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Bucs on brink of playoff berth
Published October 29, 2009
CLUTE — With back-to-back District 24-5A wins, the Brazoswood Buccaneers are in the thick of the playoff race and could wrap up a spot in the postseason this week with a win and a little help.
First, the Buccaneers (3-2 district, 5-3 overall) must score a third straight league win 7 p.m. today against the Clear Lake Falcons (1-4, 2-6) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in League City.
“We’ve turned it on at a good time,” Brazoswood coach Dean DeAtley said. “We’ve lost some close games earlier, and lately we’ve been able to limit our turnovers and made some big plays on offense while containing big plays with our defense.”
After missing out on the playoffs last season, Brazoswood could get its ticket punched to the postseason this week with a win Thursday and losses Friday by Dickinson (3-2, 5-3) against Galveston Ball (4-1, 5-3) and Clear Brook (2-3, 3-5) against Clear Springs (4-1, 6-2).
“We’ve been able to get back into a situation where we control our own destiny and know that two more wins gets us in the playoffs,” DeAtley said. “And I think every team would love to know they’re already in before going into that last game and it not becoming a last-second thing.”
The Buccaneers played last Thursday and scored their first road win of the season in a 49-35 victory against Clear Creek. It was Brazoswood’s highest-scoring game of the year, surpassing its previous best of 29 points against Alvin.
“You say whatever you want to, but when you have three road losses staring at your face, you have to do something to shake it up and get that road win,” DeAtley said. “I’m proud of the team digging so deep.”
Brazoswood will line up today opposite Clear Lake’s wishbone offense. The Falcons’ run-heavy attack is led by junior fullback Sean McCraney, who has run for 736 yards on 116 carries with five touchdowns. Senior running back Randall Hollimon has 500 yards on 57 tries with three scores, and senior quarterback Steven Hanley has 69 carries for 413 yards and two touchdowns.
Clear Lake has gained 2,562 yards on the ground and only 313 through the air.
“We’ve seen this type of offense before against Clear Brook and we know how we need to defend it,” DeAtley said. “McCraney is that first option, and we have to do our best to shut that down.”
The Buccaneers are averaging 347 yards of offense a game and have run for 1,942 yards on the season. Senior quarterback Chase Matzke has thrown for 840 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions, and senior tight end Bradley Peters leads the team with 21 catches for 320 yards and two scores.
The junior tailback tandem of Ricky Lunford (123 carries, 723 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Marqualle Davis (92 carries, 599 yards, six touchdowns) has moved the ball behind an experienced, senior-laden offensive line.
Last week, Davis ran for 176 yards and four touchdowns, and Lunford gained 169 yards and crossed the goal line twice.
“We hope to have some explosive plays ourselves,” DeAtley said. “I’m all for controlling things and getting 3 or 4 yards at a time, but last week we had some big running plays and it’s nice to get those 15-yard gains and break free once in a while. If we can keep that up, it really frees up our offense.
“The guys know it’s a big game this week, and we can take a big step toward the playoffs. We have to play our style of football, do the things we know how to do well and limit those turnovers, and we’ll be in position to win.”
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Comcast Sports Southwest on channel 129 and audio only on Channel 19.
Jim Levesque is a sports writer for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0161.
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