Football Friday Night is back for another week with Beau Bagley and Paul Mackinnon calling the action every Friday night, with all of our reporters at each game in the city. This Friday, the pregame show will kick off at 6:00, and the guys will have updates throughout the Chihuahuas broadcast. See scores in real time by seeing our scoreboard powered by Scorestream, or by visiting our 600 ESPN El Paso Twitter page.

Week 6 Schedule

Eastlake (4-1, 3-0) at Socorro (0-4, 0-2)

Eastwood (2-2, 1-1) at Coronado (1-4, 0-3)

Bel Air (5-0) at Hanks (2-3)

Ysleta (1-4) at Parkland (3-2)

Chaparral (0-5) at Chapin (0-4)

Irvin(0-5) at El Paso (3-1)

Horizon (0-5) at Del Valle (4-1)

Cathedral (2-3) at Bowie (1-4)

San Eli (1-4) at Fabens (2-2)

Pebble Hills (5-0, 3-0) at Americas (1-4, 1-2)

Riverside (5-0) at Bushland (5-0)

Cathedral (1-2) at Anthony (2-1)

Full Standings

1-6A*W-L*Pct.*PF*PAW-LPct.PFPAStrk
Eastlake4-01.000107755-10.8331411024 W
Pebble Hills3-01.000124645-01.000197775 W
Franklin3-10.750225954-20.6672881441 L
Montwood2-10.667143822-30.4002201902 W
Eastwood1-10.50078742-20.5001551751 W
Americas1-30.2501131411-50.1671562143 L
El Dorado0-30.000661152-30.4001211523 L
Socorro0-20.00001330-40.00082224 L
Coronado0-30.000641411-40.2001181974 L
1-4AW-LPct.PFPAStrk
Riverside5-01.0002511035 W
Austin2-40.3331101301 L
San Elizario1-40.2001071121 L
Bowie1-40.200981473 L
Irvin0-50.000872535 L

Here are five things to know for this week:

Franklin now drops to 3-1 in 6A, while Montwood's playoff hopes remain alive at 2-1 in district play. The Rams have a critical game against Eastlake next week, while the Cougars will hit their bye week.

Game of the Week: Eastwood at Coronado

The 1-6A district season has seen some interesting surprises thus far. Friday's showdown between Eastwood and Coronado could have playoff implications down the line. We'll talk about that later. For now, let's explore this matchup at length.

Eastwood (2-2, 1-1) is coming off a dominant 56-34 win against El Dorado last week, in which junior quarterback Evan Minjarez threw for 357 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions, along with 159 rushing yards and a pair of rushing scores. Minjarez has already eclipsed 1,200 passing yards on the year through five weeks. His top target is senior standout Curtis Murillo (459 receiving yards, eight touchdowns).

Meanwhile, Coronado (1-4, 0-3) has gone through the gauntlet of 1-6A thus far, having lost to the top three teams in the district in Franklin, Eastlake and Pebble Hills. Even though Coronado is still going through a rebuilding season under first year head coach Mike Pry, the Thunderbirds have hung in several games and proved that they are a tough out for any team. They are led by junior quarterback Owen Levesque (654 passing yards, 246 rushing, eight touchdowns, six interceptions).

Prediction: Eastwood 49 - Coronado 31 

Out of town showcase: Riverside at Bushland 

Another tough task is ahead for the unbeaten Riverside Rangers (5-0). While much has been made about the strong offense for the Rangers, their defense needs some love too. Since their tight 55-42 win against Ysleta to open the year, Riverside has outscored opponents 196-61, holding opponents to an average of 15 points per game. Angel Munoz is their standout all-around player, totaling 773 passing yards, 456 rushing, eight touchdowns, 30 tackles and two interceptions.

They will be going up against the No. 7 team in 3A Division I in Bushland (5-0). The Falcons are coming off an impressive 38-20 win against Dumas last week, in which wideout Baylor King recorded nine catches for 185 yards and one touchdown.

This is by far Riverside's biggest test yet. Let's see if they can hang on.

 

Prediction: Riverside 42 - Bushland 41 

1-6A Playoff Picture 

Now it's time to get into playoff talks in 1-6A. Pebble Hills and Eastlake are the only two unbeaten teams in the district. Franklin is right behind them with one loss in district play. Barring any unforeseen collapse by these three squads, they could all find themselves in the playoffs when the season finishes.

Currently, the Troopers and Rams hold the final playoff spots in 1-6A. A win on Friday for Eastwood would help their case for the playoffs. However, if the Thunderbirds somehow pull off the upset, they throw a wrench into the district playoff race. Like Coronado, if Americas somehow pulls off an upset against Pebble Hills on Friday, the Trailblazers are all of a sudden back in the mix.

Simply put, there's an easy path to this district's playoff picture being solved by mid October. But things never go smoothly in high school football. And everyone in this district is beatable. There's still a lot of football to play.

Prediction of seeding: (1) Pebble Hills (2) Eastlake (3) Franklin (4) Eastwood 

 

 

Is it Bel Air's year in 5A-1? 

Last week, Bel Air had a statement victory against Jefferson, 35-7, to improve to 5-0 on the season. This week, they face a 2-3 Hanks squad in efforts to start the season 6-0 under head coach Eric Scogin.

Not to take anything from the Highlanders' promising start, but their opponents so far have a combined record of 5-19 thus far. Jefferson (3-2) was the only opponent they faced with a winning record.

Their offense is led by junior quarterback Noah Moreno (1,121 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions) and running back Zach Martinez (733 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns).

 

Prediction: Bel Air 42 - Hanks 20 

UTEP Squeezes Past NM State 20-13 in the Battle of I-10

In a game of two halves, the Miners won their first game of the 2022 season against NMSU, 20-13.

More From KLAQ El Paso