As to be expected, the penultimate weekend of the high school football season provides a menu filled with top-notch matchups and plenty of championship-flavored intrigue mixed in. Nine of the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week involve at least one nationally ranked team.
Two of our featured games have Xcellent 25 teams going head-to-head. Both are rematches of games played during the same playoff round last season. No. 5 De La Salle (Concord) will try to hold serve in the Northern California Open Division championship game against No. 16 Folsom. Meanwhile in Texas, No. 2 Allen attempts to end No. 4 DeSoto's unbeaten season in the Class 5A/I semifinals for the second-straight year.
There are even more rematches to watch before the curtain drops on the 2013 season in Florida. In the Class 6A title game, No. 7 Central (Miami) plays Armwood (Seffner) in a rematch of the memorable 2011 final that resulted in a double forfeit. The 7A championship has No. 17 Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) taking on Niceville in a rematch of their 2009 Class 4A title game.
As we head down the final stretch of the 2013 season, Jamie DeMoney still holds the the lead in our season-long predictions contest. Jamie has correctly forecast the winner in 112 out of 160 games. That's two better than Stephen Spiewak's total and six ahead of Leland Gordon for the season. Colin Ward-Henninger currently resides in fourth place, 11 games behind DeMoney. Mitch Stephens (12 games back) and Kevin Askeland (14) round out this year's standings in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Leland Gordon, Colin Ward-Henninger and Jamie DeMoney.
MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week
De La Salle (Concord) vs. Folsom (Calif.)What to watch: Arguably the top passing team in California history against not-so arguably the best overall program in state history. The winner will represent Northern California in the Open Division state championship. Fifth-ranked De La Salle secured its 22nd-straight North Coast Section crown with a 49-17 blowout of California (San Ramon) last week. Senior
John Velasco led the Spartans (13-0) with a season-high 234 rushing yards. No. 16 Folsom captured its third Sac-Joaquin Section title in five years with, likewise, a 49-17 win over Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills). Junior
Jake Browning threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns. His season totals are 5,393 yards and 74 touchdowns – both state records.
Just the facts: A win Saturday gives De La Salle the opportunity to play for a fifth-consecutive Open Division state crown. The Spartans have participated in a state bowl game every season since the CIF implemented the format in 2006. … This is a rematch of last year's Northern California Open Division regional championship. De La Salle ran away with that much-anticipated matchup, 49-15.
Mitch Stephens: De La Salle 35, Folsom 28
Kevin Askeland: Folsom 45, De La Salle 42
Jamie DeMoney: De La Salle 35, Folsom 25
Stephen Spiewak: De La Salle 30, Folsom 17
Leland Gordon: De La Salle 47, Folsom 30
Colin Ward-Henninger: De La Salle 42, Folsom 28
