La Grange Hosts Smithville With Playoff Spot on the Line
La Grange vs. Snidiville
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: La Grange
Records: LG is 4-5 overall and 1-3 in district. Smithville is 4-5 overall and 2-2 in district.
Of Note: If you are a local football fan, it doesn’t get much more dramatic than this, with La Grange hosting Smithville with the final playoff spot in District 13-4A on the line. Most likely the winner of this game grabs the final postseason spot (though if Cuero losses to Gonzales, the Leps need to not only beat Smithville, but beat them by at least seven points to get in) ... La Grange is coming off a 31-7 loss to Giddings during which the Leps only gained 23 yards on the ground, though that running game should improve immensely with the expected return of 1,000-yard rusher D.J. Taylor to the lineup this week. Even though Taylor returns, the Leps are still missing about a half-dozen injured seniors starters, though junior quarterback Clay Wolff and sophomore receiver Bravion Rogers continue to embrace greater roles in the offense ... Smithville proved it was for real with a 29-27 victory over Cuero last week. Tigers quarterback Blake Segel ran for 47 yards and threw for 82 yards. Senior Christian Adkins caught a touchdown pass and ran for 111 yards on just nine carries. The Tigers are only six points away from being undefeated in district. They’ve beat Gonzales 43-15 and Cuero 29-27 and only lost to Navasota 23-20 and lost to Giddings 18-15.
Last meeting: Smithville lost to La Grange 14-13 last season and have not beaten the Leps since 2017. La Grange has owned the recent history of this usually annual rivalry. The Leps have won 10 of the last 11 meetings. Last year against Smithville La Grange got touchdown runs from Matthew Johnson and Ryder Imhoff to build a 14-7 lead. Smithville returned a punt for a touchdown with five minutes left in the game, but missed the potential game-tying extra point. La Grange then converted a fake punt with two minutes left in the game (on an Imhoff run) to run out the clock and preserve the victory.
This week’s games:
Giddings at Navasota
Gonzales at Cuero
Smithville at La Grange
The playoff picture:
• Giddings, Navasota and Cuero have already clinched playoff spots.
• If Cuero beats last place Gonzales Friday, the winner of the La Grange/Smith-ville game clinches the find playoff spot.
• if Cuero loses to Gonzales, however, a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots is possible, and a margin of victory tiebreaker comes into effect. Cuero would grab one of those spots in a tiebreaker situation and La Grange would need to beat Smithville by at least seven points to clinch the other spot.