Previews and predictions for the best Texas High School Football State Semifinals!

Canyon West Plains (11-3) vs Celina (14-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday at Abilene’s Shotwell Stadium: We expected Celina to be in this position as the Bobcats have spent much of 2024 as the No. 1 team in 4A-Division I, but there weren’t many outside of the Texas Panhandle who expected West Plains to be at this round in just its third varsity season. West Plains got here by pulling off the upset over Stephenville, 42-35, as QB Reid Macon threw for 267 yards and three scores to lead the Wolves, who turned momentum around with a key onside kick recovery in the fourth quarter. WPHS ended the game with a goal line stand to push the Wolves to their first state semifinal appearance. Celina took down previously unbeaten Alvarado 55-21 as the Bobcats outscored AHS 34-0 in the final two quarters. QB Bowe Bentley had a monster night throwing for 259 yards and two scores, while adding 118 yards and a score on the ground. RB’s Harrison Williams and Logan Gutierrez both chipped in a pair of rushing touchdowns to pace Celina’s offense that hasn’t scored less than 31 points in a single game all season. West Plains is potent on offense and will keep up for a half, much like Alvarado did, but Celina overwhelms the Wolves down the stretch. Stepp’s Pick: Celina by 17

Kilgore (12-2) vs La Vernia (11-3), 7 p.m. Friday at New Caney’s Randall Reed Stadium: Kilgore finally ended its playoff curse against Tyler Chapel Hill as it ended three years of playoff frustration with a convincing 30-6 rout Friday night. QB Kayson Brooks continued his outstanding play for KHS throwing for 206 yards and three scores, while Kilgore’s fast and physical defense was a menace for a usually explosive Chapel Hill attack. La Vernia, who pulled off the playoff upset of Austin LBJ in the area round, avenged district losses the last two weeks as the Bears took down Port Lavaca Calhoun and then rolled to an impressive 42-24 win over Bay City. La Vernia dominated the fourth quarter by outscoring Bay City 21-0. Sean Garza led the way with four rushing TDs. Kilgore’s speed on both sides of the ball will be a major challenge for La Vernia, but the Bears showed they can handle speed in their win over Austin LBJ. The key and what makes Kilgore a contender to win a state title is the Bulldogs physicality combined with overwhelming speed. Stepp’s Pick: Kilgore by 11

Brock (13-1) vs Carthage (13-1), 7 p.m. Friday at McKinney’s McKinney ISD Stadium: Brock, in its first season as a Class 4A program, advanced to the state semifinals with a hard-fought 12-10 triple overtime win over Graham, avenging a 38-0 regular season loss to the Steers. QB Brody Woods rushed for 92 yards and one touchdown and added 121 yards through the air. The star of the show proved to be Brock’s defense, which limited Graham to just 79 yards on the ground. Brock’s defense will have their hands full this week with nine-time state champion Carthage, who absolutely annihilated Van 53-14 last week. The Bulldogs were led by QB Jett Surratt, who tossed six first half touchdown passes to six different receivers, Carthage also had a defensive score in the win and sat their starters for the entire second half in the win. Brock’s made a good run, but even in their 3A days they’d have trouble with speedy, athletic teams from East Texas. Carthage has that speed and athleticism in droves and they bring an elite defense to the table too. Stepp’s Pick: Carthage by 17

Waco La Vega (11-3) vs Wimberley (12-2), 7 p.m. Friday at Georgetown’s Georgetown ISD Stadium: La Vega rolled through Region III winning their four playoff games by an average of over thirty points per game, including last week’s dominant 48-30 win over Sealy. RB Bryson Roland topped 250 yards rushing and QB Kourtney Parr had a strong night with a touchdown pass and a two touchdown runs. La Vega’s defense did struggle at times slowing down Sealy QB Kane Killough, they’ll have a major test with a QB with a similar skill set in Wimberley QB Cody Stoever. Wimberley escaped a furious late rally from Sinton in a 36-33 win, the Texans led 36-19 late but Sinton had a chance late to win the game. Stoever had three touchdown runs and two touchdown passes in the win, his 94-yard scoring pass to Nolan Waida proved to be the key strike in the middle part of the fourth quarter. This is going to be a shootout, both teams are explosive on offense in different ways, the key in this one is defense, whichever defensive unit steps up to the plate will be the team that walks out with a state championship appearance. I’m going with La Vega and Don Hyde to find a way to slow Stoever down. Stepp’s Pick: Waco La Vega by 6

Paradise (12-2) vs Malakoff (14-0), 7 p.m. Thursday at Frisco’s Ford Center: After barely slipping past Jim Ned in the third round of the playoffs, Paradise put on a stout effort last week with a 32-15 win over Shallowater to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. QB Ayden Winters was sensational for Paradise throwing for 142 yards and three touchdowns and he added 178 yards rushing on 31 carries. The Panthers defense played their best game of the year as well holding Shallowater to 142 yards of offense. Defending state champion Malakoff puts their 30-game winning streak on the line after the Tigers rolled to an impressive 35-0 win over Texarkana Liberty-Eyalu last Friday. RB Jason Tennyson ran for two scores, while QB Mike Jones added a touchdown run and played fantastic game spending time in the secondary. Malakoff’s a complete team, elite offensive line, stout defense, good team speed and they have a great leader in Jones. Malakoff rolls to another state title game appearance. Stepp’s Pick: Malakoff by 17

Columbus (13-1) vs Edna (14-0), 7 p.m. Thursday at Houston’s Rice Stadium: Edna is making their third straight state semifinal appearance and after two straight blowout losses, the Cowboys face a new opponent in Columbus who blasted past Franklin 62-42 last week. Edna rolled past Llano 41-14 a week ago as the Cowboys were led by ATH Braylen Harris who caught two touchdown passes from QB Chase Schubert, Harris also added a touchdown on the ground as well. Columbus’ offense was on fire as TCU commit QB Adam Schobel tossed three touchdown passes and he added a touchdown run, while Wyoming commit RB Grayson Rigdon added three touchdown runs, tallying over 200 yards rushing. Columbus’ offense is operating at such a high-level and even though this is Edna’s most complete team of the past three seasons, the Cardinals offense is just too explosive. Stepp’s Pick: Columbus by 13

Wall (13-1) vs Gunter (12-2), 4 p.m. Friday at Abilene’s Wildcat Stadium: Gunter rolled to their ninth straight state semifinal appearance last week with a dominant 33-6 win over Holliday as the Tigers defense again stole the show against a potent Holliday attack. Mitchell Gage had another kickoff return for a score, three different Tigers found the end zone on offense and kicker Preston Tarpley kicked two field goals in what can only be described as a total team effort victory. Wall comes in out of West Texas looking like a team ready to challenge Gunter as the Hawks made quite the statement with a 49-3 rout of Canadian last week, avenging two straight losses in the regional finals the past two years. QB Landon York was on fire for Wall throwing for 348 yards and five scores, the Hawks scored  the game’s final 49 points after falling behind 3-0 early. Wall known historically for their running game also added 162 yards on the ground in what was a total dominant effort. On paper these are two evenly matched teams, tough, athletic, not the biggest, but well coached, Gunter has the big edge in playoff and big game experience and that takes them back to the state title game. Stepp’s Pick: Gunter by 7

Stamford (14-0) vs Hamilton (14-0), 7 p.m. Thursday at Mineral Wells’ Ram Stadium: Unbeaten Stamford has been an absolute wagon in the playoffs winning their four playoff games by an average of over 35 points per game, last week the Bulldogs raced past previously unbeaten Post 48-26. The duo of QB Christian Duran and RB Kaston Vega were key in the win, while Stamford’s defense was stout against the vaunted Post rushing attack. Duran threw for 227 yards and three scores, while Vega ran for 131 yards and two scores. Post was shutout until halfway through the third quarter and much of their offensive damage came late in the game against Stamford backups. The last three weeks of the playoffs for Hamilton have been nail-biting to say the least, they slipped past Frankston 27-14 in the area rounds then the last two weeks the Bulldogs have needed the defense to stand on their heads in a 14-7 win over Kerens and a 15-14 win last week over Axtell. The Bulldogs trailed 14-0 midway through the third quarter but rallied late as QB Jaxson Edwards thew a touchdown pass to make it 14-7, then with 1:12 remaining Izaac Wood scored a 19-yard TD run and then Edwards on the PAT ran it in on a QB sneak to give the Bulldogs the lead which they’d hold on to. Hamilton’s defense will need another big-time performance this week against this dynamic Stamford attack, that’s a lot to ask considering the way Stamford is playing. Stepp’s Pick: Stamford by 20

Joaquin (10-4) vs Ganado (13-1), 7 p.m. Thursday at Shenandoah’s Woodforest Bank Stadium: Joaquin continues to do it, the fourth-place Rams defy logic and the odds week after week and last week’s 46-22 win over Honey Grove may have been their most impressive performance to date. The Rams and their Slot-T offense wore Honey Grove in the second half as RB Elijah Hardison ran for over 200 yards and three touchdowns and the Rams defense held a speedy Honey Grove attack in check save for a couple of big plays. Ganado had no letdowns last week after their big third round win over Refugio as the Indians rolled past Marlin 41-14. Logan Bures had a kickoff return for a touchdown while GHS QB Bryce Ullman continued his special season as when he’s in the lineup GHS is unbeaten. Ganado’s a big and physical team that matches up well with Joaquin, they’ve been in these big moments now and this appears to be their time. Stepp’s Pick: Ganado by 10

Gruver (14-0) vs Muenster (12-2), 7 p.m. Thursday at Childress’ Fair Park Stadium: Unbeaten Gruver comes into this matchup as an underdog as there may not be a hotter team in Texas than the Muenster Hornets. Gruver last week erased an early deficit to knock off Ropesville Ropes 42-28, RB/LB Walker Maupin ran for two scores, recovered a fumble on defense and had a 57-yard kickoff return to set up another GHS touchdown in the win. QB Briggs Satterfield ran for 102 yards and a score, he threw for 231 yards and a touchdown as well. Muenster for the second time this year took down Collinsville, this time in dominant fashion as the Hornets rolled to a 54-14 win, sending Collinsville home in the regional final for the second straight year. QB Casen Carney threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score, while RB Nolan Peel ran for two scores and had a touchdown catch as MHS raced out to a 40-7 halftime lead and cruised in the second half. Gruver is certainly more equipped to deal with Muenster than anyone in Region II, but the Hornets machine just keeps on rolling into the state title game. Stepp’s Pick: Muenster by 14

Bremond (12-2) vs Shiner (11-3), 7 p.m. Thursday at Cypress’ Cy-Fair FCU Stadium: Bremond with a stellar second half effort last week avenged their non-district loss to Grapeland in emphatic fashion with a dominant 45-14 win. Bremond outscored GHS 23-0 in the second half to pull away for the win. RB Tank Scott, operating behind a huge offensive line for 2A standards ran for 176 yards and two scores, while freshman QB Sam Kasowski continues to impress. Bremond’s offense will face their biggest test of the season this week against a stout Shiner defense that was sensational in a 27-0 win over Junction last week. The Comanches allowed just 105 yards on the night and RB Quincy Jones found the end zone twice, while QB Carson Schute operated the SHS offense with efficiency.  Shiner’s defense has made them an elite team once again and although the offense isn’t real explosive, they are efficient enough. Shiner heads back to Arlington this week. Stepp’s Pick: Shiner by 10

Last Week: 16-8 66.7%

Playoff Record: 129-39 76.8%

Season: 258-90 74.1%