By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, playoff possibilities abound, especially for the Los Fresnos Falcons and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers, who play each other Friday.
For all those football teams that can say they are entertaining a playoff scenario at this point, including the Chargers and Falcons, it simply means they are the fortunate ones, still with a chance to reach the postseason.
For a select few teams, playoff spots already have been clinched, while for others, the playoffs are no longer a consideration.
Four District 32-6A teams advance to postseason play beginning Nov. 13. Of course, winning is the best solution to avoiding any tiebreaker entanglements that might cause a team to miss out on the postseason.
Surprising San Benito leads the way in 32-6A with a 5-0 record and has clinched a share of the district title and a playoff spot. There’s a four-way tie for second place at 3-2 between Brownsville Veterans, Los Fresnos, Rivera and Harlingen High. Also, Hanna is in the conversation at 2-3.
“As long as we control our own destiny (by winning), and go out and play the way we can, I like our chances,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “We’ll see how it all plays out.”
Of primary interest this week in 32-6A is Friday’s matchup between Los Fresnos (5-3, 3-2 district) and Brownsville Veterans (5-3, 3-2) at 7:30 p.m. at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium. The winner figures to take an important step toward a playoff berth, if not clinch a spot in the postseason.
“We need to win this football game on Friday,” said Finley, whose Falcons play Hanna in Brownsville to close out the regular season Nov. 8. “It’s a pretty big one. Our backs are against the wall, and this is the one that means more or less in or out (of the playoffs), I believe. We’re all kind of in the same boat. We all need to win out, and I’m hoping we’re able to get that done.”
The circumstances are no less crucial for the Chargers, who have been dealing with injuries to a couple players on offense and to four starters on defense, where three of them have been lost for the season. Quarterback Marcus Castillo and cornerback Felipe Flores, one of the defensive starters, are hoping to return and make significant contributions along with running back Carlos Garza.
After playing Los Fresnos, the Chargers close out the regular season Nov. 6 against Lopez at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“The big thing about our playoff chances is we control them, we control our destiny,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “That’s as much as we can ask for at this point.
“We don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about it,” added Cantu, whose Chargers have suffered two straight district losses to San Benito (67-57) and Harlingen High (26-6) after a 3-0 start in 32-6A. “Bottom line, we just want to get back out on the field and earn a win against Los Fresnos. By doing that, it puts us in a pretty good position. We know that Los Fresnos is also hungry and has its back to the wall. After losing two in a row to two really good football teams, we just can’t wait to get back on the field.
“We feel that if we’re going to be there (in the playoffs), we want to also deserve to be there, so we want to go into the postseason with a two-game winning streak.”
Also of major interest in 32-6A is Saturday’s 7 p.m. game at Sams between Rivera (3-5, 3-2) and Hanna (3-4, 2-3), The Herald’s Game of the Week.
Rounding out this week’s 32-6A schedule at 7:30 p.m. Friday, it’s Harlingen High (4-4, 3-2) vs. Lopez (0-8, 0-5) at Sams and San Benito (6-2, 5-0) at Harlingen South (2-6, 1-4).
In 32-6A, only South and Lopez appear to be out of the running for the postseason.
This week’s action for Metro-area teams kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams as Pace (3-5, 2-3) plays host to Edcouch-Elsa (5-3, 4-1) in a District 32-5A game. Also on this week’s 32-5A slate, it’s Porter (2-6, 1-4) at PSJA High (4-4, 2-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
To have a chance at the playoffs, Pace must win its next two games. The Vikings are at PSJA Southwest on Nov. 7.
Two additional games involving Metro-area teams are scheduled Friday. In District 16-4A Division II at 7:30 p.m., Port Isabel (7-1, 2-1) plays at Orange Grove (7-1, 3-0), and St. Joseph Academy (5-3, 1-2) plays host to San Antonio Central Catholic (5-3, 2-1) at 7 p.m. in TAPPS district action.
Port Isabel already has clinched a playoff spot and could have a chance at the 16-4A Division II title with wins in its last two regular-season games. The Tarpons close out their district schedule at home Nov. 7 against Raymondville.
SJA remains in the mix for a playoff spot in TAPPS. After playing Central Catholic on Friday at Canales Field, the Bloodhounds will be on the road to play San Antonio Antonian on Nov. 8.