Big 7 football playoffs – Ay Chihuahua!

If Team A beats Team B and Team C beats Team D, then Team A is in the playoffs; unless of course Team C wins by more than 13 ¼ points and Team B’s bus hits a Chihuahua in heat on the way to the game. In that case, Team C is in the playoffs and Team A has to put on cheerleader uniforms and do the chicken dance at halftime of Team Y’s game against Team Z.

It’s Week 11 of Valley high school football and while that comical playoff scenario seems preposterous, it’s actually not far from what is happening in District 30-6A this week – minus the cheerleader uniforms and that thing about the Chihuahua, of course. With only one game to go in the regular season, only one 30-6A team has clinched a playoff berth and only one team has been eliminated – the 9-0 McAllen Memorial Mustangs are in and the 3-6 Nikki Rowe Warriors are out. That leaves five teams vying for three playoff spots with the possibility of a four-way tie for second place, while extremely unlikely, still a possibility.

Before we get into the extremely confusing possible playoff scenarios in District 30-6A, let’s discuss the much simpler District 31-5A scenarios first. Regardless of what happened last night or what happens tonight, the Edinburg Vela Sabercats, the Veterans Memorial Patriots, the Roma Gladiators and the Sharyland Rattlers are all in the playoffs. All that remains to be decided is whether Vela wins the district championship outright or if they have to share it with the Patriots – and each of the four teams’ seedings.

Vela and the Patriots, both Division I teams, played each other last night. If Vela defeated the Patriots, then the Sabercats are the outright district champions and first seed. That will leave the Patriots as the runner-ups and second seed. If the Patriots defeated the Sabercats, then they share the championship and thanks to their head-to-head win, the Patriots are the first seed and Vela the second.

As for the Rattlers and the Gladiators, both Division II teams, the Gladiators will be the first seed and the Rattlers the second if both teams win, or if both teams lose, or if Roma wins and Sharyland loses to Rio Grande City tonight. The only possible scenario for the Rattlers to emerge as the top Division II seed is if they win and Roma loses to 0-9 Valley View.

Should the most likely scenario of the Rattlers being the second seed in the division happen, they will then play the Mercedes Tigers in the bi-district round of the playoffs next week.

Now let’s get into the possible 30-6A scenarios. Here is what is most likely to happen: Memorial wins the championship (already decided), McAllen High is runner-up and second seed (with a win over Mission tonight) and Palmview punches their ticket into the playoffs regardless of whether or not they defeated the Bulldogs last night (as long as Memorial defeats Mission tonight). As for Juarez-Lincoln and La Joya, the most likely scenario is that whichever team wins their game against each other tonight secures the final playoff spot.

Now that’s not all that complicated is it? Not really. However should the most likely scenarios listed above not take place, that’s where the cheerleader uniforms and the Chihuahua come in.

For example, McAllen High is in the playoffs unless the Mission Eagles upset the Memorial Mustangs, La Joya High defeats Juarez-Lincoln and McAllen High loses to Palmview by 16 or more points. This unlikely scenario puts the Bulldogs on the outside-looking-in of post season play as the odd-team-out in a four-way tie for second place.

As for Mission, the Eagles’ only possible path to the playoffs includes a win against the McAllen Memorial Mustangs tonight. However, even with that unlikely scenario taking place, the Eagles will not be assured of a trip to the playoffs. That’s because if Juarez-Lincoln defeats La Joya High and Palmview defeats McAllen High, then the Lobos will be in and the Eagles will be out.

To wrap up, the Patriots and the Rattlers are in the playoffs but the Patriots are still in the running for a share of the district title. With wins the Lobos and the Huskies are in. The Coyotes and the Eagles not only both need to win to get in but they both also need help to clinch. The loser of the Huskies vs Coyotes game is out no matter what else happens. Got that?