A lot of treats were given out on Halloween but for Cypress Ridge, none was sweeter than its 56-28 win against Cypress Springs in a District 15-5A game at Pridgeon Stadium Friday night.

    At least twice Friday night, Kinkaid coach Steve Victory challenged his team to take their rivalry game against St.

          Yadira Vizcaya was crowned 2008 Spring Woods Homecoming Queen Friday night at Tully Stadium.

     (Spring Woods VS.

{mp3}Podcast-20081030{/mp3}   There's still much to be decided with two games remaining for most area high school football teams - things like playoff positioning, district championships and automatic berths.   Chad Washington and Dave Purpura attempt to sort through the muck, let you know where the action will be and dissect just what might happen in our Week Nine Preview Podcast.

Two of the best and most volatile football teams in District 22-5A will meet Friday night when state-ranked Pearland hosts Deer Park.   Both ball clubs enter the game unbeaten, sporting 3-0 conference records and both are 7-0 overall.

  Your quick study in high school football entering Week Nine: BEST OF THE LOT Deer Park (7-0, 5-0) at Pearland (7-0, 5-0), 7 p.m.

  {mosimage}A couple weeks ago, Cypress Creek quarterback Austin Pugliese just came up short of being the Athlete's Connection's College Ball or Bust.com Athlete of the Week. But after his performance against Cypress Falls this past weekend, there was no way for us to ignore him this time. {mosimage}The senior quarterback went 26-of-35 for 444 passing yards and three touchdowns, then ran for 106 yards and another touchdown in the Cougars’ 49-28 thrashing of the Eagles Friday night at Pridgeon Stadium.

Because of the lost games due to Hurricane Ike, Fort Bend ISD decided to cut its District 23-5A schedule down from nine games to seven and go to a two-zone schedule.

      (Game - Memorial VS.

    All year long, the Elkins offense has been the ones that set the tone of the game.

    Full time-defensive back, part time receiver, La Porte’s Blake Marchal called his only catch of the Saturday's game against Pasadena Memorial the play of a lifetime.

      The talent Broderick Thomas has brought to Madison’s football team is special enough. But the Marlins senior quarterback, in his first year at the school after coming from Elkins, was quicker to compliment his special teams than discuss his five touchdowns in Saturday’s 45-28 victory against Chavez in a key District 20-5A game at Butler Stadium. One long kickoff return set up a touchdown, then a 79-yard interception return preceded a field goal at the end of the first half, when Chavez built a 17-point lead. “Our special teams, they’re underrated but they’re strong.

    Ever since its season-opening win against Eisenhower, Hightower has been waiting for a team from District 23-5A to give them a stiff challenge.

      (Game - Cy Falls VS.

 (Photos courtesy James McCoughan/Captain's Photography)   North Shore quarterback Alex Tillman completed six passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns, wide receiver Deandrew White caught four balls for 194 yards and two scores, and the host Mustangs rolled to a 49-3 shellacking of Baytown Sterling Friday night at Galena Park ISD Stadium.

    With the playoffs on their mind, Cypress Woods took care of Cy-Fair 42-20 Friday night in a District 15-5A game at the Berry Center.   Woods stayed in the playoff mix as quarterback Lucas Devilliers and the Wildcats defense were too much for the Bobcats to handle.   “The coaching staff has been preaching that we’re in the playoffs right now,” Devilliers said as the Wildcats improved to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the district.

  Ryan Eastman ran for two touchdowns, caught a third and The Woodlands improved to 7-0 overall, dominating archrival Conroe 34-10 Friday night at Woodforest Stadium. Eastman scored from 3 yards in the first quarter and caught a 10-yard pass from Andy McCloud early in the second half, when The Woodlands (7-0 overall, 3-0 District 14-5A) scored 20 unanswered points to expand a 14-10 halftime lead. McCloud scored from 45 yards early in the fourth and Daniel Lasco added a 78-yard scoring run for the Highlanders, which gained 240 of its 303 yards on the ground. McCloud was 6-of-13 passing for 63 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

  For whatever reason, the Strake Jesuit football team has followed up relatively forgettable road performances with resounding domination at home.

  Aldine coach Bob Jones, whose team faces powerful Eisenhower and the Houston high school version of the Four Horsemen on Saturday afternoon, likens the Eagles to 1985 Sugar Bowl participant Nebraska.   “If you can remember back to the 1985 Cornhuskers with (receiver) Irving Friar, (quarterback) Turner Gill and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier and how frightening offensively they were, well that’s how frightening Eisenhower is to us offensively,” said Jones, whose Mustangs enter the District 19-5A matchup at 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the district, winners of back-to-back games. “How do you game plan for four guys that can score at any given moment? A team can usually game plan for one or two guys, but four? And that’s not to mention their defense with the (Craig) Loston kid. “The only way for us to have a chance is for them to have the tires on the bus blow out so they can’t get to the game.

        Cypress Springs head coach Roland Gonzales had a cautious look on his face Thursday night.   He was happy with his team’s performance, but he knows there are at least two more stress-inducing games ahead. “This was a tough game,” he said.

 {mp3}Podcast-20081023{/mp3}   Some teams could all but clinch playoff spots with victories this weekend, while a few upsets could foul up all the projections.   Dave Purpura and Chad Washington preview Week Eight of the high school football season in today's podcast and look ahead to who's in and who still has a chance.

  Your quick study in high school football entering Week Eight: BEST OF THE LOT Cypress Creek (4-1, 4-0) vs.

  Based on its performance alone this season, Memorial’s defensive line is anything but anonymous. {mosimage} But trying to find one standout from a group that has made its name through forcing turnovers and stinginess allowing yards is something of a Herculean task. The Mustangs themselves won’t help.

{mp3}Podcast-20081020{/mp3}   A couple mindboggling individual and team performances headline our podcast review of Week Seven of the high school football season.   Also, Chad Washington and Dave Purpura go over who's currently in and out of the playoffs with three weeks to go.

Over the last three games, Hightower has averaged 39.3 points per game while holding its opponents to only seven per game.

Memorial’s defense had its way with Elsik on Saturday night as they won 28-14 in a District 18-5A game at Tully Stadium.

      You would think that being in the spread offense, Elkins running back Robert Bass would not get the ball as much as the other offensive players.

  Pearland broke open a seven-point game at halftime behind the downhill running of running back Kasey Carrier, who totaled four touchdowns and 300 yards of offense in a 63-28 victory against Pasadena Memorial on Friday night at the Rig in a District 22-5A game.

        Leaving the Mercer Stadium field Friday night, Fort Bend Austin coach Tom Stuart finally cracked a small smile.   After a tough stretch of losses, he and his team finally have a big win to propel them for a big playoff push. After a heartbreaking one-point loss last week to Fort Bend Bush, the Bulldogs relied on a strong performance from quarterback Daniel Rockett and running back Brelynn McNary to get a 42-28 win against Kempner .

          Whatever ailed the Cypress Woods football team two of the past three weeks was made better – “cured” may be premature – on Friday night via two unlikely remedies.

      Kiara Pruitt was named Northbrook High School Homecoming Queen Friday night at Tully Stadium.

  Stratford had no problems Friday night at Tully Stadium as it defeated Northbrook 28-13 in a District 18-5A game.

        Second Baptist downed Northland Christian Thursday night 31-15 in a District TAPPS 4-II game.

(Athlete's Connection game photos) (Submitted photos by Chelsea Ruffino, Cypress Falls High School) Maybe the Cypress Falls football team should have gotten an inkling of how Thursday night’s game with Cypress Ridge would go in the first quarter.

{mp3}Podcast-20081016{/mp3}   Dave Purpura and Chad Washington preview a busy weekend in high school football, starting with Thursday night's Cypress Ridge-Cypress Falls game and lasting the next three days.

  “Limping in.” That’s how Pasadena Memorial coach John Snelson described his team’s physical state entering Friday night’s showdown against unbeaten District 22-5A leader Pearland at The Rig. Last week’s 30-0 win against Sam Rayburn proved costly for the Mavericks, at least health-wise.

  Your quick study in high school football entering Week Seven: BEST OF THE LOT Cypress Ridge (3-2, 2-1) vs.

This was a tough week to decide this week’s Athlete’s Connection’s College Ball or Bust.com Athlete of the Week. There were so many strong performances by a lot of players this week, but this week’s award was narrowed down to two athletes. {mosimage}Austin Pugliese hasn’t gotten the publicity that two other Cy-Fair ISD quarterbacks have gotten.

{mp3}Podcast-20081013{/mp3}   A few surprising victories - and surprisingly lopsided victories - are among the topics discussed by Dave Purpura, Heather Burr and Chad Washington in this podcast reviewing Week Six. Listen and enjoy as we recap some of the area's district races and analyze what the weekend results mean as we have four weeks left in the regular season.

            Efrem Oliphant and the rest of the Langham Creek football team conquered longtime rival Cypress Falls in a 40-33 win Saturday night in a District 15-5A game at Pridgeon Stadium.

          Paul Nguyen isn’t the prototypical quarterback, but what the 5-foot-7, 145-pound junior lacks in size, he makes up for with toughness. Nguyen ran for 93 yards and a touchdown while throwing for another to lead Kempner to a 28-24 win against Dulles Saturday night at Mercer Stadium.

          Perhaps more than any other district in the area, District 15-5A is turning out far afield of how preseason pundits figured.

  Andy McCloud threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Logan Rowe on the second offensive play of the game, and The Woodlands improved to 5-0 with a 42-17 victory against College Park in a District 14-5A game Friday night at Woodforest Stadium. McCloud threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns for the Highlanders (5-0, 1-0), who trailed 14-7 early in the second quarter.

Madison quarterback Broderick Thomas entered Friday night’s matchup against District 20-5A rival Bellaire excited about his team’s offensive scheme. Thomas said the game plan was to let him air the ball out and run.   Did he ever. The University of Nebraska bound 6-2 senior passed for 134 yards and two touchdowns leading the Marlins to a 46-16 thrashing against conference rival Bellaire at Butler Stadium. The righthander also rushed for 104 yards on the night averaging better than 10 yards per carry on ten attempts. The win keeps the Marlins unbeaten in district play (2-0) and improves them to 4-1 overall.   Thomas came out running and gunning from the start.

            Strake Jesuit and sister school St.

  A game hyped as one of the Houston area’s best ended up being a one-sided contest as Eisenhower dominated Humble 49-7 Friday night in a District 19-5A showdown at Thorne Stadium.

  District 18-5A’s top two undefeated teams met Friday for outright possession of first place.

  It was another big win for Hightower, but at the same time, it was another subpar performance all around. Despite holding Clements to 146 total yards and having more than 400 yards of offense in a 40-7 win Friday night at Hall Stadium, Hightower head coach Shane Hallmark was not happy with his team’s overall play.