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

Photo by Brandi Parks

The road to AT&T Stadium is getting shorter and getting tougher to travel. We had some outstanding games this week - some of which were championship caliber. 1. Richland Springs entered this past week undefeated, and they haven't played a full game this year. Milford hoped to be the giant killer. The Bulldogs weren't able to succeed, but they did force Richland Springs to play a full game. Milford exposed some weaknesses in the Coyotes game — weaknesses Calvert will need to exploit this week. 2. Buena Vista was in the preseason top 10, but they weren't able to stay there. Borden County hasn't left the top 5. On paper, it looked like an easy win for the Coyotes. Buena Vista destroyed that misconception early in the game. The Longhorns had a 16-8 lead at halftime. The score was tied 24-24 with only two seconds left in regulation, and Buena Vista attempted a field goal — and missed. The battle continued through two overtimes, with Borden County finally winning 40-32. 3. Grandfalls-Royalty is obviously peaking at the right time. Most "experts" predicted a Guthrie win; I don't think anyone expected a barn-burner Grandfalls-Royalty win, but the Cowboys managed to come out on top 58-56. Fans at this one definitely got their money's worth. 4. After struggling with Lometa last week, I was worried that Jonesboro wouldn't be able to handle hard-hitting Newcastle. On blind faith, I picked the Eagles to win. Fortunately, they seem to have corrected the issues and defeated Newcastle 72-34. 5. The Calvert Trojans were heavy favorites over Iredell, but it didn't look that way at first. The game began as a back and forth battle. With 7:35 in the 2nd quarter, Iredell scored giving the Dragons a 24-22 lead. Unfortunately, they wouldn't find the end zone again. In traditional Calvert style, the Trojans woke up and scored 50 unanswered points, winning by mercy rule late in the third. 6. Union Hill is relatively new to six-man, and they haven't had much success — until this year. Earlier in the season, it was easy to say the Bulldogs' newfound success was due to a weak schedule and their new head coach. Friday, I learned there is much more to the story. The Bulldogs are starting 4 sophomores, and one of them is a stud — Gabe Nelson had 33 carries for 306 yards and 8 touchdowns in Union Hill's 60-32 win over Abbott. Watch this team closely for the next couple of years. This Week's PredictionsDivision I Happy over Knox City Borden County over Garden City Jonesboro over Zephyr Union Hill over TiogaDivision IIValley over Follett Balmorhea over Grandfalls-Royalty Crowell over Panther Creek Richland Springs over Calvert(I'm torn on this one)