LUFKIN, Texas -- Texas High is seeking the Region III-5A, Division II championship, but standing in the Tigers' way is Crosby, which ended THS' playoff run last season before advancing to the state finals.
No. 6 Texas High (12-0) and the 10th-ranked Cougars (11-2) clash tonight at Lufkin's Abe Martin Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
"Obviously, we want to keep playing, and this week is going to be a big challenge ahead of us," Tigers head coach Gerry Stanford said. "It just gets harder from here, and we have to keep in our mind that we want to keep moving forward."
The Tigers have dominated all three of its playoff opponents 42-14 over Fulshear, 31-0 over Texas City and 44-21 over Port Neches-Groves.
Crosby has beaten Madison 72-36, Marshall 52-14, and A&M Consolidated 53-50. Riding an 11-game win streak, the Cougars have scored 649 points and allowed 341.
Crosby has 3,355 yards rushing and 2,781 passing for an average of 472 yards of total offense per game.
Quincy Jones leads the ground game with 180 carries for 1,244 yards and 17 TDs, and Cyrin Myles has 193 rushes for 1,089 yards and 19 scores while also completing 127-of-211 passes for 2,269 yards, 31 TDs and three interceptions.
Kameren Kirkwood has 54 receptions for 1,035 yards and 17 scores, Braden Womack has 32 grabs for 603 yards and nine TDs, Kristian Roberson has 16 for 395 and four touchdowns and Luke Smith adds 23 for 334 and three.
THS has scored 434 points (36.2 average) and allowed 143 (11.9) with offensive total yardage of 354.4 and defensively allowing 234.8 per game.
Braylon Stewart has rushed 252 times for 1,908 yards and 27 touchdowns, and Brayson McHenry has completed 119-of-204 passes for 1,563 yards, 14 TDs and two interceptions. Trent Kelley adds 88 rushes for 407 yards and three TDs, and McHenry has 76 for 402 and eight scores.
Blake Rogers has 36 catches for 540 yards and eight touchdowns, followed by Brandon Hall (27-239-0), Cody Reese (22-311-2) and T.J. Gray (19-304-3).
"Once you get to this point, with only eight teams left, we like to say those are the best eight teams in the state," Stanford said. "Crosby's got to be at the top of that list: they're the state runners-up from last year and have a real similar team this year. With the teams left, they're the only one who played for a state championship last year.
"We like being in that conversation. We know this is a big ballgame, as every game we play is this time of year."
The game will be broadcast on KTFS 107.9 with pregame at 6:30.
The winner advances to the state semifinals to play Liberty Hill or Alamo Heights.