Crunch Time as Playoffs Near
Week Nine Recap
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
EAST TEXAS – With two weeks left in the regular season, the area football teams are still jockeying for playoff positioning and will likely do so until the final whistle blows on the first Friday in November.
Everybody is still in it, but last week didn’t help the cause.
Starting in Grapeland, the Sandies welcomed the Centerville Tigers to town for a homecoming matchup. It appeared the Sandies were worn out from all the festivities surrounding the Peanut Festival and simply did not play their best as the Tigers blew out the home team by a final of 67-8.
The Crockett Bulldogs were on the road this last week as they traveled to Diboll for a contest against the Lumberjacks. Injuries and early miscues doomed the Bulldogs from the start as they could not get the offense going. Diboll used this to its advantage as they blasted the visitors from Crockett by a final score of 41-0.
The Lovelady Lions continued to roll as they traveled to Mount Enterprise for a gridiron tilt with the Wildcats. The Lions struggled to put points on the board, but their defense came through in a big way with the shutout. The 24-0 win keeps Lovelady in second place in District 11-2A DII
Moving to Anderson County, the Elkhart Elks picked up their first district win as they escaped Trinity with a 29-28 win over the Tigers. It took a last-minute drive to pull out the win, but the Elks managed to pull it off to move to 1-4 in District 9-3A DI.
The Westwood Panthers suffered a setback in their bid to secure the third playoff seed out of District 9-3A DI as they fell to the Coldspring Oakhurst Trojans by a final score of 34-13. The loss dropped- the Panthers into a tie for third with the Crockett Bulldogs. Westwood, however, owns the tiebreaker in head-t-head competition.
The Palestine Wildcats went a long way to securing a playoff berth with their 46 – 29 win over the Athens Hornets last Friday night. The win moves the Wildcats to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in District 9-4A DI. It also keeps them in third place with just over a week left before the postseason begins.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
