Marshall wide receiver Raijon Sims (5) battles for the ball against Midlothian Heritage’s Freeman Robinson Friday at Bruce Field in Athens. Marshall lost the area playoff game, 21-14. (Courtney Case/Marshall News Messenger)

CARTHAGE 49, V. ALSTYNE 7: MOUNT PLEASANT – The No. 1 ranked, defending champion Carthage Bulldogs continued to roll here Friday, coasting to a 49-7 Class 4A Division II Region II are playoff win over Van Alstyne at Sam Parker Field.

The win sets up an East Texas battle between the Bulldogs (12-0) and Pleasant Grove (12-0) next week. That game is set for 2 p.m. next Friday at Pine Tree’s Pirate Stadium.

Carthage left little doubt in this one as Jett Surratt completed 17 of 24 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Bulldogs built a 35-0 cushion at the break.

Carthage opened the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run by K.J. Edwards at the 5:49 mark of the first, and extended the lead to 14-0 with 3:26 left on a 53-yard scoring toss from Surratt to Bradan Manning.

Manning had seven catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

Surratt and Manning hooked up again just 17 second into the second quarter, this time from 46 yards out, to make it 21-0, and two plays later Carson Crawford intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a TD and a 28-0 cushion.

The third Surratt-to-Manning hook up of the half – an 8-yard scoring strike – made it 35-0 at intermission.

Surratt tossed his fourth TD of the night midway through the third to make it a 42-0 contest, hitting Mikel Fields on the scoring play.

Surratt’s fifth and final TD pass of the night was a 1-yarder to Ricky Smith with just 31 seconds left in the third to give the Bulldogs a 49-0 cushion.

Van Alstyne avoided the shutout with a late TD to make the final 49-7.

W. RUSK 50, N. DIANA 35: HENDERSON – West Rusk used three big plays on special teams to build a big lead early, and sealed the win with a late pick six – holding on for a 50-35 Class 3A Division I Region III area playoff win over the New Diana Eagles on Friday at Lion Stadium.

The Raiders (10-2) move on to face Daingerfield next week. New Diana ends its season with an 8-3 record.

West Rusk wasted little time in this one with Jase Reasoner returning the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.

The lead went to 14-0 when Ty Harper returned an interception 65 yards for a TD, and West Rusk made it 21-0 when a snap sailed over the punter’s head and gave the Raiders the ball at the 15. Cole Jackson cashed in on a short TD run a few plays later.

Harper picked off two passes.

Jackson rushed for 124 yards on the night. He also blocked a punt and recovered a fumble.

Noah Murphy, who rushed for 178 yards, scored on a 6-yard run to make it a 28-0 contest, but New Diana heated up from there.

New Diana got on the scoreboard with 4:14 left in the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from DeJuan Johnson to Jaiydyn Johnson.

The Eagles cut the deficit in half with just 49 seconds remaining in the half on a touchdown run by DeJuan Johnson.

DeJuan Johnson passed for 152 yards and rushed for 86.

The scoring was fast and furious to open the second half as Jackson scored on a 4-yard run with 5:07 left to give West Rusk a 36-14 lead before New Diana answered two minutes later with a 13-yard TD run by DeJuan Johnson to make it a 36-21 contest.

The teams traded quick scores late in the fourth when Jackson scored on a 1-yard run for West Rusk, but DeJuan Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown for New Diana to make it a 43-27 contest.

The Eagles pulled to within eight points with 6:56 left when DeJuan Johnson connected with Jaidyn Johnson on a 33-yard scoring toss, cutting the deficit to 43-35.

New Dana held West Rusk on a fourth down situation and got the ball back, but Hunter McCandless picked off a pass and took it back 35 yards for the TD with 1:30 left to make the final 50-35.

DAINGERFIELD 33, HOOKS 6: PITTSBURG — One week after pitching a shutout to open the playoffs, the Daingerfield Tigers shut down the high-scoring Hooks Hornets, 33-6, here Friday at Pirate Stadium in a class 3A Division I Region III are playoff game.

Daingerfield moves to 9-3 with the win and will take on West Rusk next week in the regional quarterfinals. Hooks, which put 92 points on the board last week in a bi-district win over Edgewood, finishes the season at 10-1.

Chase Johnson tossed two touchdown passes and ran for two scores to lead the way for Daingerfield.

Johnson’s 26-yard TD pass to Braden Lewis and the Jonathan Solis extra point gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 6:32 left in the opening quarter, and a 15-yard run by Lewis just 41 seconds into the second quarter boosted the Tiger advantage to 14-0.

Hooks got its only points of the night two minutes later when Ripken Birdwell tossed a 50-yard TD pass to Boogie Johnson. The PAT failed, and Daingerfield led 14-6.

A 1-yard TD run by Johnson — the PAT was blocked — put the Tigers on top 20-6 at halftime.

Johnson scored on a 1-yard run with 8:15 left in the third and put things away with a 13-yard TD run less than a minute into the fourth quarter to make the final 33-6.

WHITNEY 50, TATUM 14: DALLAS — At Kincaide Stadium, Mason Seely tossed three touchdown passes and ran for one score, leading Whitney to a 50-14 win over the Tatum Eagles in Class 3A Division I Region II area playoff action.

Tatum ends the season with a 6-5 record. Whitney moves to 11-1 and will take on either Winnsboro or Teague next week.

Whitney jumped out to a 9-0 lead on a 1-yard run by David Haynes and a 24-yard field goal by Carson Griffin, but the Eagles drove 75 yards in 17 plays to make it a 9-7 contest on a 5-yard TD pass from Jacorie Bradley to Carson Gonzalez.

Whitney took over from there, scoring on a 62-yard pass form Seely to Marcus Wilson, a 67-yard punt return by Jairdin Anderson and a 66-yard TD strike from Seely to Anderson in the third and a 67-yard run by Johntae Johnson and 8-yard run by Seely in the fourth to make it a 43-7 contest.

Gonzalez scored on a 60-yard run in the fourth to make it a 43-14 contest, but Whitney capped the scoring on a 58-yard TD pass from Seely to Wilson to make the final 50-14.

P. GROVE 63, C. MILLS 10: MELISSA — Ahkhari Johnson passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more in less than two quarters of action, leading the Pleasant Grove Hawks to a 63-10 win over the Caddo Mills Foxes on Thursday in a Class 4A Division II Region II area playoff game at Coach Kenny Deel Stadium.

Pleasant Grove moves to 12-0 on the year and will take on either Carthage or Van Alstyne next week in the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Johnson completed 8 of 13 passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns and carried four times for 53 yards and a couple of scores for the Hawks. Kaden McFadden rushed for 119 yards and a TD on five carries, and Jaylen Boardley picked up 112 yards on nine attempts.

The Hawks built a 56-0 halftime lead on a TD pass from Johnson to Lance Jackson, a 19-ard run by Johnson, a 30-yard scoring strike from Johnson to Torian Phillips, a 31-yard TD pass from Johnson to Landon West, a 56-yard run by McFadden, a 4-yard pass from Johnson to Jackson Gibson, a 5-yard run by Johnson and a 15-yard run by Krystian Wrightner.

Jordan Patterson closed out the scoring for PG with a 2-yard run.

I. COLONY 45, LINDALE 22: BRYAN — Iowa Colony entered Friday night’s Class 4A Division I area round game with a reputation of intercepting passes.

The Pioneers came into the contest with 27 interceptions and picked off four more passes on Friday — three in the second half — on the way to a 45-22 win over Lindale at Merrill Green Stadium.

Carson White was 8 of 15 for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he ran for 52 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries for Iowa Colony. Jacody Miles had four catches for 108 yards and a touchdown, and he carried eight times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Tenner had 13 carries for 123 yards and two scores.

Lindale’s Clint Thurman, who entered the game 106 of 198 for 1,600 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions and 284 carries for 2,024 yards and 33 TDs, finished 12 of 32 passing for 207 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions, and he carried 17 times for 40 yards. Caleb Hart had 16 carries for 62 yards. Ward had four catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Lindale’s season came to an end at 7-5. Iowa Colony (12-0) advances to face Chapel Hill.