THIS WEEK'S TOP GAMES

Colleyville Heritage (8-2) vs. Lewisville (7-3), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Texas Stadium: Colleyville Heritage, which won three playoff games last season, has won five straight since losing 42-14 to No. 1 Southlake Carroll. Lewisville, which has won two state titles, beat rival Flower Mound, 22-15, to close the regular season.

Irving MacArthur (9-1) vs. Cedar Hill (7-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Grand Prairie's Gopher-Warrior Bowl: MacArthur lost in its only game against a current 5A Top 20 area team – 48-10 to No. 3 Euless Trinity. Cedar Hill has wins against playoff teams Colleyville Heritage, Hebron and Arlington Martin.

Lake Dallas (9-1) vs. West Mesquite (7-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Plano's Clark Stadium: A matchup of area 4A Top 10 teams. Lake Dallas has recovered from an upset by The Colony to win its last three games, including a convincing 42-14 victory over No. 10 Frisco. West Mesquite will have to recover quickly from a 38-20 loss to No.1 Highland Park.

McKinney Boyd (7-3) vs. Richardson Pearce (8-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Carrollton's Standridge Stadium: Boyd, which makes it postseason debut, has been in playoff mode since Week 8 when it beat Little Elm. Pearce has scored more than 30 points in eight of 10 games, but it allowed 70 points in Week 9 to Rockwall-Heath.

MIKE STONE / Special to DMN

Plano quarterback Carson Meger turns to hand off the ball to running back Rex Burkhead.

Plano (9-1) vs. Rockwall (6-4), 4 p.m. Saturday, Texas Stadium: Plano has its best chance in years to add its record eighth state championship. Rockwall is battled tested with losses to No. 1 Southlake Carroll, No. 2 Allen and No. 7 South Garland by a combined 20 points. The teams faced each other in a preseason scrimmage.

POTENTIAL FUTURE MATCHUPS

Royse City vs. Roosevelt: Royse City could put an 11-0 record on the line against Roosevelt in a battle of top 3A quarterbacks. Royse City's Richard Morrison has passed for 2,897 yards and 30 TDs. Roosevelt's Vincent McNeil Jr. has 1,241 rushing yards.

Cedar Hill vs. Southlake Carroll: The game everyone wanted last year in the state championship round could happen in the 5A Division II Region I area round. Only this year Cedar Hill has three losses and no quarterback William Cole and Carroll lost its spotlight game to Miami Northwestern.

Euless Trinity vs. Odessa Permian: Trinity has gone back to its roots since a five-turnover game and a 30-3 loss to Permian on Sept. 15 at Odessa's Ratliff Stadium, and now could get another shot at Mojo in the 5A Division I regional. Permian has used the momentum from the Trinity win to get to No. 5 in the AP state poll.

Plano vs. Allen: These teams met in one of the best games of the season, a 35-26 victory for Allen at Clark Stadium, and could see each other again in the 5A Division I Region II final. Plano and Allen combined for 1,105 yards in the game, and each team had three turnovers.

Everman vs. Highland Park: Everman (10-0) appears to have the tougher road to this potential 4A Division II state semifinal game, with possible games against Birdville and either Stephenville or Wichita Falls Rider in the regional final. Highland Park could get tested in the third round against Waco.

TITLE CONTENDERS: SIX TEAMS TO WATCH

5A Southlake Carroll: Carroll has the experience with seniors QB Riley Dodge and RB Tre' Newton. There is the pressure on Hal Wasson in his first season as Carroll's coach. And there are potential games against Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Lufkin and Katy. Will Carroll go 15-0 against Texas teams and win its fourth consecutive state title?

5A Allen: Just having Southlake Carroll in another division should give Allen that extra boost of confidence to get past the state semifinals. Allen's offense and special teams are as good as any in the state. The only question is whether Allen can survive another game where its defense gives up 600 yards?

5A Plano: Plano faces a tough road to the state title game with potential matchups against Spring Westfield, Allen and Odessa Permian. Another game against Permian would be a romantic game for the loyal Plano followers who wonder why its program wasn't picked for Friday Night Lights. Plano is 4-0 all-time against Permian in the playoffs.

4A Highland Park: Highland Park took over as the state's No. 1 4A team after Everman's upset of Stephenville last weekend. The 10-0 Scots have won all but one game by at least 17 points. Word is Highland Park fans don't recognize the playoff pairings with their team in 4A Division II and Texarkana Texas High in Division I.

4A Everman: Everman served noticed with a 31-28 home victory over No. 1 Stephenville in the final game of the regular season. Running back Clarence Jennings is a game-breaker, averaging 9.2 yards per carry.

3A Celina: A smothering defense always gives Celina a chance. And this year's 146 yards per game says "state championship." Gilmer, Royse City, Roosevelt and Liberty Hill, the team that defeated Celina in the state title game last year, are all in the other bracket. FS D'Anton Lynn, who orally committed over the weekend to Penn State, finally appears to be healthy.

CLUTCH QUARTERBACKS

Cyrus Gray, DeSoto: He could be this year's answer to William Cole. He does it differently than the others, third in the 5A area with 1,560 rushing yards and 24 TDs. Gray broke a clutch 70-yard TD run on fourth down late in last year's playoff game against Abilene.

Riley Dodge, Southlake Carroll: He doesn't have to prove his toughness to anyone after the Miami Northwestern loss. Dodge has pretty good statistics with 2,740 passing yards and 31 TD passes.

Matt Brown, Allen: Brown hasn't had the chance to prove himself in the playoffs. But he dominated against a difficult 9-5A schedule, rushing for 921 yards and 10 TDs and passing for 2,414 yards and 25 TDs.

Nick Florence, South Garland: He helped South Garland unseat rival Garland as the best team in 10-5A. Now he tries the playoffs. Florence has passed for 2,442 yards and 23 TDs.

Richard Morrison, Royse City: The junior quarterback has completed 70 percent of his attempts and has 30 TD passes. Morrison led Royse City to two playoff victories last season.

KEY UNITS

Allen offensive line: Allen has another dominant group, led by center Anthony Aguinaga, who Plano coach Gerald Brence said, "is the best player in District 9-5A."

Plano West defensive line: It starts with sophomore defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, who puts pressure on the opposing quarterback. Junior nose guard Ameen Behbahani had two blocked kicks last week against Richardson Berkner, and defensive end Lyle Medlen had an interception.

Euless Trinity defensive line: This says it all – Trinity has allowed 573 rushing yards for the season. Defensive tackle Mao Leota is one of the top recruits in the area.

Skyline linebackers: Skyline has the area's No. 1 defense and is right behind Trinity allowing 773 rushing yards per game, and it's because of top recruits Spencer Reeves and Alfred Dupree (Oklahoma State). Only a fourth-quarter touchdown by Bryan Adams kept Skyline from entering the playoffs with five straight shutouts.