District 3-4A Division I
Canyon rallies past Pampa, clinches No. 2 seed
Canyon had trouble getting started offensively against Pampa, but the Eagles closed out strong and earned the district’s No. 2 playoff seed on the road Friday night.
After falling behind early, the Eagles closed the game with 24 unanswered points and cruised to a 24-12 win. The victory gave Canyon (9-1, 3-1 in district) the district’s No. 2 playoff seed, as well as a district co-championship with Randall.
Pampa (5-5, 1-3) will settle for the district’s No. 4 postseason seed.
The Harvesters started off strong, taking a 12-0 lead in the first half. Freshman sensation Max Neff again led the offense, running for a game-high 228 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
But the Eagles didn’t panic, and got back into the game using their ground game by committee. They ran for 271 yards and Chris LaBue ran for two touchdowns.
Dumas routs Hereford, takes No. 3 seed
In a game with win or go home implications for both teams, Dumas showed its experience, taking an early lead and rolling to 35-7 win over Hereford, clinching the district’s No. 3 playoff seed.
The loss eliminated Hereford from the playoffs.
Dumas (6-4, 2-2) jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead as Emanuel Ibanez threw a pair of touchdown passes to Oilver Ortiz. Ibanez also ran for a touchdown.
In the second half, Sabien Perry ran for two touchdowns for the Demons.
Hereford (1-9, 1-3) got on the board on a 10-yard scoring run by freshman quarterback Kalub Ramirez early in the third quarter. Ramirez threw for 233 yards but was intercepted three times.
District 2-4A Division II
West Plains crushes Borger, clinches No. 2 seed
It’s hard to imagine the West Plains Wolves ending their first ever season at home in more celebratory fashion than they did against Borger.
West Plains dominated every phase of the game against Borger, taking an early lead and never letting up in rolling to a 55-7 victory at Happy State Bank Stadium to conclude their first regular season. The Wolves (6-4, 3-1) will open the playoffs as the district’s No. 2 seed next week.
As usual, running back Jordi Hernandez carried a big load for the Wolves. He got West Plains on the board with a 24-yard scoring run early in the first quarter. Hernandez finished with 182 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
Borger (2-8, 0-4) cut it to 14-7 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Logan Gray on the first play of the second quarter, but got nothing else. West Plains held the Bulldogs to 113 yards of offense.
Perryton falls to Seminole
Perryton gave district champion Seminole a good fight at home, but still fell 35-26. The Rangers (3-7, 2-2) will be the district’s No. 3 playoff seed while Seminole (9-1, 4-0) will be the No. 1 seed.
Quarterback Julian Cervantes threw for two touchdowns for Perryton and Isaias Dominguez ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Class 5A
District 2-5A Division II
Palo Duro holds off Plainview, clinches playoff berth
The Palo Duro Dons were in a fight up the very end, but they came out of it with their first playoff berth since 2014 on Friday night.
In a game where the winner took the district’s fourth and final playoff seed and the loser’s season was over, Palo Duro took the lead in the second quarter and scored 21 unanswered points for a sizeable lead at Plainview. That was necessary, as Plainview rallied in the second half but fell just short as the Dons escaped with a 35-32 win.
The Dons (3-7, 2-3 in district) trailed 12-7 at the end of the first quarter but took a 21-12 lead at halftime as Avery Randle threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter. They extended the lead to 28-12 early in the third quarter on Kameron Brown’s 1-yard scoring run.
But Plainview (3-7, 1-4) scored two touchdowns as Karomo Collins ran for one and caught another to cut PD’s lead to 28-26 less than a minute into the fourth quarter. Just over two minutes later, though, Randle scored on a 3-yard run to give the Dons some breathing room and a 35-26 lead.
With under four minutes left, Plainview’s Seth Mayberry completed a 5-yard scoring pass to Mateo Hernandez to cut it to 35-32. However, the Dons were able to hold on the rest of the way.
Brown ran for 135 yards on 25 carries and had four catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
District 2-5A Division I
Caprock routed by Cooper in season finale
Caprock challenged playoff-bound Lubbock-Cooper early but the Pirates closed the game with 29 unanswered points, as Caprock lost 36-7 at Dick Bivins Stadium to close the regular season.
The Longhorns (5-5, 2-4) knew they’d been eliminated from playoff contention before the game began as Amarillo High beat Lubbock Monterey on Thursday to set the district’s playoff field.
Cooper (8-2, 5-1) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run by Ethan Elkins, the first of three scoring runs for Elkins. Caprock answered on the first play of the second quarter, as Lleyton Brown hit Jaden Aguero on a 3-yard scoring pass to tie it 7-7.
But it was all Cooper the rest of the way. The Longhorns managed only 201 yards offense for the game.
Cooper, meanwhile, ran for 323 yards.