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State Semifinals DFW #TXHSFB Preview: Part 3
Dec 14, 2019
It's the penultimate week of the Texas high school football season. TAPPS wrapped up last week - SPC many weeks ago - and we've burned through 14 weeks of UIL play.
This week is the State Semifinals as there are but a handful of tickets to be punched for the state finals.
Like the last two days, we're going to do things a little differently. Instead of dropping each game preview at once and separate all the other predictions into post, we're going to go by each day, which turns our focus onto Saturday's games.
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</p><h4 rel="noopener noreferrer">Game Details</h4><p rel="noopener noreferrer">
<strong>Time:</strong> 2:00 p.m.<br>
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<strong>Day:</strong> Saturday, December 14
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<strong>Location:</strong> Eagle Stadium (Allen, Texas)
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<strong>Previous meetings:</strong> No previous meeting
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<strong>Matchup notes:</strong> 5A Division I State Semifinal<br>
</p><h4>Previewing Frisco Lone Star (14-0)</h4><p>
Frisco Lone Star has knocked down any challenger that has come up this year, including beating Highland Park at Highlander Stadium and again in the playoffs as well as escaping with a close win over The Colony in district play and beating a good Lancaster team last week by 18.
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All eyes will be on Marvin Mims, who set the state record for yards in a season last week and enters this game with 107 catches, 2,502 yards receiving and 31 TDs. Mims also has a chance at setting the career receiving yard mark in this game.
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But Lone Star is more than just Mims. Garret Rangel had passed for more than 4,500 yards and 50 touchdowns while completing 69 percent of his passes. Then there's the running back duo of Jake Bogdon and Jaden Nixon, who have combined for more than 2,200 yards rushing and 34 scores.
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And you would think that with such a prolific offense, it would give up a lot of points. But you would be wrong. Only twice has an opponent scored in 30 or more points.
</p><h4>Previewing Denton Ryan (14-0)</h4><p>Just like Lone Star, Denton Ryan is loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball. The quartet of quarterback Seth Henigan, running back Emani Bailey and receivers Billy Bowman and Drew Sanders is nearly impossible to gameplan for.</p><p>While Ryan's offense may not pick up the yards like Lone Star, it certainly has a way to put up a lot of points. In all but two games, Ryan has scored 41 points or more.</p><p>The defense is superb as well. In watching them last week against Colleyville Heritage, Denton Ryan was pretty much able to render the all aspects of the Heritage offense non-existent in a dominating 56-10 win.</p><p>The good thing for Denton Ryan is it does not have to deal with Highland Park in this year's playoffs - a proverbial roadblock the past few years.<br></p><h4>Previewing the Game</h4><p>This might be the toughest game to pick out of all of them this week. Both teams like to score a lot of points and both teams have solid defenses.</p><p>Just look at these numbers.<br></p><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" data-darkreader-inline-border-bottom="" data-darkreader-inline-border-left="" data-darkreader-inline-border-right="" data-darkreader-inline-border-top="" style="border-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; --darkreader-inline-border-top:#3b3b3b; --darkreader-inline-border-right:#3b3b3b; --darkreader-inline-border-bottom:#3b3b3b; --darkreader-inline-border-left:#3b3b3b;" width="100%">
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<strong>TEAM STATS</strong>
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<strong>LONE STAR</strong>
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<strong>DENTON RYAN</strong>
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<td>Points Per Game</td>
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52.2</td>
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52.4</td>
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Points Allowed Per Game
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<td align="center">14.4</td>
<td align="center">10.4</td>
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<td>Yards Per Game</td>
<td align="center">562.2</td>
<td align="center">448.6</td>
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<td>Yards Allowed Per Game</td>
<td align="center">263.9</td>
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192.6<br>
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</table><p>This game will say a lot about both teams. We know Lone Star is battle tested, but can they keep it up against even better competition? Is Denton Ryan truly a great team and this is a legit run or have they benefited from a weak(ish) schedule.</p><p>Because of Lone Star having beaten vaunted Highland Park twice in high-pressure situations as well as a little bit tough district schedule, I think Lone Star wins by a slim margin. Prognostications are all over the place in this one, but there seems to be something magical with this Lone Star this year.<br> </p><p>
<strong>Prediction: Lone Star 44, Denton Ryan 38</strong>
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Follow
<a href="https://twitter.com/iamspeters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@iamspeters</a> for live updates of this game.
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Semifinals DFW #TXHSFB Preview
Nov 29, 2019
This week, it's a double-dose of triple headers in multiple locations each day as we move into the third week of the Texas high school football playoffs - previewing four UIL Regional Semifinal matchups and two TAPPS State Semifinals.
FRIDAY #1: Duncanville vs. Arlington Martin
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<h4 rel="noopener noreferrer">Game Details</h4><p rel="noopener noreferrer">
<strong>Time:</strong> Noon<br>
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<strong>Day:</strong> Friday , November 29
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<strong>Location:</strong> AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
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<strong>Previous meetings:</strong> Arlington Martin won 34-9 (2007hi)<br>
</p><h4>Previewing Duncanville (12-0)</h4><p>
What else can be said about Duncanville at this point? The team is once again playing at an elite level, and that's in all phases of football.
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Last week, Duncanville scored 42 points in 13 minutes of game action in the first week against Flower Mound on the way to a 45-0 halftime lead and a 59-13 win. Everything looked effortless when Duncanville decided to flip the switch and actually look interested in winning.
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In the two playoff games this year, Duncanville is winning by an average of 52 to 13.5 while outgaining teams by an average of 501.5 to 282 yards per game.
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The defense plays fast and is flies on the field, force a lot of turnovers (21 on the year; 6 in playoffs) and do not give up much, whether yards or points.
</p><h4>Previewing Arlington Martin (11-1)</h4><p>Outside of a failed comeback bid against another Regional Semifinalist - Rockwall - Arlington Martin has been playing lights out as well. In its nine-game win streak since the Rockwall loss, Martin is winning by an average of 44 points a game with the closest game coming against Arlington , 21-3.</p><p>So far in the playoffs, Arlington Martin has averaged 70 points per game and bumped its yards per game average to 479.5, which is 116 yards more from its district average.</p><p>Martin has a very active defense as well, forcing 21 turnovers this year as well as six in the playoffs, which has helped it jump out to big, early leads.<br></p><h4>Previewing the Game</h4><p>Oddly enough, Martin is slightly favored in this game, according to TexasFootball.com. This was shocking at first look, but certainly understandable.</p><p>
Here are the team split:
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<strong>TEAM STATS</strong>
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<strong>DUNCANVILLE</strong>
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<strong>ARLINGTON MARTIN</strong>
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Points Per Game
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<td align="center">45.7</td>
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48.4 </td>
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Points Allowed Per Game
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5.0 </td>
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12.1</td>
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Yards Per Game
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403.9
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369.5
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Yards Allowed Per Game
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162.1</td>
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257.8 </td>
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</table><p>What I don't think is taken into account is Duncanville is resting its starters for the second halves of most of its games this year, which contributes to the low stat numbers for its offensive starters. And even with back ups in the game, they still play pretty well </p><p>Seeing Martin playing as well as it has this year is good for Texas high school football. However, I don't think they are quite at the level of Duncanville. Both teams have good ground games, are pretty even passing numbers on the year and rely on the defense to hold teams down.</p><p>For my money, though, Duncanville seems to be a slight cut above. Expect Martin to make things interesting early until the depth and skill of Duncanville allows it to pull away late.<br></p>
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<strong>Prediction: Duncanville 38, Arlington Martin 21</strong>
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Follow
<a href="https://twitter.com/iamspeters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@iamspeters</a> for live updates of this game.<br>
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