District championship likely on line for Farwell

FARWELL — Panhandle is averaging almost 60 points a game this season. Farwell has allowed just 73 points for the entire campaign.

Something has to give in Friday night’s 7 p.m. (CDT) Class 2A Division I District 1 matchup at Farwell, with the winner almost surely claiming the district championship.

The difference may come down to defense.

“They score a lot of points,” Steers coach Darren Kelley said, “but they give up a lot of points, too.”

Farwell (7-1, 2-0 district) cruised to a 40-6 win last Friday against West Texas High, which was coming off a 67-50 setback to Panhandle (6-2, 2-0) the previous week.

Meantime, the Panthers have scored 418 points in seven games — one of their wins was a forfeit against district foe Olton due to coronavirus concerns.

Panhandle has scored at least 42 points in all seven games this season, including five games of 62 or more. The losses were to Childress (68-45) and Eastland (91-71) — ranked first and 11th, respectively, last week in Class 3A Division II.

“We definitely want to keep drives going and keep (their offense) off the field,” Kelley said. “But we’re going to be physical with them. We’ve been doing a good job of that the last two weeks.”

Top players for Panhandle a re senior quarterback-strong safety Wesley Jones, sophomore running back-free safety Landyn Hack and senior wide receiver-cornerback Zion Mercer.

Kelley said the teams play similar styles on both offense and defense.

“Last week was a fun night,” he said of the win over West Texas. “Hopefully, we can duplicate that.

“Getting to play at home is nice. If we can make the right plays, we’ll be fine.”

Bovina at New Home — The Mustangs had a chance to clinch the Class 2A Division II District 2 crown last week, but a late rally fell short in a 38-33 loss to Smyer.

Bovina (3-5, 2-1) is still looking for at least a second-place finish in the district, and can all but wrap that up with a win over the Leopards (4-4, 0-2).

A loss at home by Smyer (5-3, 2-0) to Sudan (4-4, 1-1) would give the Mustangs a chance to still win the district on a tiebreaker, but the point spread would have to be just right.

“All we can do is take care of New Home and finish 3-1 (in the district),” Bovina coach Coby Emery said. “We have to avoid third place because that would probably mean we’d have to face (sixth-ranked) Wink” in the first round of the playoffs.

Emery said the Leopards have switched from a flexbone, run-dominated attack to more of an “air raid” style of offense, somewhat similar to Texas Tech. He said it plays more to the skills of senior quarterback Bode Stewart, who may sign a Division I scholarship in baseball as a catcher.

The Mustangs cut a 38-19 fourth-quarter deficit against Smyer to five points and gained possession with a chance to win in the final two minutes before a turnover foiled their bid.

Emery is looking for a bounce-back effort against a New Home squad which dropped a couple of tough ones in the district.

“Losing one like that was tough,” he said of Friday’s setback. “But as long as we come out (this week) and take control of the game early, I think we’ll be fine.”

Muleshoe at Dalhart — The Mules are also smarting after a 7-0 Class 3A Division I District 2 home loss to Amarillo River Road last week. They’re looking to bounce back against a Wolves contingent which played competitively in a 37-21 loss at district-leading Bushland.

“They’ve got a good football team,” Muleshoe coach Jason Richards said of Dalhart (5-3, 1-1). “This is kind of the group they’ve been waiting for; they’ve got a bunch of seniors.”

The offense is led by senior quarterback Brennan Lloyd, while keying the defense are junior end Roise Marquez and inside linebackers Will Moore and Klayton Monroe.

“Bushland beat them with some big shots over the top,” Richards said. “They matched up pretty well on size, but I don’t know that they’ve got the speed.”

While they are looking for a strong effort this week, a win in next week’s finale at home against rival Littlefield would likely allow the Mules (2-5, 0-2) to sneak into the postseason. Muleshoe, which had won only once in the previous two seasons, has pretty much been in every game so far this year, with the exception of Bushland.

“We’re just going to go out and give them all we’ve got,” Richards said. “It’s progressing. We just need to build the program back.”