Friday Football Previews
Smithville vs. La Grange
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Smithville
Records: LG is 5-4 overall and 2-2 in district. Smithville is 7-2 overall and 3-1 in district.
Of Note: These longtime rivals battle with playoff seeding on the line. This looks like one of the best Smithville teams ever. Their only two losses are to Yoakum and Cuero, both stateranked at the time the Tigers played them. Junior quarterback Derrick Roberson is throwing for 160 yards a game and has thrown for 17 TDs and just 3 INTs. Roberson is also a threat to run (averaging 55 yards a game on the ground). Senior Chuck Hodge is the Tigers’ biggest receiving threat. He’s already accepted a scholarship offer to play for Tulsa ... La Grange has now won two games in a row, including last week’s 27-14 win over Giddings. The Leps are splitting time at quarterback between senior Clay Wolff and sophomore Jaden Williams and it’s worked well. Senior Ryder Imhoff is a workhorse as running back and linebacker. Junior WR Jaxon Cooper had a TD catch and an interception last week.
Last meeting: Smithville beat La Grange 31-13 last season.
Up Next: Both these teams are headed to the playoffs next week.
This week’s games:
Navasota at Giddings
La Grange at Smithville
Cuero at Gonzales
LG playoff scenarios
The Leps clinched a playoff spot but:
• The Leps can clinch the district runner-up spot with a win Friday and a Giddings win over Navasota.
• If Navasota beats Giddings and La Grange beats Smithville then suddenly there’s a three-way tie for second and point-margin tiebreakers come into play.
• If La Grange loses to Smithville and Navasota beats Giddings, the Leps would be fourth.
• If La Grange finishes second in the district they would play Manor New Tech and be huge favorites in their first round playoff game. If they finish either third or fourth, they would have to play either Wimberley or Navarro and be big underdogs.
Giddings playoff scenarios
In Tuesday’s edition we said that Giddings just needs to beat Navasota Friday to make the playoffs. It might not be that easy.
• If La Grange beats Smithville, all Giddings has to do is beat Navasota.
• If La Grange loses to Smithville, however, Giddings actually has to beat the Rattlers by 13 points or more to make the playoffs.
Schulenburg vs. Shiner
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Shiner
Records: Schulenburg is 4-5 overall and 1-2 in district. Shiner is 9-0 and 3-0.
Of Note: The Shorthorns were off last week and now face a huge challenge in the regular season finale in the form of defending state champ Shiner. How good is Shiner? Well the Comanches had outscored their opponents 375-58 this season. In their three district game Shiner has won by a combined 161-7. The Brooks brothers, Doug and Dalton, are both D-I college recruits.
Last meeting: Last season Shiner beat Schulenburg 48-21. Those 21 points were actually more than Shiner allowed to anyone in the postseason last year.
Up Next: Schulenburg will play Mason in the first round of the playoffs.
Flatonia vs. Ganado
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Flatonia
Records: Flatonia is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in district. Ganado is 4-5 overall and 2-1 in district.
Of Note: Second place in the district is on the line as these two teams battle. Flatonia is coming off a 46-7 win over Weimar last week as Dayton Cliffe threw for 197 yards and Jaidyn Guyton ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns. The Bulldogs have not lost to anyone this season who is not state-ranked ... Ganado, too, has played a very tough schedule and is coming off a 49-7 loss to defending state champ Shiner. Indians quarterback Kyle Bures-Guerrero had thrown for 1,386 yards and run for 608 this season.
Last meeting: Last season Ganado defeated Flatonia 28-10. Ganado QB Bures-Guerrero ran for 207 yards in that game. Holden Kloesel caught a TD pass from Cliffe for the Bulldogs only score.
Up next: Flatonia will play either Johnson City or Ozona in the first round of the playoffs.
Friday’s scores:
Shiner 49, Ganado 7
Flatonia 46, Weimar 7
Schulenburg was off.
This week’s games:
Schulenburg at Shiner
Ganado at Flatonia
Weimar is off