Comanches face Tigers in area round

SHINER — There are quite a few similarities between the Shiner and Brackett football teams.

Both teams run the football, they both played tough nondistrict schedules which indicate that they might be better than their records say, and they go into tonight’s Division I-Class A area round playoff contest with win streaks of three games or more.

The biggest difference between the teams will occur after tonight’s game as one of them will keep playing, while the other will hang up the pads.

Shiner (6-5) and Brackett (4-6) kickoff at 7:30 tonight at Bulldog Stadium in Somerset. The Comanches and Tigers last faced each other in the 2007 D1-A state playoffs with Shiner winning, 41-7.

“We have a little history with Brackett,” Shiner coach Steven Cerny said. “They still have the same coaching staff from when we last played, and we still have the same staff.”

The winner of tonight’s contest faces either Ben Bolt or Winters in the region semifinal round next week. Both teams faced Ben Bolt in nondistrict play this year as the Tigers lost to Ben Bolt, 19-12, on Oct. 7, while the Comanches handed Ben Bolt its only loss of the year, 27-23, on Sept. 30.

After winning its season-opener against San Angelo TLCA, 28-19, Brackett suffered six consecutive losses with four of them occurring by seven points or less.

The Tigers went into District 14-A-DI play with a 1-6 record before running the table with wins over La Pryor, Johnson City and Center Point, respectively, to claim the district crown and a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.

Brackett operates out of the slot-T, and runs a lot of misdirection, trap and sweep plays. David Ortega is among the top ball carriers, and he ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries in the Tigers’ 29-14 win over Center Point Nov. 4.

“We have to play good assignment defense (tonight),” Cerny said. “We cannot afford to give up any big plays, and we must make them earn everything.”

Defensively, Brackett operates out of a 50 front. While the Tigers primarily line up in a 3-4, Cerny expects to see them line up in a 5-2 or 5-3 alignment against Shiner’s split veer attack.

We need to stay steady offensively, “ he said. “Possessions are important in this game. It would also help to get up on them early because the slot-T is not known as a two-minute offense.”