Panther Creek @ Sulphur Springs

[AbCd123]

2nd place game in District 7

[ArtVandelay]

Winner gets 2nd place, loser gets 3rd, but 3rd place has an easier path to the third round.  2nd place team gets Alvarado in the second round while 3rd place team gets Springtown.  Then a possible rematch of these two teams in the third round.

My prediction SS 35 PC 17

Common Opponents:

Aubrey: PC won 41-40,   SS won 35-14

Celina:  PC lost 42-7,   SS lost 31-6

Paris:  PC won 38-35,    SS won 28-14

Lake Dallas:  PC won 46-44(3OT),    SS won 38-8

Community:  PC won 66-0,    SS won 56-7

 

[Ballboy23]

Aubrey 4th?

[squidward tortellini]

Sulphur Springs should win, but Panther Creek is quite talented. I’m very interested to see how this turns out.

Aubrey was up 34-13 on Panther Creek which got me excited about the possibility of a rematch with Sulphur Springs in the third round. 

A consolation prize for the loser of SS/PC is that the loser gets a more favorable second-round playoff matchup than the winner - the loser gets Springtown while the winner gets Alvarado.

Alvarado, Springtown, and Decatur (potential second-round matchup for Aubrey) are all good teams, but two District 7 matchups in the third round of the playoffs is a reasonable possibility.

Edited November 5 by squidward tortellini

[d0tc0m]

Panther Creek has more speed, athleticism and sheer talent, but Sulphur Springs is the better team in my opinion.

I know the Celina/SS score doesn’t show it, but the Wildcats played tough and physical, and they didn’t back down to Celina’s physicality. PC on the other hand got popped early and just rolled over.

I think SS will do something similar. Their physicality is going to spook Panther Creek, and get them off their game a little bit. I think it’ll be close, but I like the Wildcats by 6-7 in this one.

[d0tc0m]

And I wouldn’t be so sure the loser gets the easier 2nd round matchup. Maybe on paper. But I’m just not sold on Alvarado as a team. Their QB? Yeah, he’s for real. But the defense is BAD and the Indians haven’t really played anyone that great. Gave up 50 points to Glen Rose and 42 to Connally.

Springtown is at least comparable in my opinion. Better defense, less explosive offense. I think both SS and PC would match up just fine with Alvarado.

In fact, I’ll be a little bit shocked if the Region II Final Four isn’t Sulphur Springs vs Panther Creek and Celina vs Aubrey. I think District 7 wins out.

[squidward tortellini]

16 minutes ago, d0tc0m said:

And I wouldn’t be so sure the loser gets the easier 2nd round matchup. Maybe on paper. But I’m just not sold on Alvarado as a team. Their QB? Yeah, he’s for real. But the defense is BAD and the Indians haven’t really played anyone that great. Gave up 50 points to Glen Rose and 42 to Connally.

Springtown is at least comparable in my opinion. Better defense, less explosive offense. I think both SS and PC would match up just fine with Alvarado.

In fact, I’ll be a little bit shocked if the Region II Final Four isn’t Sulphur Springs vs Panther Creek and Celina vs Aubrey. I think District 7 wins out.

You may be right. I forgot about Springtown’s win over Graham. Although that was early in the year, it’s still a huge win.

Celina won’t have any trouble, but the rest of the second-round matchups for District 7 are all interesting and can all go either way.

Edited November 5 by squidward tortellini

[d0tc0m]

15 hours ago, squidward tortellini said:

You may be right. I forgot about Springtown’s win over Graham. Although that was early in the year, it’s still a huge win.

Celina won’t have any trouble, but the rest of the second-round matchups for District 7 are all interesting and can all go either way.

Yeah, that win over Graham looks even better now. In addition to being the Steers' only loss, it's also the most points Graham has surrendered all season, by a wide margin. In fact, the Porcupines are one of only two TEAMS to score against the Steers. Granted, Graham's schedule and district is pitiful, apart from Brock. BUT last weeks shutout over the Eagles (the 7th of the season for Graham) was an eye-opener. Graham is for real, and I think that makes Springtown's win look that much more impressive.

[ArtVandelay]

The thing I question about Springtown, Decatur, and Alvarado is, how much does playing in such bad districts hurt your preparation for the playoffs?  When you are playing teams week after week that are absolutely non competitive how can you get better?  And that will extend into the first round of the playoffs for those two districts as well because the 3rd and 4th place teams from districts 5 and 6 will be really bad.  

Springtown and Decatur have combined to outscore their other district opponents 527 - 7.  When you go into every game knowing you're going to win by 50+ points and then you get to the second round of the playoffs and run into a good team for the first time in two months, can you just flip the switch and play you're best game?  At least Springtown and Decatur got to play each other last week in a close game.

[ArtVandelay]

The start of this game has been moved up to 6:00 Friday due to weather concerns.  Strong storms are supposed to be moving through the area late Friday night so they are wanting to get the game in before the storms hit.