With three weeks to go in the regular season, the race to make the playoffs heats up and every game becomes even more critical. In District 1-6A, there are two teams who are vying for the last playoff spot in 1-6A. The Franklin Cougars and Eastwood Troopers have been through tough stretches this season, but there is a path for each of them to get into the postseason. Here’s how they could do it.
Franklin Cougars 2-5 (2-2 in 1-6A)
Remaining Schedule: vs. Socorro, vs. Coronado, at Americas
Franklin has only two wins on the year, but one of those wins happens to be the most crucial one: A 41-40 win over Eastwood back on September 30th. Ironically enough, Eastwood kept Franklin out of the playoffs with a win last year on the final day of the regular season.
This year, It’s been tough for Franklin since the win over the Troopers, losing back-to-back games against Montwood and El Dorado. As the Cougars hit the home stretch, they will need to rely on their offensive playmakers to step up and get them back to the playoffs. They’ll be favored on Friday against a winless Socorro team, but have a tough rivalry game with Coronado next week, and wrap up with district title contender Americas on the last week of the season. If Franklin goes 2-1 in those three games, that will likely be good enough to get them in. If the Cougars lose to the Thunderbirds in the Sun Bowl, things get really interesting in the final week of the season.
Eastwood Troopers 3-4 (1-3 in 1-6A)
Remaining Schedule: at Pebble Hills, at Socorro, vs. Montwood
For the Eastwood Troopers, their path is pretty simple. Their best chance to make it back to the playoffs is to “Just win, baby!” as Al Davis would say. They will be favored to win their next two games: Thursday against Pebble Hills and the following week at Socorro. Their last game will be a tough matchup against the Montwood Rams, who are currently in good position to make the playoffs. Evan Aguilar has filled in well for injured starter Seth Ochoa, but the Troopers are going to need a mix of good play and some help to make it back to the playoffs.
Ultimately, there could be a curveball thrown into this battle. If the Coronado Thunderbirds upset El Dorado on Thursday, then that sets up a potential elimination game against their archrival Franklin in the Sun Bowl. No matter what happens, it will be high drama down to the end in 1-6A.
