Both the area clubs Shadow Creek and Manvel, which are both destined for the playoffs, finished their regular seasons on November 5 with a mixed record.
Although the Sharks defeated Sam Rayburn by a score of 72-0 at AISD Freedom Field, the Mavericks were defeated by Dobie by a score of 54-34 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Pasadena. This result ensured that the Sharks would win the 22-6A Football championship hands down.
Both teams will be competing in the 6A Division 2 bracket. Shadow Creek, which has a record of 9-1 overall and 8-0, will be hosting Elkins in the bi-district round on Thursday at Freedom Field at 7 p.m., while Manvel, which has a record of 5-5 overall and 5-3, will be playing Hightower at Hall Stadium in Missouri City at the same time.
While Shadow Creek will be participating in the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, Manvel will be making their return to the postseason for the fourteenth time in the past fifteen years. In 2023, Manvel’s long-standing series of thirteen consecutive postseason appearances was broken.
The Sharks scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff thanks to a touchdown run by Evan Moorehead that covered 66 yards, and Shadow Creek cruised the rest of the way.
Dante Mayes, the quarterback for the Sharks, completed seven of eight passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns.
On the next series for South Carolina, he found Chris Stewart with a touchdown pass of 17 yards, and on the subsequent possession, he threw a touchdown pass to Alex Kirkland for 24 yards. As a result, the Sharks began the second quarter with a comfortable 21-0 lead.
Tristin Willis also ran for 30 and 45 yards in the second period, all of which were scored, and Cameron Hebert raced 37 yards with a blocked punt, which brought the score to 51-0 at the halftime break.
On Shadow Creek’s first offensive play of the third quarter, Kirkland surged for a 93-yard excursion to the end zone, and Inno Beauchamp turned a short ball from reserve signal caller Sean Brooks into a thrilling 91-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception. Both of these games were won by Shadow Creek.
The Mavericks were forced to play catch-up throughout the entirety of the game because they were forced to make turnovers on consecutive possessions when they were playing in Pasadena.
Due to Willard Joiner III’s touchdown pass to Marcus Jones, which covered 38 yards and was a hail mary, the Longhorns were able to secure a spot in the postseason as the No. 2 seed from Division I. This was accomplished on the very last play of the game.
However, as a consequence of this, Dobie surpassed Dawson in terms of the tie-breaking point differential, which also resulted in the Eagles being eliminated from postseason contention.
The first touchdown for Manvel was scored by Xaiden Brown on a run of five yards. Cam Renfro, who completed 19 of 26 passes for 201 yards and one touchdown, connected with Joshua Irvin, who had ten receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown, with a touchdown pass of sixty yards.
Renfro then scored from one yard out to bring the score to 28-20 at the halftime break.
In addition, Renfro ran for a touchdown run of 48 yards in the second half, while Kenneth Malone-Hayes added a score run of three yards to his total of eight carries for 122 yards and one touchdown.