Photo by Joe Duty
By Richard Greene
The Boyd Yellowjackets are hoping Friday the 13th is not a night of horrors, but the start of dream title run.
Boyd, which closes the regular season Friday, has set its Class 2A Region II Division I bi-district tilt with the Pilot Point Bearcats for Nov. 13 at Springtown’s Porcupine Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff game, which Pilot Point rallied to win 32-28. Pilot Point scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.
Both teams said last year’s game will help during next week’s preparation.
“It won’t give any more advantage to us, but when we start breaking down film next week we will spend some time looking at last year’s film,” said Boyd coach J.G. Cartwright. “They have a lot of the same people.”
Pilot Point coach Blake Feldt added: “We’ll prepare a lot like we did last year. We both have a lot of the same guys. It’ll be an interesting matchup.”
Pilot Point enters the final week of the season undefeated and ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 2A Harris Poll. The Bearcats play undefeated Aubrey this week in a showdown for the District 10-2A title. Pilot Point is coming off a 30-20 victory last week over Callisburg, the league’s other playoff team.
Including next week’s showdown with Boyd, Feldt said it’ll be a tough three-game stretch for his team.
“No doubt it’s a tough stretch; but at the same time, we’ve played good teams all year,” Feldt said. “We beat Lake Worth, which beat Dallas Madison. We beat Ferris, which beat Kennedale. Sanger also has a good team.”
Pilot Point is led by running back Jarmen Johnson, who has 1,581 yards on 132 carries. Pilot Point’s quarterback Seth Tilley has added 1,256 yards through the air, completing 89 of his 143 attempts with 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
“Pilot Point will be a really tough game,” Cartwright said. “When you get in the playoffs, you are going to play some good teams. Pilot Point is one of the top teams in the state.”
Boyd closes the season with Millsap Friday. Boyd can claim the District 9-2A title outright with a win. After losing four straight games against Gunter, Glen Rose, Godley and Grandview just before the start of district play, Boyd has rolled to four straight victories. Cartwright said the team is playing better.
“We are peaking, but I’m not sure if we have reached our peak,” Cartwright said. “That non-district schedule was tough, but helped us.”
Boyd quarterback Tim Fleming is nearing 1,000 yards rushing. He has 839 yards on 138 carries. He has thrown for 724 yards, completing 50 of his 111 attempts.
The Boyd defense has allowed only 29 points during district play.
“Cartwright always does a great job,” Feldt said. “They’ve won two state championships and in the playoffs they always pick it up a notch.”