Eight Top 25 teams are featured in this week's Top 10 games.
No.
8 De La Salle won its 27th straight North Coast section title and
clinched a spot in the CIF Open Division championship game for the 10th
consecutive year. They face No. 1 Mater Dei for the second straight
season and the Monarchs handed the Spartans its worse loss in over a
decade with a 52-21 win.
Five other state title games are featured this week in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
The
other four matchups are going down in California and Texas. A spot in
the CIF Division 1-AA state championship is on the line between No. 21
Folsom and a 13-0 Central (Fresno) team. The winner gets Cathedral
Catholic (San Diego) on Dec. 14 at Cerritos College (Norwalk).
Three of the four quarterfinal games in the UIL Texas 6A Division I bracket are also featured in this week's slate.
MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week
Saturday, 8 p.m. (All time local) @ Cerritos College
Top Players
De
La Salle used to dominate the CIF Open Division championship game. They
were 6-1 from 2009 to 2015 but have dropped the last two by
average margin of 27 points. The Spartans get a chance to erase last year's
31-point defeat. The
Monarch's have faced the toughest schedule in the country and if they
can add a victory over De La Salle on Saturday it will be tough for
anyone to jump them for the No. 1 spot at the end of the season. They
already have wins over No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), No. 4
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), No. 14 Centennial (Corona, Calif.),
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) and Mission Viejo (Calif.). The Gaels are the
lone common opponent — Mater Dei beat Bishop
Gorman 42-0 and De La Salle won 27-21.
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. @ The Ford Center (Frisco)
Top Players
Someone has to go this week with a spot in the UIL Texas 6A Division I semifinals on the
line. The Panthers have been one of the most dominant teams in the
country in 2018 they have outscored the opposition 616-54. The Dragons
have been rolling all season and especially in the playoffs. Over the first
three rounds of the postseason they beat Coppell, DeSoto, and Euless
Trinity by a combined score of 130-37. This game features some of the
best players in all of Texas led by Jackson and Mickens.
Friday, 8 p.m. @ Camping World Stadium (Orlando)
Top Players
St.
Thomas Aquinas has had one thing on its mind since losing to Venice in
the 7A semifinal matchup in 2017 and that's win a state title. The Raiders are
one win away from that after dominating the Indians 38-18 to advance to
the school's fourth state championship game over the last five years.
They face an old rival and an undefeated Lakeland squad with the 7A
state title up for grabs. This will be the fifth time these two are
meeting in the state championship game since 2004. Lakeland won the
first three from 2004-06 and Aquinas won in 2008. This will be the first
game between these two since that 56-7 win for the Raiders in the 2008
state title game.
Saturday, 2 p.m. @ Alamodome (San Antonio)
Top Players
The
winner of this one advances to the UIL Texas 6A Division I semifinals
awaiting the winner of No. 10 North Shore and Cy-Fair. These two squared
off in the second round last season and Wilson led Lake Travis
to a 47-39 win. Judson rolls into this one 13-0 and the
Cavaliers only loss this season came against Westlake (Austin). Wilson
is back at 100 percent and 2020 Texas commit Card is coming off a seven-touchdown, first-half performance. He faces a big-time defense at the
Alamodome on Saturday afternoon led by 2019 Texas A&M commit
Leal.
Saturday, 6 p.m. @ NRG Stadium (Houston)
Top Players
North Shore did something extremely rare — beat Katy twice in the same season. They rolled last week past the Tigers 49-38 and look to ride that momentum against the defending UIL Texas 6A Division II state champs, Cy-Fair. The Mustangs are 13-0 this year and winning by an average margin of 45.5 points per game. The Bobcats have reeled off seven straight and just beat a very good Atascocita (Humble) team to get to the 6A Division I quarterfinals. The winner faces either Lake Travis or Converse Judson in the semifinals.
Wednesday, 7 p.m. @ Jordan-Hare Stadium (Auburn)
Top Players
The 7A Alabama state championship features two future SEC quarterback — Tagovailoa (Alabama) and Parrish (LSU). Central enters this one 13-0 and Thompson's lone loss came against Hoover in the regular season but the Warriors avenged that loss in the semifinals, 31-28. If Thompson wins this game it will have pulled off an impressive three-game stretch knocking off Hewitt-Trussville, Hoover, and Central.
Saturday, 6 p.m. @ Hersheypark Stadium (Hershey)
Top Players
St. Joseph's Prep is in the 6A state championship game for the third straight year and got revenge on Pine-Richland (Gibsonia) with a 37-0 semifinal win. The Hawks lost to
Phil Jurkovec and the Rams 41-21 in the state title game last year. The Philadelphia power is loaded with talent led by a couple of studs from the Class of 2021 — McCord and Harrison Jr. After throwing for 300-plus yards last week McCord broke the all-time school record for passing yards in a single-season (2,600). Harrisburg avenged its only loss of the season beating Coatesville 27-24 in the other semifinal and the Cougars face another big-time test on Saturday night live on the NFHS Network.
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Top Players
Expect a lot of points to be scored when a spot in the CIF 1-AA state championship is one the line between these two schools. Both teams are averaging more than 50 points per game. The Bulldogs are loaded on offense led by Bennett, the Ngata brothers, and Badger. Tompkins has as good of number as any quarterback in the country. The 2019 UC Davis commit has nearly 5,500 yards offense and has accounted for 67 touchdowns. These two faced off in the same situation last year with a berth in the state title on the line and Folsom won 54-35 but this time around the game is in Fresno.
Friday, 7:30 p.m. @ Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia)
Top Players
This game was originally scheduled for Saturday but got moved to Friday because of weather. Don't expect anything to change because it features the two best teams in the state. Dutch Fork has won back-to-back 5A state championships and have to get by 5-star Pickens and an undefeated Yellow Jackets squad if they want to three-peat.
