It just doesn't seem fair.
Birdville and Lake Dallas will square off tonight at Saginaw HS in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams have had fine regular seasons with their only loss coming to state-ranked teams (Aledo for Birdville and Denton Guyer for Lake Dallas).
But now they will meet for a chance to play on, and the loser will go home without a single playoff win in a season that was so successful in the regular season.
The game features two star quarterbacks. One's a certified gunslinger in Birdville's Josh Dorman, who's for 3,453 yards and 45 touchdowns with an incredibly efficient four interceptions. He has two big weapons outside in Cory Hines and Jonathan Dents, who've combined for 29 of the 45 scoring strikes.
Then there's Lake Dallas, which is led by the dynamic dual-threat James Franklin under center. For my money, Franklin is the most valuable player in the DFW area because he does absolutely everything for the Falcons. He is the Falcons' running game, but he's not just a rushing quarterback. Aside from his 1,012 yards rushing and 15 TDs on the ground, he's also thrown for 2,019 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Birdville had a lot of trouble last week when they ran into a tough, physical defense against Aledo, and I think Lake Dallas' defense will pose the same problem for Dorman & Co. The Hawks lost 48-13 to Aledo and while I don't see the score being quite that lopsided, I think Lake Dallas should have a fairly easy time of things.
Prediction: Lake Dallas 42, Birdville 27.
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Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/award-winning blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. A Friday night off during football season? Whatever shall I do?
