{"id":17081,"date":"2025-10-23T07:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T07:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/17081\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T07:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T07:04:14","slug":"week-9-staff-picks-for-austin-area-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/17081\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 9 staff picks for Austin-area games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Texas high school football<\/a> season is rapidly approaching the playoffs. As part of the American-Statesman<\/a>\u2019s weekly coverage, our team of sports editor Rich Tijerina, reporters Rick Cantu and Colby Gordon and contributor Jay Plotkin are sharing our weekly picks of the top games in the Austin area. Gordon this week will go into detail on four matchups that he’s really interested in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Be sure to check statesman.com<\/a> this weekend for coverage of Week 9 Central Texas high school<\/a> football action.<\/p>\n

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\"Anderson<\/p>\n

Anderson wide receiver Jay Fullmer (21) hurdles McCallum defensive lineman Tucker Satterfield (53) as the McCallum defense attempt to bring him down in the first half of the Shoal Creek Showdown as the McCallum Knights and Anderson Trojans open their football season at House Park in Austin, Aug. 28, 2025. The Trojans won the game 37-2.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"McCallum<\/p>\n

McCallum Head Coach Tom Gammerdinger yells to his team in the first half of the Shoal Creek Showdown as the McCallum Knights and Anderson Trojans open their football season at House Park in Austin, Aug. 28, 2025. The Trojans won the game 37-2.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"McCallum<\/p>\n

McCallum warms up ahead of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"McCallum<\/p>\n

McCallum quarterback Aiden Ilai (12) dives over the play to score a touchdown in the first half of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"McCallum<\/p>\n

McCallum Head Coach Thomas Gammerdinger walks the field as his team warms up ahead of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Bastrop<\/p>\n

Bastrop takes the field ahead of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"In<\/p>\n

In Bastrop wide receiver Zac Wilkinson (17) catches a pass in the end zone to score a touchdown in the first half of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Bastrop<\/p>\n

Bastrop walks out of the locker room ahead of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Bastrop<\/p>\n

Bastrop quarterback Weston Nielsen (13) carries the ball as McCallum defensive lineman Nash Wegner (50) gives chase in the first half of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Bastrop<\/p>\n

Bastrop lineman Tiki Hola (55) gestures for a call In the first half of the game between the McCallum Knights and Bastrop Bears at House Park in Austin, Sept. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays huddles on the field ahead of the game against Pflugervile at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Pflugerville<\/p>\n

Pflugerville receiver Qualyn Penson (14) jumps into the endzone for a touchdown during the game against Hays at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays captains take the field for the coin toss ahead of the game against Pflugervile at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Pflugerville<\/p>\n

Pflugerville defensive back Jaedon Walker (30) intercepts a dropped pass intended for Hays receiver Jayden Gingrow (8) during the game at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Pflugerville<\/p>\n

Pflugerville receiver Qualyn Penson (14) runs the ball down the sideline during the game against Hays at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays players huddle on the field during the game against Pflugervile at the Pfield on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Pflugerville, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Quarterback<\/p>\n

Quarterback Rees Wise (9) leads his team in a prayer as the Westlake Chaparrals take the field ahead of their against the Steele Knights at Chaparral Stadium in West Lake Hills, Sept. 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"Quarterback<\/p>\n

Quarterback Rees Wise (9) hypes up his team as the Westlake Chaparrals take the field ahead of their against the Steele Knights at Chaparral Stadium in West Lake Hills, Sept. 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman\"LBJ<\/p>\n

LBJ defensive back Antione Baker (7) plays against Manor New Tech on Oct. 9, 2025 at Nelson Field in Austin, Texas.?<\/p>\n

Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman\"LBJ<\/p>\n

LBJ wideout Javarlyn Smith (0) picks up yards after the catch against Manor New Tech on Oct. 9, 2025 at Nelson Field in Austin, Texas.??<\/p>\n

Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays Hawks kicker Wyatt Deleon (45) for the field goal against the Hays Hawks during the first quarter at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays Hawks charge the field before the game against the Weiss Wolves at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Referee<\/p>\n

Referee Terance McCann tosses the coin between the Hays Hawks and the Weiss Wolves at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Weiss<\/p>\n

Weiss Wolves charge the field before the game against the Hays Hawks at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Weiss<\/p>\n

Weiss Wolves head coach Malcolm Hill talks to his team after the 50-8 win against the Hays Hawks at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays Hawks head coach Mark Torres talks to is team after the 50-8 loss against the Weiss Wolves at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Weiss<\/p>\n

Weiss Wolves rush the field to begin the second half against the Hays Hawks at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Hays<\/p>\n

Hays Highsteppers team perform during halftime at the District 12-5A football game against the Weiss Wolves on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman\"Weiss<\/p>\n

Weiss Wolves wide receiver Dallas Schad (11), left, rushes over to give his brother quarterback Jaxon Schad (15) a chest bump for the keeper touchdown during the third quarter at the District 12-5A football game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Bob Shelton Stadium in Hays County, Texas.<\/p>\n

John Gutierrez\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n

High school football: Top Week 9 games in the Austin area<\/p>\n

Lake Travis at\u00a0Westlake<\/p>\n

The game of the year in Central Texas has arrived. Lake Travis (7-0, 3-0 District 26-6A) will all but lock up the district title with the win while Westlake (6-1, 3-0) still has to play Dripping Springs. Both teams have impressive defenses. Lake Travis\u2019 starters have only given up more than one touchdown twice.\u00a0Westlake, which is missing\u00a0TCU commit\/DL Maddox Flynt due to injury, gave up significant points and yardage to the explosive offenses of Prosper and Humble Atascocita, yet has shut down everyone else.<\/p>\n

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This will be the fifth time\u00a0Westlake QB Rees Wise has faced Lake Travis, and the Chaps are looking for their seventh straight win in the series.\u00a0Expect a second-half turnover by either team to be the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s pick: Westlake 27-24<\/p>\n

Vandegrift at Hutto<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t determine the District 25-6A champion, but this contest will go a long way toward it.<\/p>\n

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Hutto (6-1, 5-0) is one of the area\u2019s surprise teams and hasn\u2019t lost since Week 1 against San Marcos. The Hippos have an electric offense with QB Kaden Stefek (1,730 yards, 23 TDs passing), RB\u00a0Keilan Chavies (604 yards, 7 TDs rushing) and WR Jaiden Fields (741 yards, 11 TDs receiving). Hutto has already beaten Round Rock, but more will be known about it after facing the Vipers. And the Hippos still have to play Vista Ridge and McNeil.<\/p>\n

Vandegrift (5-2, 4-1) is seeking an eighth straight district title. Following a loss to McNeil, the Vipers have hammered Cedar Ridge 46-6 and Manor 62-13. QB Miles\u00a0Teodecki and WR Brock Chilton lead a balanced offense, while the defense is giving up only 10 ppg in its last six contests. Vandegrift will need to control the clock to keep the ball away from the Hutto offense. Expect a late field goal to be the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s pick: Vandegrift 24-21<\/p>\n

Lake\u00a0Belton at Cedar Park<\/p>\n

If Cedar Park wants a shot at the District 8-5A Division I title, this is a must-win. The Timberwolves (4-3, 3-1) already lost to East View and have yet to face Georgetown. And with a brutal bi-district matchup in the playoffs \u2014 whoever finishes fourth will probably face Highland Park \u2014 seeding is as important as ever in this district. David Cooper (1,286 yards, 13\u00a0TDs passing) and Trae Hill (1,026 yards, 15 TDs rushing) pace the Cedar Park offense. A tough\u00a0nondistrict schedule should pay dividends for the Timberwolves here.<\/p>\n

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Gordon\u2019s pick: Cedar Park 39, Lake Belton 35<\/p>\n

Rouse at Leander<\/p>\n

Both teams need a win to stay alive in the District 8-5A Division I playoff race.<\/p>\n

Rouse (3-4, 1-3) let out some frustration last week in breaking a four-game losing streak with a 70-7 win over\u00a0Killeen Chaparral. The Raiders\u2019 passing attack \u2014 London Morgan has thrown for 2,077 yards and 26 TDs \u2014 will keep it in any game. But a defense that has given up at least 30 points six times will need to improve for Rouse to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Leander (3-4, 2-2) has a tough stretch to finish out the year with the Raiders, Cedar Park and East View. Dynamic running back Ke\u2019Marion Gordon (708 yards, nine TDs rushing) leads the Lions, who already defeated one\u00a0Leander ISD rival this season when they topped Glenn 28-27 in Week 6. Expect Morgan to continue to light up the stat sheet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s pick: Rouse 40-28\u00a0<\/p>\n

The season: 1. Cantu 89-31, 2. Plotkin 87-33 (2 games behind), 3. Gordon 83-37 (-6), 4. Tijerina 77-43 (-12)<\/p>\n

Last week: Cantu, Plotkin and Gordon all went 14-1 and Tijerina was 13-2<\/p>\n

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Week 9 picks\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anderson at Hays: Anderson \u2014 Gordon,\u00a0Cantu, Plotkin and Tijerina; Hays \u2014 None<\/p>\n

Taylor at Eastside: Taylor \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and\u00a0Tijerina: Eastside \u2014 None<\/p>\n

Lake Travis at Westlake: Lake Travis \u2014 Cantu, Plotkin; Westlake \u2014 Gordon, Tijerina<\/p>\n

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Vandegrift at Hutto: Vandegrift \u2014 Gordon, Tijerina; Hutto \u2014 Cantu, Plotkin<\/p>\n

McNeil at Cedar Ridge: McNeil \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and\u00a0Tijerina; Cedar Ridge \u2014 None\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cibolo Steele at San Marcos: Cibolo Steele \u2014 Gordon, Cantu and\u00a0Plotkin; San Marcos \u2014 Tijerina<\/p>\n

Stony Point at Westwood: Stony Point \u2014 Gordon, Cantu and Tijerina; Westwood \u2014 Plotkin<\/p>\n

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Glenn at Georgetown: Glenn \u2014 None; Georgetown \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and\u00a0Tijerina<\/p>\n

Liberty Hill at McCallum: Liberty Hill \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and Tijerina; McCallum \u2014 None<\/p>\n

Lake Belton at Cedar Park: Lake Belton \u2014 None; Cedar Park \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and Tijerina<\/p>\n

Rouse at Leander: Rouse \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and\u00a0Tijerina; Leander \u2014 None<\/p>\n

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Wimberley at Gonzales: Wimberley \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and Tijerina; Gonzales \u2014 None<\/p>\n

Northeast at LBJ: Northeast \u2014 None; LBJ \u2014 Gordon, Cantu, Plotkin and Tijerina<\/p>\n

Lexington at\u00a0Blanco: Lexington \u2014 Cantu, Tijerina; Blanco \u2014 Gordon, Plotkin<\/p>\n

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Johnson City at Thorndale: Johnson City \u2014 Gordon, Tijerina; Thorndale \u2014 Cantu, Plotkin\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"East<\/p>\n

East View quarterback Cormyc Guerrero looks for running room Oct. 17, 2025 against Georgetown at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Texas high school football season is rapidly approaching the playoffs. As part of the American-Statesman\u2019s weekly coverage, our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,586,2291,1227,8353,8352,588,2294,10687],"class_list":["post-17081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-schools","tag-lake-travis-cavaliers","tag-lake-travis-football","tag-texas-high-school-football","tag-uil","tag-westlake-chaparrals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}