The Herald-Zeitung

As far as Les Davis is concerned, the playoffs begin tonight.

Davis’ Canyon Cougars are still squarely in the hunt for a berth into the playoffs, but they can’t afford to slip with two games left in the football regular season.

“We kind of look at it like our postseason is now,” the coach said. “We’ve got to win to keep going. There may be another mathematical possibility, but the best bet for us to make the postseason is that we’ve got to win two games in a row.”

It all begins tonight.

Canyon (3-5, 2-3) can guarantee a spot in the postseason if it wins its final two games, starting at 7:30 p.m. against Clemens at Lehnhoff Stadium. This game is a must-win for the fifth-place Cougars to unseat the fourth-place Buffaloes (5-2, 3-2).

If Canyon wins tonight, it will make the playoffs with a win against Boerne Champion next week or a Clemens loss to Kerrville Tivy.

But Davis isn’t concerned about contingencies. He knows that if the Cougars take care of business, they’ll have nothing to worry about.

“We’ve just focused as much as possible this week on preparing for Clemens and then going out and trying to perform,” he said.

Like usual, Davis said, the Cougars will be facing off against an athletic Clemens team.

“They’ve got guys who can catch and run,” he said. “They can make short fields.”

The Buffaloes are led on offense by a talented pair of receivers, Evan Sowders and David Woodfork. The pair has combined for almost 500 yards receiving and three touchdowns, taking passes from quarterback Bryce McCoy.

Stanley Harris and Abel Rodriguez have rotated in the Buffaloes’ backfield, combining for nearly 800 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

“We’ve seen them on field and we understand their athletic skills,” Davis said. “We just have to go out there and make plays. We have to go out there and make more plays than they do.”

It was nearly the case last week, when Canyon pulled ahead by as much as 14 points in the third quarter against district leader Alamo Heights.

“We were able to score right before the half, and we got the ball back at the beginning of the third, so we felt pretty comfortable,” Davis said. “But we gave them a couple of short fields and didn’t follow through defensively.”

Alamo Heights took advantage of a series of Canyon turnovers and converted the favorable field position into touchdowns, going on to win 31-28. On the streak of three scoring drives, the Mules average starting position was the Canyon 40.

“Nobody goes out there with the intention of turning the ball over,” Davis said. “A kid made a nice catch, turned upfield and he fumbled. Another was a great interception by the defender. It just happens, and the bottom line is that we’ve got to respond defensively.”

The defense has grown since the season kicked off, Davis said. The Cougars began the year with a glut of youth throughout the roster, and several players have made their marks.

“We’ve got some players,” he said. “Most of all, we pride ourselves on winning as a team. We work on the team concept. We want everyone involved on every play.”