Teams to secure playoff seeds this week

This is the final week of the district play and the regular season, and it all comes down to this week for playoff positioning. Most of our local teams have secured a trip to the Bi-District round, but many of those teams are now looking to solidify the best seeding possible with victories this week.

The No. 4 state-ranked West Orange-Stark Mustangs (7-1, 5-0) have clinched a 12th consecutive district title and are coming off a bye week just in time for the final district game against a scrappy Bridge City Cardinals team. The goal for the Mustangs this week should be to win the game and stay as healthy as possible in preparation of the Class 4A Div. II Bi-District round of the playoffs against a team from District 12-4A, which is still trying to finalize its seeding as well. Depending on Friday’s results, the Mustangs could face Sealy, Sweeny or La Marque in the first round.

The Bridge City Cardinals (4-5, 2-3) showed its grit and determination this past Friday night with a 21-20 victory over the Liberty Panthers. The Cardinals offense was humming as quarterback Ethan Ocegeura connected on two touchdown passes to receiver Noah Broussard, but it was the Bridge City defense which held its ground, literally, to stop a Liberty two point-attempt at the end of the game to seal the victory. Now the Cardinals return home this week to host the West Orange-Stark Mustangs in the final District 11-4A Div. II contest of the season. The Cardinals have never beaten the Mustangs are not expected to do so this week, but a strong showing is expected as this team continues improving and building for its future.

The Orangefield Bobcats (6-3, 3-2) had a golden opportunity slip through its collective paws this past Friday night to secure the second-place position in District 11-4A Div. II, as the Bobcats lost a back-and-forth game against the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns, 35-28. Both teams battled hard for the full 48-minutes with each answering the other score-for-score the whole game. Orangefield was knocking on the door one final time at the Hamshire-Fannett seven-yard line with 7 seconds remaining, but the Longhorns defense prevailed and got the win. Now, both the Longhorns (6-3, 3-2) and Bobcats are tied with one game remaining on the schedule and could potentially end up in a three-way tie for second place with the Silsbee Tigers (5-4, 4-2). If this happens, then seeding for the playoffs will come down to point differential in games played between these three teams and that does not play into the Bobcats favor due to the 7-point loss to the Longhorns. This week the Bobcats travel to Sour Lake to face off against Hardin-Jefferson (1-7, 0-5) and look to take out their frustrations on the Hawks while looking ahead to the Bi-District round of the playoffs next week.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears (7-2, 3-1) let the Livingston Lions (5-4, 1-3) hang around a little more than anticipated this past Friday night, but the Bears took care of business at the end of the game to come away with a 33-15 victory on the road. Running back Da’Marion Morris had two rushing touchdowns and a interception return for a touchdown on the game’s last play, while quarterback Ashton Landry had two rushing touchdowns of his own. The Bears received a gift that night as well as Huffman Hargrave beat the previously undefeated Vidor Pirates 13-7. Now LC-M has the opportunity to win a share of the District 10-4A Div. II title and the number one seed for the district in the playoffs, depending on how this week’s games transpire. LC-M will be hosting the Splendora Wildcats (4-5, 0-4) in the final district matchup of the season. The Bears need a win combined with a Pirates loss to claim a share of the district title and the number one seed. If the Pirates win, the Bears will go into the playoffs as the number two seed with a victory over the Wildcats.

The Vidor Pirates (7-1, 3-1) lost its first game of the season in a heartbreaker this past Friday to the Hargrave Falcons, 13-7. Ironically, the Pirates defense held the Falcons offense to its lowest point output of the season and won the turnover battle in Friday’s loss, but the usually formidable Vidor offense had difficulty moving the ball against a resurgent Huffman (7-2, 2-2) team. The Pirates control their own destiny this week as a victory on Friday against the visiting Lumberton Raiders (6-3, 3-1) gives them a share of the district title and number one seed, which would face either Chapel Hill or Palestine in the first round. However, a loss to the Raiders could send the Pirates plummeting as far down as the fourth seed for the Bi-District round of the playoffs to face either No. 6 state ranked Kilgore or Lindale in the first round.

The Deweyville Pirates (4-4, 3-1) took care of business this past Friday night with a 20-0 victory over Burkeville (5-4, 2-2) to become a virtual lock for the second seed in District 12-2A Div. II, pending the outcome of this week’s game against High Island (1-5, 1-3). A Pirates loss, coupled with Burkeville and Hull-Daisetta victories will create a three-way tie for the final three playoff spots but, since Deweyville beat both Burkeville and Hull Daisetta head-to-head, they would still retain the second seed. There is currently a four-way tie for seeds three and four in District 11-2A, which is the district Deweyville would face in the first round.