Cowboy's Six-Shooter — Thoughts on the six-man playoffs

Photo by Brandi Parks

Looking back on the first round of the 2016 playoffs, I have to face an uncomfortable fact: my predictions are no more than educated guesses. 1: I expected Jonesboro to get an easy mercy rule win over Lometa, but the Hornets fought hard and kept it close. Jonesboro has been the heavy favorite to represent the east in the championship, but a narrow 40-32 win will have many doubting them. 2: Marfa's impressive 94-79 upset win over Santa Anna was a major accomplishment for the team — it was the Shorthorns' first playoff victory since 1949. 3: I expected Gorman to pull off a late game win over the Newcastle Bobcats, but I underestimated the Bobcats. Newcastle went in prepared, and defeated Gorman by 46 points. 4: With high hopes for Leverett's Chapel, I chose them to win - knowing they were the underdogs. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for me; Tioga dominated the Lions 48-0. 5. I knew Grandfalls-Royalty was good, but I didn't think they were good enough to beat Sands. I was wrong. The Cowboys defeated Sands 69-46 and earned the right to move on to the next round. I should have listened to Balmorhea head coach Vance Jones when he told me to pick Grandfalls-Royalty... 6. In a relatively low scoring six-man game, Chillicothe won over Aspermont 34-14. This was surprising to me. Chillicothe has seemed to struggle in difficult games this year. Now we can hope they shake the playoff picture up a little more. And now, my second-round six-man picks: 1A Division IHappy over MeadowKnox over NazarethBorden County over Buena VistaGarden City over MarfaMay over ZephyrJonesboro over NewcastleAvalon over TiogaUnion Hill over Abbott1A Division IIFollett over AmherstValley over PetersburgBalmorhea over JaytonGuthrie over Grandfalls-RoyaltyCrowell over StrawnChillicothe over Panther CreekRichland Springs over MilfordCalvert over Iredell