SAN ANGELO, TX – Week 9 is an absolutely awesome week for high school football. Not only are we knee deep into district play, but now, the playoffs are looming in the distance. Tonight, at San Angelo Stadium, the Lake View Chiefs play the Big Spring Steers and have a real shot at snagging a playoff spot.

Tomorrow, the San Angelo Central Bobcats play the Midland Legacy Rebels. The Bobcats have been in just about every game this season. Midland Legacy has Purdue commit Marcos Davila at quarterback, who leads the Rebels. 

In 3A, the Wall Hawks take on the TLCA San Angelo Eagles and the Brady Bulldogs take on the Ballinger Bearcats. Then, in 2A, the Sterling City Eagles play the Eldorado Eagles.

MIDLAND LEGACY (5-2) @ SAN ANGELO CENTRAL (1-6) AT 7 P.M. ON 10/20

RYAN CHADWICK - Coach Crane said at his press conference this week that the ‘Cats enter this week with a sense of urgency. With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Bobcats need some district wins to make the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Central, Legacy will not be one of the teams they steal a win from. English continues to wow onlookers week in and week out, but the Bobcats will not be able to slow down Legacy enough to win this one. PICK: LEGACY 42 CENTRAL 35

MATT TRAMMELL - UPSET ALERT! The San Angelo Central Bobcats will beat Midland Legacy this year. Long ago are the days of being scared of the rebels. This year the Rebels have been up and down (despite their record). Their defense is atrocious and always let offense in the game in the fourth quarter. This is a perfect way for a Bobcats offense who has been stellar and a Central defense that has shown up the last few weeks. PICK: CENTRAL 59 - LEGACY 56

JAMES BOULIGNY - The Bobcats have been competitive in pretty much every game and Legacy has had a couple of surprising weeks. For Central, they’ve been in every game they’ve played except for the midland game, which got away from them in the second half. Legacy has beaten Frenship, a game they lost last season, and lost to Permian. Look out for Central to be in this one but the experienced Rebel’s team pulls out the win. PICK: LEGACY 56 - CENTRAL 49

OTHER PICKS: SCOTT MENCHACA - MIDLAND LEGACY | ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ - MIDLAND LEGACY | YANTIS GREEN - MIDLAND LEGACY | KIMBERLY MAJANO - MIDLAND LEGACY | ARLEEN CASTILLO - SAN ANGLEO CENTRAL |

BIG SPRING (1-6) @ LAKE VIEW (1-6) AT 7 P.M. ON 10/19

BOULIGNY - Lake View took a beating last week against one of the better teams in 4A in the state against Brownwood. Now, they have a shot to win against Big Spring. Only thing is, the Steers have a very good quarterback in Gavin Padron, who has weapons in running back Kavien Ford, and wide receivers Keyshaun Woodruff, Jose Munoz, and Zeyire Franklin. The Chiefs will have another tough game that they come up short in. PICK: BIG SPRING 35 - LAKE VIEW 24

TRAMMELL - Winner gets in. Loser goes home. That has to be the attitude for the chiefs this week. In a 5 man district all you have to do is beat the last place team. It seems like every year that these two teams are the bottom in the district so If you want to keep playing you have to win tonight. It’s always a coin toss but with it being a home game on a short week that likely favors the Chiefs. There will be turnovers on both sides so who will respond? My gut is saying the North Side. PICK: LAKE VIEW 28 - BIG SPRING 13

CHADWICK - It’s time for the Chiefs to prove how bad they want to get into the playoffs. Big Spring enters this matchup as Lake Views best shot for a victory this season. Head Coach Gueavara says that his team continues to improve every week despite the fact that injuries continue to pile up. If Lake View can jump out to an early lead, they have a chance to win this won. PICK: LAKE VIEW 33 BIG SPRING 28

OTHER PICKS: MENCHACA - BIG SPRING | RODRIGUEZ - LAKE VIEW | GREEN - BIG SPRING | MAJANO - LAKE VIEW | CASTILLO - LAKE VIEW |

BALLINGER (0-7) @ BRADY (2-5) AT 7 P.M. ON 10/20

BOULIGNY - A strange game last week against Early sent the Bulldogs home needing to regroup. This week, they’ll do just that against the Ballinger Bearcats. Dash and Bash, Zeke Jones and Daryl Adair, will take pressure off of Sean Jacoby at quarterback. The Bearcats could try some trickery against the Bulldogs and they have two quarterbacks who have gotten about equal time at signal caller in Cade Strube and Kyson Weathers. Of course, Zach Canada and Aiden Pena take pressure off of them as well. Brady’s defense does fly around and will corral the Bearcat offense. PICK: BRADY 34 - BALLINGER 14

CHADWICK - After a lopsided loss a week ago against Early, the Brady Bulldogs look to get back on track in district. The Bearkats need to get back to work and just try and get back into the end zone. Brady is just too much for Ballinger this week. PICK: BRADY 28 BALLINGER 12

TRAMMELL - This game is the most winnable game on Brady’s schedule and they better take care of business if they want in the playoffs. I expect Zeke Jones to have 200 yards on the ground and the defense to pitch a shut out. Even if they under perform they will likely still be in position to win. PICK: BRADY 35 – BALLINGER 0

OTHER PICKS: MENCHACA - BRADY | RODRIGUEZ - | GREEN - BRADY | MAJANO - BRADY | CASTILLO - BRADY |

TLCA SAN ANGELO (3-3) @ WALL (4-2) KICKOFF AT 7 P.M. ON 10/13

TRAMMELL - Unlike the rest of my hater cohorts I believe in the Eagles. (They do believe a little) I think that after last week’s game they Eagles are ready for their first real test of the year. Throughout history wall has struggle with teams like score fast and TLCA does just that. Plus if the Eagles get up in a hurry then you know what Wall will have to do and we’ve seen how that worked so far this year. PICK: TLCA 35 - WALL 21

BOULIGNY - The Hawks have been rolling since the Mason loss. This Craig Slaughter taught defense will contain the TLCA offense. Layne Honea can get it done and does have a couple of good receivers in Jaidden Villanueva and Luis Casillo. But this Hawk running game has about 10 players who will get touches and they will wear down opponents. Hawks take this one. PICK: WALL 49 - TLCA SAN ANGELO 21

CHADWICK - The Wall Hawks enter another matchup that could either be a real test, or a blow out. It all depends on TLCA. The Eagles are a bit of a head scratcher this year. When they show up to play, they really can play with anyone. When they don’t, we have games like the one against Ozona and Brady. Layne Honea needs to find his receivers early and build a lead on Wall if the Eagles want to throw the Hawks off their game. Wall will continue to play Wall football regardless of who their opponents are and I do not see the result changing this week. PICK: WALL 56 TLCA 20

OTHER PICKS: MENCHACA - WALL | RODRIGUEZ - WALL | GREEN - WALL | MAJANO - TLCA | CASTILLO - TLCA |

ELDORADO (4-3) @ STERLING CITY (6-1) KICKOFF AT 7:30 P.M.

CHADWICK - This matchup will determine playoff seedings this year. Both teams are good. Both teams will make the playoffs. Sterling City has the edge in this one but Eldorado has shown that they can play with anyone. PICK: STERLING CITY 26 ELDORADO 22

BOULIGNY - This will be one of the better games this week. This is a huge district matchup between two good programs. The Battle of the Birds will be a fight from start to finish. Ty Turner, Johnny Monreal, Seth Turner, and Canyon McCabe will be tough to stop but Tony Kmeic, Michael Adame, and Aizik Soto can get it done. On the Eldorado side, Omar Barajas, Jason Covarrubiaz, and Ethan Elias will be difficult to stop. The Sterling City Eagles get the edge at home. PICK: STERLING CITY 32 - ELDORADO 28

TRAMMELL - Two words will describe this matchup and that's ‘dog fight.’ These two teams know each other well and Eldorado is fighting to dig themselves out of the 4th seed so they won’t play the defending state champs in the first week of the playoffs. Sterling City has been blowing out teams but have shown signs of vulnerability. PICK: ELDORADO 14 - STERLING CITY 12

OTHER PICKS: MENCHACA - STERLING CITY | RODRIGUEZ - STERLING CITY | GREEN - ELDORADO | MAJANO - STERLING CITY | CASTILLO - ELDORADO