by Kirk Dooley
It’s a trap. I’m telling you.
The Scots travel to Mansfield this Thursday to tangle with the Timberview Wolves to close out the regular season for both teams. The Scots are 9-0 (6-0 in district) while the Wolves are 5-4 (4-2 in district). The Scots have won the district championship and are 6-5A Div. I’s top seed in the playoffs. Thursday’s game means noting to them in terms of playoff seeding.
Timberview, on the other hand, is fighting for the third seed position in the playoffs. The Wolves will be the third seed if (1) they beat the Scots, which is a possibility, and if (2) Sunset beats Legacy, which is as likely as Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz driving to Washington together and streaming their road trip online.
By the way, the difference between the third seed and fourth seed can be significant in how deep your team goes in the playoffs. Not many fourths advance.
The Scots actually played Timberview last season in a pre-district game and it could have gone either way. The Wolves led, 13-0, after the first quarter and then 19-17 at the half. The Scots took their first lead of the game, 25-19, on a Paxton Alexander run and a two-point conversion (Finn Corwin to Cade Saustad). In the fourth quarter Timberview scored twice, Benner Page scored once and the Scots were down, 32-31, as they launched their final drive of the night. With 28 seconds left in the game, Matteo Cordray, kicking into a stiff wind, nailed a 32-yard field goal to win the contest, 34-32.
Had he missed it, the Scots’ record would have fallen to 1-2, which is not very state championshipish.
So the Scots and the Wolves know each other intimately. The Timberview players are foaming at the mouth to get some revenge on the two-time defending state champs. The Scots have a goal of finishing the regular season undefeated – something the last two HP teams did not do – so they won’t be looking past the Wolves.
Timberview lost to Legacy, 27-22, and to Lancaster, 49-14, and have won all its other district games. Quarterback Jordan Davis has thrown for 1,165 yards and 14 touchdowns and he has run for 301 yards and five more TDs. Running back Stacy Sneed, who scored twice in the first half last year against the Scots, is averaging 10.9 yards per carry on 69 carries this season. He has scored l1 touchdowns.
The Scots are coming off a critical win over Lancaster last Friday. The Tigers were big, fast, athletic and have an intimidating drum line. HP countered with three quarters of solid offense, defense, special teams and a better fight song, blasted out frequently by the Highlander Band.
There’s rain in the forecast for Thursday and fans can enjoy rush-hour traffic on the way to the 7:00 game.
Bundle up. Go early. Support your team. Don’t take these guys for granted.
They’ll appreciate your presence on Thursday night as they walk into a Wolf trap.