(Florence) — The Marion Bulldogs will close out their regular season on Friday against Florence.
The Bulldogs have clinched the third seed out of District 13-3A and will play in the UIL Bi-District round next week. Their opponent will be determined after games on Friday night.
The Bulldogs are averaging over 38 points per game this season. Senior quarterback Kade Pape has thrown for 2,041 yards and 29 touchdowns. Receiver Jaiden Riley has caught 21 TD passes.
Defensively, linebacker Blake Birdwell leads Marion with 69 tackles. The junior has three games of double-digit tackles.
Marion head coach Joel Call says he wants his offensive and defensive units to complement each other.
“In one of our games, I heard Coach (Bo) Gonzalez, our defensive coordinator, say ‘hey, how about for once we take care of business on defense and we hold up for the offense’. And in the end, I challenge our kids as they come on and off the field,” Call said. “I want them to echo, ‘hey I got you’.
“If there’s a turnover, I want our defense running out, ‘hey we got you’. If our defense gets scored on, I want our offense to come out, ‘hey we got you’. So, I want them to hold each other accountable, and I want them to be dependable to each other.”
Marion and Florence will meet in Florence on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
(Geronimo) — The Navarro Panthers have their bye in the final week of the regular season and will find out their postseason fate after games are completed on Friday.
Navarro is currently in fifth place in District 13-4A, one-half game behind Gonzales and Lago Vista for the final playoff spot in the district. If both Gonzales and Lago Vista lose their games on Friday, it will create a three-way tie for the last playoff spot.
The Panthers hold the tiebreaker and would make the playoffs if the three teams tie for fourth place. Gonzales hosts Jarrell on Friday while Lago Vista plays Wimberley at home. Jarrell and Wimberley are currently tied for first place in the district with Salado.
(Seguin) — And the Seguin Matadors will close their season at home Friday night against San Antonio MacArthur at Matador Stadium.
The Matadors will miss the playoffs this year for only the second time in the last eight years. Kickoff between Seguin and MacArthur is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
We’ll have High School Football Friday Night starting at 6:25 p.m. Friday evening on KWED. We’ll visit with Marion head coach Joel Call on the Marion Bulldog Report. Then we’ll chat with Seguin head coach Craig Dailey on the Seguin Matador Report. That will be followed by our Matador football pregame leading up to kickoff between Seguin and MacArthur on AM 1580 and streaming at SeguinToday.com.