The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Coming into week seven, the playoff picture gets a little murkier after several of our local area schools posted district wins a week ago. Had some of these same football squads taken those losses, it would have been really difficult to regain traction in time to save their respective post-season hopes. Hoping other teams lose doesn’t count.

The Orangefield Bobcats (2-4, 1-1) had a huge district victory 54-28, on the road, against Hamshire-Fannett last Friday. Bobcat nation either heard about, or saw an offensive explosion as Coach Josh Smalley orchestrated an impressive Orangefield rushing attack that resulted in over 600 yards of total offense.

“We got healthy. We were missing our quarterback who was out with a concussion. When we’re healthy, we move the ball.”

No kidding. It was the usual suspects leading the way, and they did not disappoint as Coach Smalley and the crew had three runners over the 100 yard mark. Tyran Como racked up 116 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Eric Truncale piled on another 109 yards with a score. The workhorse was Carl Wiley, who eluded defenders with ease, all game long. Wiley had 259 yards on the ground and found the end zone three different times.

“It was a good win for us, but now were focusing on next week. It’ll be Homecoming and we know it’s a must-win every week, one week at a time.” This Friday at 7 p.m., Orangefield will host Hardin-Jefferson in another all-important district match-up.

Coach Crouch and the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears (2-3, 1-1) hosted the Port Neches-Groves Indians, and they were ready for them all the way. The Battlin’ Bears unleashed a potent offensive attack against the Indians and handled them in all phases of the game, ending in a 35-6 LC-M victory.

Running back Alex Sezer ran amok on the Indian defense to the total of 217 yard on 23 touches.

He found the end zone twice and that’s only part of the story in this well-balanced performance by a determined Bear team.

Quarterback Caleb Harley hit two different receivers for scores and nearly had a 200 yard passing game as well.

Dalton Doyle grabbed two and Billy Jones was the other score.

Coach Crouch has his work cut out for him this Friday at 7:30.

He’ll have to get his guys ramped up to play their third district game of the year against the Nederland Bulldogs.

The Bears will be hosting the game and it’s a really important one because they don’t want to go down 1-2 in district play.

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs (6-0, 1-0) had another impressive game against district rival Hardin-Jefferson 49-0, making this the fourth time this year they’ve shut out an opponent. The offense ran like a well-oiled machine, scoring four touchdowns on the ground while quarterback Jimmy Salter passed for two more. The “chain-gang” defense harassed the Hawk’s offense relentlessly, holding the team to under 100 yards rushing and passing.

The Mustangs and Coach Thompson look like a lock for the playoffs, but the season is far from over heading into their bye week. The Mustangs have four district games in a row, upon their return, and you better believe every team standing in their way will have their say before it’s all said and done. Coach Thompson and his squad have the target on their back, as the Mustang continue to prove the experts correct by winning consistently.

The Bridge City Cardinals (2-3, 1-0) suffered a defeat at the hands of the Jasper Bulldogs 21-7 last week, and it was a tough one to swallow as the Jasper defensive held the Cards’ in check for most of the game. This loss comes after Coach Cris Stump and the gang were building momentum off of two previous wins. Lucky for Bridge City, this latest defeat wasn’t a district game, meaning their playoff status isn’t crucially effected just yet.

Coach Stump is already one step ahead, and is obviously moving ahead to the Cardinal’s next challenge and it’s a big one. Enter the Silsbee Tigers. “We expect to win,” said Coach Stump. “We’ve beat them the last two years, and they’re going to show up mad. They want to go to the playoffs, but we want a playoff spot too. We’re going to prepare and then come out to play hard.” Bridge City will host the 5-1 Silsbee Tiger at 7 p.m. this Friday. With district leverage at stake, expect to see both teams give it their all come game time.

The Vidor Pirates (3-1, 1-1) beat Ozen 28-21 last week. On Friday, they’ll host Lumberton at 7:30 p.m. Vidor will be playing for their second district win. Expect another dose of their powerful running attack once they hit the field.