Football Friday Night Week Nine Preview

The magic number is three for El Paso high school football teams: three weeks left, three weeks to make a case for a playoff run and three games left for district titles to be crowned.

Week nine of the El Paso high school football scene features an interesting slate of games from three separate districts.

Lets start in our YMCA Game of the Week, as Austin takes on Irvin in a 2-5A-2 matchup that could determine playoff seeding. Irvin (3-0) and Austin (3-1) are ranked second and third place, respectively, behind Andress (3-0). Irvin is riding a four-game win streak, while Austin has won three in a row.

In 1-6A, Americas shocked Pebble Hills last night in a 39-21 finish to completely mess the standings for the district. Now, Franklin (2-0 in 1-6A) will look to be the frontrunners at the district title if they can beat out Montwood (1-1) tonight and Pebble Hills next week. The rest of the playoff spots will be determined by Montwood, Pebble Hills, Americas and Coronado, but this could be a sticky mess.

The slate for 1-5A-2 this week will be seen as a seeding frenzy too, with matchups between Ysleta-Riverside, Canutillo-Hanks and Horizon-Parkland. As of now, Parkland and Ysleta seem to be the favorable No. 1 and No. 2 spot in this district, with a three-way battle between Canutillo, Hanks and Horizon for the final two spots. Canutillo-Hanks could be a matchup for playoff contention, while Horizon and Riverside could jeopardize playoff contention with losses.

After a huge upset over Del Valle last week, Eastwood (2-0 in 5A-1) can lead the way in 5A-1 for the district title leaders with a win over Chapin (2-0) tonight. Teams like Del Valle (1-1), Eastlake (0-2) and El Dorado (1-1) are still vying for possible playoff contention, so this week will be key for each team in terms of seeding. Should El Dorado or Bel Air lose today, they are likely out of playoff contention.

Here's this week's schedule: