Stephenville (3-2) at Brownwood (5-0): The Battle of 377, one of the state’s most heated rivalries, has been dominated by Stephenville in recent years as the Yellow Jackets have won five of the last six.

Brownwood comes into this one undefeated, but Stephenville has played the tougher schedule with wins over good 5A teams in Everman and Wichita Falls Rider; its two losses are to Midlothian Heritage and Abilene Wylie.

Last week, Stephenville won a 21-20 thriller over Rider as the ‘Jackets offense struggled most of the night. RB Tate Maruska led the way with 91 yards rushing and a touchdown. Stephenville threw for less than 50 yards in the win and that’s a bit concerning heading into this showdown against an experienced Brownwood defense.

Brownwood started the season strong with a win over Abilene Wylie, but the Lions have lived dangerous the past couple of weeks, escaping last week with a thrilling 31-28 win over Waco Connally. QB Ike Hall ran for four touchdowns to lead the Brownwood attack, but a concern for the Lions is finding some other secondary playmakers to team up with Hall as teams are starting to zero in on the Lions star dual-threat signal caller.

This is a rivalry game where anything can happen. The lean here is to Brownwood, which hasn’t beaten Stephenville since 2019 and the Lions are talented enough to push past a Stephenville squad that’s a bit of an enigma at the moment.

Stepp’s Pick: Brownwood by 3