Halliburton's playoff roundup piece

[Small fry]

 

Bi-district playoffs offer            multitude of fan options

By Tom Halliburton

   Playoff matchups of all varieties begin this Thursday and Friday for Golden Triangle-area high school football squads.

  Unlike most recent years, the great portion of the area district’s playoff seeds actually were determined before the final regular-season Friday night. 

   By virtue of its head-to-head victory over Port Arthur Memorial, La Porte assured itself of the top spot in 9-5A Division I. Port Neches-Groves accomplished the same commanding position in 10-5A Division II by reaching the final regular game with wins over its three nearest challengers.

   The 3A Division I league completed its regular games on Thursday night as Orangefield wrapped up an undefeated 10-3A-I schedule. Orangefield’s neighbors at West Orange-Stark entered the final night with the No. 1 seed secure due to its 38-30 victory over nearest challenger Silsbee three weeks ago.

  One other area championship was settled Thursday night in the Pineland area as West Sabine nipped Colmesneil 26-24 to determine the highest seed in 12-2A-II.

  Therefore only two No. 1 seeds remained undetermined on the final night. Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Newton had to capture wins Friday and they did. The Battlin’ Bears shared the 9-4A-I lead with Vidor but LC-M owned a 41-7 over the Pirates on the opening week of district play. 

  Newton needed to defeat Woodville to keep the top spot in 12-3A-II. The Eagles claimed the tiebreaker advantage over Hardin and New Waverly as each of the three teams had one district loss. Eagles senior running back K.J. Porter surpassed Anthony Byerly's school career rushing record during Newton's victory

  Based on overall season records, two of the marquee matchups for nearby teams involve East Chambers vs. Fairfield (both 8-2) in 3A-I and Hamshire-Fannett vs. Athens in 4A-II.

 

  Here’s how the seeding positions resulted for the area’s playoff qualifiers and the bi-district matchups:

     District 9-5A-I

1. La Porte (8-2, 8-0) vs. Houston Northbrook (6-4, 5-3) on Thursday in La Porte’s Bulldog Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

2. Port Arthur Memorial (9-1, 7-1) vs. Houston Waltrip (7-3, 6-2) on Friday in Port Arthur’s Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.

3. Baytown Goose Creek (6-4, 4-4) vs. Houston Milby (7-3, 6-2) on Thursday in Houston’s Barnett Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Beaumont United (6-4, 4-4) vs. Houston Madison (8-2, 8-0) on Friday in Houston’s Butler Stadium at 7 p.m.

     District 10-5A-II

1. Port Neches-Groves (7-3, 6-0) vs. New Caney West Fork (6-4, 4-3) on Friday in Port Neches’ Indian Stadium at 7 p.m.

2. Texas City (8-2, 5-1) vs. Montgomery Lake Creek (8-2, 5-2) on Friday in Texas City’s Stingaree Stadium at 7 p.m.

3. Nederland (6-4, 4-2) vs. Huntsville (7-3, 6-1) on Friday in Huntsville’s Hornet Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Dayton (3-7, 3-3) vs. Montgomery (10-0, 7-0) on Friday in Montgomery ISD Stadium at 7 p.m.

      District 9-4A-I

1. Little Cypress-Mauriceville (8-2, 5-1) vs. Houston Austin (3-7, 2-3) on Friday in Beaumont’s Doggett Family Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

2. Vidor (7-3, 5-1) vs. Houston Sterling (5-5, 3-2) on Friday at Baytown’s Stallworth Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

3. Huffman-Hargrave (5-5, 4-2) vs. Fort Bend Willowridge (6-4, 4-1) on Friday in Channelview’s Ray Maddry Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Bridge City (4-6, 3-3) vs. Stafford (8-2, 5-0) on Friday in Deer Park’s Clyde Abshier Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

      District 10-4A-II

1. West Orange-Stark (8-2, 5-0) vs. Van (5-5, 2-3) on Friday in New Caney’s Randall Reed Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

2. Silsbee (8-2, 4-1) vs. Madisonville (4-6, 3-2) on Friday in Lufkin’s Abe Martin Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

3. Hamshire-Fannett (8-2, 3-2) vs. Athens (9-1, 4-1) on Friday in Bryan’s Merrill Green Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

4. Shepherd (6-4, 2-3) vs. Canton (10-0, 5-0) on Friday in Madisonville’s Mustang Stadium at 7 p.m.

     District 10-3A-I

1. Orangefield (9-1, 6-0) vs. Trinity (5-5, 2-3) on Friday in Crosby’s Cougar Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

2. Anahuac (6-4, 5-1) vs. Palestine Westwood (5-4, 3-2) on Thursday in Madisonville’s Mustang Stadium at 7 p.m.

3. East Chambers (8-2, 4-2) vs. Fairfield (8-2, 4-1) on Friday in Willis’ Berton Yates Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Buna (7-3, 3-3) vs. Diboll (7-3, 5-0) on Friday in Jasper’s Bulldog Stadium at 7 p.m.

     District 12-3A-II

1. Newton (7-2, 4-1) vs. Elkhart (4-6, 2-3) on Thursday in Timpson ISD Stadium at 7 p.m.

2. New Waverly (9-1, 4-1) vs. Buffalo (8-2, 4-1) on Friday in Centerville’s Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m.

3. Hardin (7-3, 4-1) vs. Teague (6-4, 4-1) on Friday in Nacogdoches’ Dragon Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Woodville (3-7, 2-3) vs. Mildred (7-3, 4-1) on Friday in Rusk’s Eagle Stadium at 7 p.m.

     District 12-2A-II

1. West Sabine (8-2, 6-0) vs. Tenaha (5-5, 3-3) on Friday in San Augustine’s Wolf Stadium at 7 p.m.

2. Colmesneil (7-3, 5-1) vs. Cushing (8-2, 4-2) on Friday in Center’s Roughrider Stadium at 7 p.m.

3. West Hardin (5-4. 4-2) vs. Grapeland (6-3, 5-1) on Thursday in Willis’ Berton Yates Stadium at 7 p.m.

4. Evadale (3-5, 3-3) vs. Overton (9-1, 6-0) on Thursday in Diboll’s Lumberjack Stadium at 7 p.m.

  Tom Halliburton is senior sports correspondent for the Beaumont Enterprise