NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
The leadership from both PSJA North (5-3, 4-1) and McAllen Memorial (4-4, 3-2) have an inseparable connection. Mustangs coach Bill Littleton is facing Raiders coach Marcus Kaufmann who served as his offensive coordinator until the 2016 season when Kaufmann was named head man at PSJA North.
Also on PSJA North’s sideline is Bill Littleton’s son, defensive coordinator Will Littleton. Kaufmann and the elder Littleton coached Will together at Cuero High School before Will moved onto a successful four seasons on UTPA’s track team as a high jumper. That’s when the long-time Mustangs coach made his move south.
This isn’t a time for reminiscing and family reunions, however, Week 10 is an important game for the Mustangs who sit at 3-2, the same record as playoff hopefuls Mission High and La Joya High.
Bill Littleton didn’t expect the Raiders to have the same type of season as a year ago when they went 2-8 and missed the playoffs. Last week, PSJA North clinched a postseason berth with a 40-14 win over La Joya High.
“I’m not surprised at all, they’re a very good football team, they’re well-coached,” Bill Littleton said. “I’m very impressed with them; we’re going to have our hands full with them.”
Memorial has won its last two games after starting district play 1-2 with losses to PSJA High and La Joya High.
“It’s a game with a lot of importance for the Mustangs. We need to try to come up with a win to help ourselves try to make the playoffs,” Littleton said. “We just tell them we control our own destiny and we got to do what we have to do. We need to take care of the football and be as turnover and penatly-free as we can.”
Campbell Speights took charge against Juarez-Lincoln in the Mustangs last outing. After a slow start for the offense, he had three of his four touchdowns in the second half. Speights is up to 1,327 yards and 20 touchdowns through eight games.
Kaufmann has a similar approach with not letting the matchup become bigger than just a game.
“We try to make every game a big ballgame because when we started the season that’s pretty much all we’ve talked about — every game is going to be a close ball game,” Kaufmann said. “That hasn’t happened the last couple of weeks, but that’s the way we’re looking at it.”
At the same time, the third-year Raiders coach is making sure his players savor their past few games.
“I’ve been telling the kids to make every play count, make every game count, because you don’t have very many,” Kaumann said. “You only have 40 football games to play and we have seniors with three more left unless you earn some more. We earned some more this year so keep on earning them because a lot of these kids will never play the game again.”
Senior Iziaah Rangel busted out for his biggest performance of the season against La Joya. He had two passing touchdowns and two on the ground as part of his 204-yard rushing night.
While the Raiders coach is focused on the game at hand, he knows that on a personal level it will be interesting to face off against his old program for the first time.
“That’s like a family,” Kaufmann said. “I’ve been with them since back in Cuero. I coached Will back when he was in high school. It’s going to be a weird feeling, seeing that Columbia blue on the other sideline and to see Bill over there. It’ll be weird to start with but then we start playing football and it will be right back to normal.”