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Pride, Pressure and Playoffs: McKinney and Boyd battle in high-stakes rivalry game
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
McKinney (5-4, 1-3) v. McKinney Boyd (5-4, 2-2)
Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Ron Poe Stadium
As far as regular season games go, you can't get any bigger than this.
"This week has got a lot of implications on it, not just for the playoffs, but rivalries and the whole deal," said Don Drake, Boyd head coach. "I don't know if you can get an even bigger week 10 game than this. It's what I told the kids after last week's game. If this week wasn't important enough, now it becomes even bigger."
With a 2-2 District 10-5A record, the Broncos have the advantage in that all they have to do to clinch a playoff spot is win. Boyd can still advance if they lose, but various scenarios must first play out, something Drake said he and his team isn't focused on.
"It's pretty easy. You win and you're in," he said. "It is possible (to advance with a loss), but it's one of those things where I don't like depending on everybody else to fit just right for it to happen, so we haven't talked about those possible scenarios with the kids at all. It's about winning and that's it."
McKinney's path to the postseason, meanwhile, is a little bit cloudier. The Lions must win and have any of a number of various scenarios play out. As far as McKinney head coach Jeff Smith is concerned, the playoffs are still within reach, and that's all that matters.
"I'm excited because we're in the mix," he said. "We have the opportunities in front of us. We're still in the playoff discussion. There are all these scenarios and those types of things, but we're still in it and our kids are excited for that opportunity."
It's possible after Friday's action for the playoff picture to get even more convoluted, resulting in a five-way tie in the district.
"When we sat down and met early on and started talking about our new district and we made our rules as far as tiebreakers, we all kind of laughed," Smith said. "But we knew it could be a big deal as it could all come down to one big tie with a lot of schools in it. So it's funny because that's where we're at."
For the Lions, they have to win and then get some help. McKinney can reach the postseason if it wins, and both Plano West and Plano Senior win. To complicate things further, there are two other scenarios that involve points.
"There's a scenario where if Plano West beats Plano East then we have to beat Boyd by eight points," Smith said. "If Plano East wins and Allen beats Plano, there will be a five-way tie. In that scenario for us, it all depends on how much East wins by for how much we have to win by. It's a moving scale for us, but if East wins by less than five points, then we can't get in."
In the end, Smith knows all he can do is try to win on Friday and see if everything else falls into place. As for sizing up their cross-town rival, Smith knows the Broncos offense begins with running back Bryan Driskell.
"Their running game is good, and that goes without saying," Smith said. "Bryan Driskell is the guy you have to stop, and (quarterback) Curtis Ladd does a good job of managing the offense, but first and foremost with us it starts with stopping the run."
Drake concedes there won't be any drastic shifts in the Broncos offensive philosophy between now and Friday's kickoff.
"It's the same every week, regardless of our opponent, that we have to establish the run," he said. "Everybody we face knows that."
When Drake looks at his opponent's offense, he sees a wealth of weapons.
"We got our hands full in terms of shutting them down because they do a good job of spreading the field," Drake said. "They have a whole bunch of talented kids over there. When you talk about their running backs and receiving corps, you talk about (receiver Connor) Fuentes, (halfback Jonathan) Shannon, (receiver T.V.) Williams, and other talented skills players they have who have a lot of speed and can create matchup problems for us defensively."
While Boyd looks to rebound from last week's close two-point lost to East, McKinney is hoping to bounce back from its loss to Allen.
"I look at McKinney and I think they're playing pretty hard right now, playing pretty inspired football," Drake said. "We can't have a hangover from this loss (to East), because if you do you're going to set yourself up for failure. Our kids know that, they know how big this game is, how important it is."
Neither team can afford to lose as a McKinney loss would eliminate them from the postseason while a Boyd loss wouldn't guarantee that the Broncos would still get in through various scenarios. This makes both teams dangerous in a cross-town showdown that would already be important by itself if not for the added playoff pressure.
"It feels good to be in this position," Smith said. "This is what you play for. It's a position where you have to go out and play your best game of the year. Both teams have a lot to play for so I expect both teams to be hungry."
McKinney North (2-7, 2-4) v. Denison (2-7, 2-4)
Thursday at 7 p.m. at Ron Poe Stadium
This 2012 football season may not have gone the way McKinney North head coach Mike Fecci and his program had hoped, but they can still end it in style.
Fecci knows that a win over Denison on Thursday night will go a long way to showing his players that hard work is rewarded and life lessons can be learned no matter the adversity.
"We got a chance this week to go out and finish this on the right note," he said. "It's one of those things you have to live to understand. Hopefully they'll put these lessons in their mental registry and use them when they need it. I told them one day they're going to be able to use these lessons they've learned through this adversity to their advantage."
Tough breaks and tough losses, especially in the roster, have plagued North this year. Fecci said the team has endured more injuries than he's ever seen in his 15 years of coaching.
Fecci is proud that the Bulldogs haven't quit, as they were still in the playoff picture as recently as last Friday's game.
"It's everything to get this last win," he said. "It would mean a lot to those kids having had the season that we've had. If we can go out there and cut loose one more time and get after it, play the game the right way, then we'll see what happens."
Fecci admits that Denison won't be an easy last opponent, especially with their rarely-seen defensive scheme.
"They've consistently gotten better each week," he said. "They're going to be a formidable opponent. They run the ball well and play a 3-3 stack on defense. You don't see a lot of that anymore, so it's unique. And they have a lot of different stunts they run, but we got to prepare for it all."
Offensively, the Bulldogs will look to continue their ground game, helmed by Ronald and Justin Jones, which complements quarterback Ben Dutze's passing attack.
"For us it all starts with our offensive line," Fecci said. "They've got to be able to pick up some of the stunts and hopefully Ronald and Justin Jones will have a good night and we're able to open up with Dutze and our outside receivers and get rolling."
While wins and losses are the name of the game in football, Fecci said there are other ways to gauge success. As North prepares to end its season, their head coach hopes his players understand that the lessons learned between the lines can go far beyond just the field.
"There will be those times in your life where things don't go your way," he said. "It's all about how you're going to handle it. Are you going to give everything you got? It's lessons like that that matter the most."
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