-
From left, Kevi Heath, Braylon Jones, Mason McMinn and Kyler Smith look to the sidelines to receive a play call during a recent game. Mount Pleasant will host Pine Tree Friday at Sam Parker Field, needing two wins to keep their playoff hopes alive. TRIBUNE PHOTO / QUINTEN BOYD
The road to the playoffs for the Mount Pleasant Tigers got a bit rockier Friday.
The Tigers fell on the road at Whitehouse, 37-14, meaning the Tigers likely need to win their final two games – Friday at home against Pine Tree and next week on the road against Hallsvville – and need some outside help to snag a playoff spot.
Currently in district play, Texas High remains in first after surviving an upset attempt from Nacogdoches. Whitehouse moves to second ahead of Hallsville and Marshall. Pine Tree and Mount Pleasant are tied for fifth and Nacogdoches is in seventh.
Two wins would put the Tigers at 3-3 in district play in a tie with Hallsville (one game remaining, against MP).
Two other teams are also possible in the hypothetical tie, but only one or the other are possible, depending on results, out of Marshall (vs. Nacogdoches, at Whitehouse) and Whitehouse (at Texas High, vs. Marshall) since the Mavericks and Wildcats finish the season against each other.
In a hypothetical tie that includes Marshall, the Mavericks would have beaten Mount Pleasant, the Tigers would have beaten Hallsville and the Bobcats would have won over the Mavericks.
A three-way tie between Mount Pleasant, Hallsville and Whitehouse would be less beneficial for the Tigers, as in that scenario, Whitehouse owns the head-to-head tiebreakers against both teams.
For any of it to matter, however, the Tigers must take care of their own business against Pine Tree and Hallsville.
Against Whitehouse, the Tigers scored first but Whitehouse took over the rest of the first half to take a 20-8 halftime lead. Mount Pleasant scored first in the second half to pull within six and had a chance to tie after an interception by Antez Jeffrey, but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize and the Wildcats scored the game’s final 17 points.
Mount Pleasant will look to put the loss behind them and take care of business at home against Pine Tree. The Pirates nearly pulled off the win at home against Hallsville, but a blocked extra point in overtime gave the Bobcats the 45-44 win.
Pirate running back Jalynn Robinson ran for 180 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Cale Skinner threw two touchdown passes, both to Jonathon Fuller, and ran for a score.
The Pirates allowed 248 passing yards and four touchdowns through the air and 207 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Kickoff is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Sam Parker Field.