• Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. tonight at Henry Winston Stadium
• We meet again: It seems like a guarantee this time of year — the first round of the Class 4A, Division I playoffs will feature the Battle of the Mustangs between Friendswood and Lamar.
This will be the third time in the past four years these two have met in the first round. Normally, the matchup is because Friendswood is the No. 2 seed from its district heading into the playoffs. This time, Friendswood had the top seed, but Lamar got the No. 2 seed from its district.
“It’s kind of ironic how it worked out,” Friendswood coach Steve Van Meter said. “Going into Dawson, we wanted to win that game to get the No. 1 seed and avoid having to play Lamar again. But that’s not how it worked this time.”
Why would Friendswood care about facing a team with a losing record? Well for starters, Van Meter said that record is deceiving.
“I’m still trying to figure out how they lost five games,” Van Meter said. “They have a huge line and a great tailback. I may be wrong, but I don’t think there are better teams than Lamar in our district.”
• Stat line: Lamar had the top offense in 23-4A, averaging 350 yards a game. It was a pretty balanced attack with 1,851 rushing and 1,299 passing.
The Friendswood defense has been solid in the second half of the season though, so it might be ready to stop the Lamar attack.
“We are playing real great defensively,” said safety Matt Kennemer. “We’ve shown a lot of character by turning it around after we lost to Santa Fe. That’s one of the reasons I think we are going to do well in the playoffs.”
• Players to watch: Friendswood — Because of a back injury which flared up last week, running back Andrew Cole was limited in the last game against La Marque. He wasn’t practicing earlier in the week, but he insisted he’d be fine by today.
“The only thing that will stop me from playing is if I can’t walk,” Cole said. “Anything else, I’m going to suck it up. It’s my last home game, so I am going to play my heart out.”
As the team’s leading rusher and second leading receiver, Cole is a huge part of the Mustang offense. If he doesn’t play or isn’t effective, then Friendswood could have a few problems.
Lamar — Marcel Threat had quite a season for Lamar, rushing for 1,746 yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s no Jacquizz Rodgers, but he can be a pretty difficult guy to stop at times.
• Friendswood will win if … quarterback Peter Maetzold continues his strong play. Maetzold has taken control of the offense in recent weeks and has earned the trust of the entire coaching staff and players.
“I feel pretty loose going into the playoffs,” Maetzold said. “Being able to experience this from the sidelines last year was good, and I’m feeling pretty confident.”
Added Van Meter: “Pete has been playing to take over games the last three weeks, not to lose them. If he plays scary, then the whole team plays scary. He understands that and has really taken over the offense now.”
• Lamar will win if … it can force Friendswood into mistakes. To do that, Lamar will have to get a lot of pressure on Maetzold and hope it results in some errant passes.
• Buckley’s prediction: Friendswood 27, Lamar 17. Frankly, Friendswood is the better team in this matchup. Lamar has talent, but Friendswood is playing like a complete team with a lot of playoff experience. It should be close early, but Friendswood will make the big plays late.
• Mohl’s prediction: Maetzold continues to grow up and leads the Mustangs to a 34-28 victory. Friendswood is playing its best football of the season, and the defense has been underrated.
— Joshua Buckley
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Santa Fe Indians (6-4) vs. El Campo (7-2)
• Kickoff: 7 p.m. today at West Columbia
• Making history: This is just the third time the Indians have made the playoffs in school history. They last reached the postseason in 2005.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” offensive lineman Clint Follis said.
While there is cause for excitement, Santa Fe can’t get too confident. The Indians limped into the playoffs by dropping four straight games. They needed a coin flip to break a three-way tie.
But players and coaches think the situation could pay off. After the loss to Dawson, many thought the season was over.
Now, they have a second chance and don’t want to experience that feeling of finality again.
“It was a roller coaster,” defensive lineman Louis Danesi said. “We thought our season was done. But now we know what it feels like for it to be over. We don’t want that again. That was bad.”
Santa Fe has never won a playoff game in school history. And no one on the current team has ever been in a playoff game.
The lack of experience is cause for concern.
“We are in uncharted territory,” Danesi said. “But we know it’s win or go home. And we know what going home is like.”
A win against El Campo could end years of misery and spark a new beginning.
“This program, it needs to taste playoff victory,” coach Jay Buckner said. “These kids, the way they’ve worked, deserve it.”
• Stat line: This game has slobber-knocker written all over it. Both teams are physical and try to win by dominating the line of scrimmage with the offense and defensive lines.
Both teams passed for less than 800 yards, and both ran for more than 2,000. El Campo averaged 260 yards on the ground a contest while Santa Fe rushed for 204 a game.
On defense, Santa Fe allowed just 270 yards a game while El Campo permitted a paltry 249.
“That’s the kind of game we want,” Follis said. “We like to win at the line of scrimmage.”
This could bode well for both teams, especially Santa Fe. The Indians have struggled against more athletic teams, like Angleton and Dawson. The athletes have run around Santa Fe.
But the Indians let very few people run through them.
“We both like to line-up and be physical,” Buckner said. “I think it’s a nice matchup.”
• Players to watch: Santa Fe — Joseph Walton is the Indians’ horse and go-to player. When he’s struggled, so have the Indians. Walton, District 24-4A’s leading rusher (1,276 yards), has only rushed for over 100 yards once in the Indians’ four losses.
“We have got to get him going any way we can,” Buckner said. “Whether that’s the passing game or the running game, he makes our offense click.”
El Campo — The running back duo of Landon Appling and Devin Parks has carved a lot of holes through opposing defenses. The two have combined for 1,729 yards and 22 touchdowns. They also average over 70 yards a carry.
“We’ve heard a lot about them,” Danesi said. “They’re going to try to run right at us, but we have to come right at them like we have all year. The good thing is we like it when they come right at us. We don’t let anyone out-physical us.”
• Santa Fe will win if… The offensive line wins the line of scrimmage. That will open up the game for Walton along with young quarterback Garet Davidson. Just as important, it will allow Santa Fe to control the clock and the field position.
The Indians defense has shown it can keep most people off the scoreboard. The unit struggles when put in compromising positions because of turnovers or little rest.
It should be noted that the offensive line did suffer an injury against Angleton. After struggling, the front five opened up some gaping holes against Dawson, allowing Walton to rumble for 181 yards.
• El Campo will win if… it controls the line of scrimmage. The Ricebirds are just as physical as Santa Fe and try to out-hit and run over opponents. When El Campo gets its two running backs going, the Ricebirds are hard to beat or get off the field.
• Buckley’s prediction: El Campo 21, Santa Fe 17. I haven’t been real accurate picking Santa Fe games lately, so maybe this will help the Indians claim victory today. I do know that this will be no blowout and Santa Fe will be in it in the fourth quarter.
• Mohl’s prediction: El Campo wins a tight defensive battle, 21-20. The Ricebirds two-headed running attack gives them just enough options.
— Evan Mohl
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Hitchcock (4-4) vs. Taft (7-3)
• Kickoff: 6 p.m. Saturday at El Campo
• Similar styles: Hitchcock and Taft almost play identical styles of offense. Both like to spread the ball out and throw often.
“It was almost like looking in the mirror,” quarterback Morris Tuck said.
Tuck added that Taft likes to roll out a little more often.
The styles of play will lead to a high-scoring game. The last team with the ball may just win this one.
Hitchcock and Taft also share a common opponent. Both lost by double digits to Industrial, but were close at halftime.
• Stat line: The Bulldogs average 403 yards a game. But they give up 428 yards a game.
It’s not exactly a winning formula. Though, it does work sometimes like against Boling, where Hitchcock scored 70 points.
Tuck has led the offensive onslaught against opposing teams. He’s completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,856 yards and 21 touchdowns.
The defense, however, will have to get some stops.
“Our defense has been good at times,” Tuck said. “The key is wrapping up and not giving up the big play.”
• Players to watch: Hitchcock — Since Devante Provost returned to the Bulldogs, he’s been the X-factor. The senior has the ability to turn a normal play into a long touchdown. He does everything from returning kicks to punting to receiving to running back.
“Devante is like our curveball in both the running game and passing game,” Tuck said. “He brings us a lot of explosiveness and he’s been huge.”
Provost, in just seven games, rushed for 437 yards on a mere 28 carries (15.6 average). He also caught 19 passes for 481 yards (25.3 average), and averages 24.9 yards on kickoff returns.
Taft — Quarterback R.J. Garza leads Taft in both passing and running. He’s a threat anywhere on the field and keeps defenses honest.
• Hitchcock will win if… its defense can come through with a handful of stops. The Bulldogs offense will score, but the defense allowed 312 points to opponents in eight games. That won’t cut it in the playoffs.
• Taft will win if… it can force Hitchcock to stay on defense. Tuck, Provost and the Bulldogs offense are just too good right now to be given too many opportunities.
• Buckley’s prediction: Hitchcock 42, Taft 28. Hitchcock has won in the first round the past two years and I don’t see that ending today. Tuck won’t let it happen.
• Mohl’s prediction: Hitchcock wins in a shootout, 49-34. The offense is clicking right now, and not sure that Taft is the team to stop the Bulldogs.
— Evan Mohl
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Bay Area Christian (5-5) vs. Bryan St. Joseph
• Kickoff: 7 p.m. today at Bay Area
• Continuing the streak: The Broncos have not lost an opening round playoff game in three years. All those games have been at home.
“It’s always nice to play at home,” Bay Area coach Darwin Pennye said. “You don’t have to leave class, you have the fans, your meal. There’s a level of comfort.”
Bay Area, however, has never played Bryan St. Joseph in the six years Pennye has coached.
• Bay Area will win if… it controls the ball. Bryan St. Joseph’s quarterback is a stud, who throws 30 times a game. The less he gets the ball in his hands, the better off the Broncos are.
Also, Bay Area has a good offense, but it cannot score at will. The Broncos highest-scoring game was 28.
“Our offense needs to help our defense,” Pennye said. “The longer we keep them off the field, the less chance they have to score.”
• Bryan St. Joseph will win if… it scores more than 20 points. Bay Area is 1-4 when it surrenders more than 20 points.
• Mohl’s prediction: Bay Area makes it four consecutive years into the second round with a 21-14 victory.
— Evan Mohl
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Bryan Brazos Christian at O’Connell (5-4)
• Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. at Weis Middle School
• Back at home: For the first time since 2001, the Bucs are playing a home playoff game. It’s a goal that the team set prior to the season, and they accomplished by winning their last three ball games.
• O’Connell will win if … running backs James Jones and Corey Lee have a big night. Those two have been the workhorses for the Bucs all season, and that shouldn’t change today.
• Brazos Christian will win if … the pressure of playing at home proves to be too big for O’Connell. With some experienced leaders on the roster, it’s not very likely though.
• Buckley’s prediction: O’Connell 28, Brazos Christian 20. The Bucs aren’t about to let the opportunity to host a playoff game slip away without a victory.
