When Waxahachie defeated Everman to open the season, it raised some eyebrows. After all, Everman was ranked No. 5 in the preseason Class 4A state poll, and Waxahachie (13-0) was set up to be a good team this year, but no one really knew just how good.
Now we do. 'Hachie is good. Really good.
And the team they're facing in Saturday's Class 4A Division I Region II final at 7:30 p.m. at Kincaide Stadium? Well, it's last year's state runner-up Longview that returns all of last year's skill players, who are full of skill in QB Aaron Johnson, RB Tyler McCray and WR Carey Fortson.
Both teams are full of athletes and like to pound the ball in the running game and play a physical brand of defense. 'Hachie had an impressive win over Highland Park last week when it showed it can throw the ball as well. Longview (12-1) has had trouble the past two weeks against Waco Midway and Newman Smith.
Prediction: Waxahachie 38, Longview 33.
Arlington (10-2) at Euless Trinity (11-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday -- You read that right. That says "at" Euless Trinity because the Trojans won a coin toss and are playing at Pennington Field, their home stadium. That won't matter so much this deep in the playoffs as both teams are far enough along and plenty good that it shouldn't matter too much. Arlington QB Matt Joeckel has been one of the best players in the postseason, but I think Trinity's experience will pay off here after 10 straight wins that followed consecutive losses to Allen and Cedar Hill in the second and third games of the season. Prediction: Euless Trinity 27, Arlington 14.
Fort Worth Nolan (12-0) vs. TCA-Addison (12-1), 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Temple's Wildcat Stadium -- Arguably the two best area teams in TAPPS all season long will square off for the TAPPS Division I state championship. Both of these teams like to run the ball, but it comes from different sources. For Addison, it's QB Johnny Catalano, who's gone for more than 2,000 yards on the ground this year and also has thrown for more than 1,000. For Nolan, it's RB Marco Hernandez, who's gone for nearly 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns. Prediction: TCA-Addison 33, Nolan 28.
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Last week's record: 2-2. Season record: 33-22.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/award-winning blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. Halfway through writing this article, he paused for a nice shot of Hennessy.
