MaxPreps Top 10 high school football games of the week

Only two weekends of high school football remain in the 2014 season, but that doesn't mean there's a shortage of big-time matchups to preview in the latest MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week.

This is semifinals weekend in the Texas state playoffs, and a battle of national Top 10 teams headlines the action. No. 2 Allen is zeroing in on a possible third consecutive state title. However, No. 7 Skyline is also playing with plenty of purpose. The Raiders are trying to break a 63-year state-championship drought for teams belonging to the Dallas Independent School District.

Meanwhile, four MaxPreps Xcellent 25 teams will play in state championship games:

- No. 6 Colquitt County takes on upstart Archer for the Georgia 6A crown.
- No. 11 Miami Central (Miami) faces unbeaten Armwood in the Florida 6A final for the third time in four years.
- In Florida, 7A, No. 15 St. Thomas Aquinas looks to add its eighth state title against Osceola (Kissimmee).
- Finally, No. 25 Ocean Lakes battles defending champion Centreville for supremacy in Virginia Class 6A.

A 9-1 record in last week's selections has helped Jamie DeMoney widen his lead in our season-long predictions contest. DeMoney is now 110-50 for the season, four games ahead of Stephen Spiewak and five clear of Mitch Stephens. Fourth place belongs to Leland Gordon (103-57), followed by Kevin Askeland (99-61) and Colin Ward-Henninger (98-62).

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.

To catch up with what's happening in the playoffs nationwide, view the state champions and brackets nationwide story.


Allen (Texas) vs. Skyline (Dallas)

What to watch: The grueling quest to run unscathed through a Texas playoff bracket will end Saturday night for one of these Top 10 teams. This 6A Division I showdown matches the only unbeaten teams left among eight semifinalists in the Division I and II brackets. Allen, the No. 2 team in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 25, needs two more wins to finish the year with its third straight state title and a 43-game winning streak that would be one of the five longest in the nation. Even though they are the odds-on favorite to win it all, the Eagles (14-0) have had to fight hard to make it this far. It took their third second-half comeback in a row to escape with a 30-27 win over then-No. 25 Trinity (Euless) last week. National Player of the Year candidate Kyler Murray had over 450 combined passing and rushing yards and all four Allen touchdowns. The Texas A&M commit could surpass 10,000 yards passing and 4,000 yards rushing for his career this week. On the other side, this is the second time in four seasons that Skyline has reached the state semifinals sporting a 14-0 record. The seventh-ranked Raiders are loaded with talented skill position players, including senior receiver Carlos Strickland — a 6-foot-5 specimen who caught four passes for 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 38-20 win over Klein Oak (Spring) last week. Strickland, rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports, has committed to Texas Tech.

See live scoring updates of this game via Qwixcore

Just the facts: Objectively, Skyline's road to the semifinals has been easier than Allen's. Allen's four playoff opponents had a collective 38-12 record this season, and two of the teams were nationally ranked at some point during the year. Whereas Skyline's four postseason opponents combined for only a 32-19 record. … With two more wins, Skyline would become the first Dallas Independent School District team to be crowned state champion since Dallas Sunset did it in 1950.

Mitch Stephens: Allen 48, Skyline 28
Kevin Askeland: Allen 45, Skyline 25
Jamie DeMoney: Allen 45, Skyline 27
Stephen Spiewak: Allen 45, Skyline 41
Leland Gordon: Allen 52, Skyline 49
Colin Ward-Henninger: Allen 63, Skyline 58