Friday, September 27, 1996

Six area districts begin league play tonight
By BILL HART
Senior Staff Writer

Who'll be the first area high school football team to play the first overtime game? It could be tonight when six area districts begin league play.

If a game ends in a tie in those districts, teams can break ties by playing the extra period for the first time. In the past, ties were broken first by penetrations (the number of times inside the opponents' 20-yard line) and then by the most first downs.

Districts 4-5A, 6-3A, 5-A, 6-A, 7-A and 8-A are the ones starting to decide their playoff representatives tonight. The other districts won't start firing at each other for two more weeks.

The 6-3A race could be the most interesting. Merkel, Wylie, Clyde, Brady and Breckenridge are unbeaten for the season, while defending champion Ballinger is 2-1. The list will dwindle tonight because Merkel plays at Wylie. Clyde plays host to Eastland, and winless Coleman is at Breckenridge. Ballinger entertains Brady, the newcomer to the district after last year's realignment.

Munday, the preseason favorite in District 5-A, goes against surprising Crowell, while Rotan, expected to challenge the Moguls, takes on surprising Aspermont. Throckmorton, the only area team in 6-A, faces Alvord, but the Greyhounds are not figured to be in the title chase.

Bronte and Sterling City clash in the top 7-A contest. That winner is expected to battle Robert Lee for the title. The Steers take on Garden City tonight.

District 8-A should be a three-team battle, and two of the teams - Cross Plains and Rising Star - play tonight. Baird, the preseason favorite, entertains Lometa tonight.

There are several key non-district games on the schedule, too, headed by the De Leon-Goldthwaite and Roscoe-Winters battles in Class 2A.

Sweetwater, the No. 5 ranked team in Class 4A, plays host to Class 5A Amarillo Palo Duro. Other area ranked teams are Ballinger in 3A (No. 10) and Munday in A (No. 5). Stephenville continues its tough schedule by playing at Dallas Roosevelt, a team it has beaten the past two years.

Brownwood takes a two-game winning streak to San Angelo Lake View, a team it has given fits the past few years. Lake View is undefeated, while the Lions' two wins are one more than they had last year.

Top Six-Man battles include Jayton-Highland, Klondike-Westbrook, Zephyr-Richland Springs and Brookesmith-May, the latter which should be a high-scoring game.