Network, it was only Wylie’s second game against an El Paso school. The Bulldogs beat Mountain View 49-21 in the first round in 2012 in Odessa.
Here’s a look at this week’s matchups:
Abilene High (5-6) vs. Red Oak (9-2)
7 p.m. Friday, Mansfield’s Newsome Stadium
It might be a little surprising both of these teams still are playing. AHS won only four games in the regular season, and the Eagles were coming off a 17-10 loss at Amarillo High in the regular-season finale.
AHS coach Mike Fullen, though, said that 4-6 record in the regular season was deceiving.
“We could have easily been 8-2,” Fullen said. “I don’t think we were out of any game that we lost, and we were just bringing out offense along.”
Red Oak, 2-8 last year, faced a perennial power in Denton Ryan last week. But the Hawks rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit to send the game into overtime tied at 21.
Then after Ryan scored first in OT and kicked the PAT, Red Oak answered with a TD – and converted a two-point conversion to win the game.
AHS, which has relied on a stout defense, got another great game from the Black Shirts. Meanwhile, the offense finally put together a great game, too.
Brayden Henry, a freshman quarterback playing his third game with the varsity, completed all 14 attempts for a career-high 208 yards and two TDs. All without an interception.
Antoine “Bam” Rashaw also ran for 108 yards and three TDs.
The sudden life by the offense is due in large part to the development of Henry, who strained his hip competing in the long jump during summer track.
“That kind of put him behind,” Fullen said. “He didn’t start playing any kind of football until the third game of the season. It’s all kind of come in stages.”
While Henry was developing on the JV, AHS tried both Brelon Badon and Dylan Slack at quarterback, finally settling on Slack, who has a good arm but is not much of a runner. So, the offense was built around his strengths, until Henry was ready for the move to varsity.
“He’s got a unique set of skills,” Fullen said of Henry. “He’s very fast, very mature for his age. He’s getting more comfortable throwing the ball.”
Fullen said Henry gives the offense a more varied attack.
“There’s more you can do when you have a quarterback who can throw and run,” Fullen said. “If it breaks down, he can make some plays with his feet. It’s opened up our offense.”
Now, the Eagles face a Hawks team that had gone three rounds deep in 2019 and 2020 – losing to Aledo and Mansfield Summit, respectively.
“We’re going to need all that (offense) this week, because the team we’re playing is really good, really athletic,” Fullen said. “We have to be patient, and we’ve emphasized that we’ve got to play downhill on both sides of the ball, because we’re not going to be able to outrun them. We've got to make them earn everything and just hang around."
Cooper (6-5) vs. Grapevine (10-1)
7 p.m. Friday, Crowley
The road for the Coogs gets much tougher – and it doesn’t get any easier if they can get past this hurdle.
Grapevine is ranked No. 4 in Class 5A Division II, and the Mustangs’ lone loss was to No. 1 and unbeaten Arygle - 31-15 in Week three at Grapevine.
Grapevine, 30-9 the past three years, has gone at least three rounds since 2020. Lubbock-Cooper beat the Mustangs 27-7 in the region quarterfinals last year.
“Grapevine is a really good football team, but we’ve played them in non-district a few years ago,” said Cooper coach Aaron Roan, whose Cougars went 2-2 against Grapevine from 2016-19. “We know they’re going to be well-coached. They’re going to play extremely well. They do what they do very well. They’re a district champion and a 10-win team already. Our focus is like it is every week – us going out and doing our job at a high level consistently.”
The Coogs are flying high after ripping the Andress Eagles. QB Chris Warren threw for 272 yards and three TDs, while the defense picked off three passes.
Daniel Bray, a sophomore running back, ran for two TDs and caught a 99-yard pass for another. Seven Cooper running backs combined for 253 yards rushing.
“I was pleased with the way we played collectively as a team,” Roan said. “We worked together, fed off each other, got some turnovers and turned them into points. Did some really good things all the way around. We’ve got to build on it, keep progressing and keep getting better this week.”
Cooper, which has played some of the state’s best programs the past few years in reaching the third round nine times since 2008, isn’t intimidated by Grapevine’s state ranking.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, whether it’s the No. 1 team or a last-place team,” Roan said. “If you don’t come out ready to play, anybody’s capable of winning a football game. We have the same approach we have each week. We’ve got to do what we do at a high level.”
Wylie (8-3) at Colleyville Heritage (8-3)
7 p.m. Friday, Grapevine’s Panther-Mustang Stadium
A week after playing a rare playoff game on their own field, the Wylie Bulldogs must play Colleyville Heritage on its home field.
The Panthers share Panther-Mustang Stadium with Grapevine.
Wylie coach Clay Martin said the Colleyville Heritage coach didn’t want to play at a neutral site, thus they had to flip for home-and-home – and Heritage won.
“It doesn’t matter,” Martin said. “It’s going to be a football game at a nice place. We’ll be prepared regardless.”
The Panthers, the third seed from District 4-5A DII behind Grapevine and Fort Worth Arlington Heights, both 10-1 playoff team, went 12-2 last year before losing to Mansfield Summit 21-9 in the region finals. The Panthers began last year’s playoff run with a 63-21 win over Cooper at home.
It was Heritage’s second region final appearance since 2019, and the Panthers have gone at least three rounds since 2019.
Wylie won its first district title since reaching the state title game in in 2016, and they took out Rider and Cooper along the way. It was the first win over the Cougars in four meetings. Rider was state ranked at the time, too, and they beat the Raiders on their home field.
Wylie put it all together last week in dismantling El Paso High for its sixth consecutive win. QB K.J. Long threw for 260 yards and four TDs, all for 43 yards or longer, while Landry Carlton ran for two more.
The Bulldogs also picked off two passes, including one by sophomore Hayden Wright, who has seven on the season and four in his last two games.
“Obviously, it was a big win for us and our program,” Martin said. “I think we went into the game playing well and with a lot of confidence.”
Heritage notched its fourth straight win, beating McKinney Emerson 35-14.
Wylie is brimming with confidence, and the Bulldogs have proven they can win big games on the road.
“They’ve got a really good program and a really good team that’s coached really well," Martin said. "We feel like we do, too. It’s going to be a great game. This time of the year, it’s all going to come down to who executes better and who’s able to take care of the football. That’s never changed since they started playing the game. It’ll be the same way on Friday.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene schools go east for second round of Class 5A football playoffs
