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11-08-2009, 12:57 PM
Odessa American
http://varsity.oaoa.com/articles/seminole-5030-playoffs-football.html
Football: Lucky flip of the coin puts Andrews and Seminole into the playoffs
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Coin flip snaps Greenwood's decade-long playoff streak
November 07, 2009 11:09 PM
BY JOEL A. ERICKSON
Finding the right change has never been so hard.
But in the week leading up to Seminole’s 53-6 win over Lamesa Friday night, people kept stopping Indians head coach Chris Burtch to make sure he was ready.
Most wanted to know whether or not Burtch had chosen his lucky piece of metal. A few offered to let the coach borrow the coin they normally carried.
“The funny thing is that I never put much stock in that,” Burtch said. “I always believed any coin was as good as the next.”
In Andrews, Jeff Cordell already had his coin hand-picked. Back in 2003, the referee that worked Cordell’s first playoff win as a head coach at Gainesville had handed his captain the coin from the opening flip as a memento.
A football helmet on the front. The back end of a long snapper representing tails on the other side. His captain handed the coin to his coach. Cordell has been carrying that coin ever since.
Greenwood head coach Steve Taylor had been carrying around a half-dollar for the better part of three months, trying to get rid of the sucker every time he left the house.
A half-dollar isn’t good for much these days. Can’t use it in a vending machine.
“A 50-cent piece is sort of an oddball,” Taylor said. “But I couldn’t get rid of it. Thought that meant it was the one I was supposed to use.”
---
Heading into the final week of the season, every football fan in Andrews, Seminole and Greenwood could read the writing on the wall.
Sitting in second place in District 3-3A with a 3-1 record, Greenwood held a slim one-game lead on Seminole and Andrews at 2-2.
But the Rangers had to play mighty Monahans, the district bully, a team ranked No. 4 in the state. Facing district doormats, Seminole and Andrews were good bets to force a three-way tie for two playoff spots.
To make matters worse, the three schools played Ring Around the Rosie in head-to-head competition. Andrews upset Greenwood 36-19. Greenwood knocked off Seminole 14-0. And Seminole blasted the Mustangs 31-13.
Throw that tiebreaker out the window. And because of the large margin of victory in each game — District 3-3A caps the amount of positive-negative points a team can build at 14 — the second tiebreaker didn’t matter, either.
Leaving the coaches thinking about the plays that could have kept them out of the coin flip.
“Against Greenwood, we’re down on the 10,” Burtch said. “If I had kicked a field goal instead of trying for a touchdown, we’re in, it doesn’t matter.”
Cordell kept thinking about the egg the Mustangs laid against Seminole. And Taylor’s team coughed up an interception the Mustangs returned for a score and a fumbled a snap on the Rangers’ 2 that flipped that game upside-down.
“At the end, we were trying to get it close enough to kick a field goal,” Taylor said. “That would have got it to 13, and we knew that might make the difference.”
All three teams stuck to the script Friday night.
At some point during Seminole’s 53-6 rout of Lamesa, something shiny caught Burtch’s eye as he headed back to the sideline.
A penny. Burtch finally had his coin.
---
Turns out District 3-3A didn’t need the truck stop of Friday Night Lights fame.
This time the Andrews administration building worked just fine.
Except that Cordell had to wait nearly an hour for the other two coaches to make the trip.
“Probably the longest hour of my life,” Cordell said. “I’ve been in the profession 19 years, been a head coach eight years, and never had this happen.”
Neither had Burtch, Taylor, or anybody else present. Nearly as soon as the other coaches arrived, the three coaches counted to three and flipped.
All three coins came up tails.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Burtch thought. “Time to take a deep breath.”
Minutes passed. Three coins flipped into the air.
Cordell’s football coin landed first. Tails.
Taylor’s tagalong half-dollar landed second. Heads.
Burtch’s penny hit the ground and just kept spinning.
“Mine lands, and it’s spinning,” Burtch said. “And I’m thinking, no matter if it goes heads or tails, I’m in.”
That Lamesa penny came up tails.
---
Burtch and Cordell couldn’t celebrate.
Not with Taylor picking up his coin in quiet agony. So the three coaches shook hands and picked up their cell phones.
Burtch called his wife first. Then he called his assistant coaches, waiting on the bus with the team.
“I told the team as a group,” Burtch said. “And then all I heard was a bunch of whoops and hollers and yells.”
Taylor called his assistant coaches at the fieldhouse in Greenwood. After the assistants told the team, most of the Rangers cleared out.
But when Taylor got back and met with his assistants, they cried.
“We had been in the playoffs 10 years in a row,” Taylor said. “And these kids worked hard from November through the summer to make sure they weren’t the group that didn’t make it.”
Taylor hasn’t had a chance to talk to the kids yet. After a season like that, looking forward to basketball doesn’t seem right.
“I’ve been moping around all day,” Taylor said. “It might take me a month to get over it.”
All because of that pesky half-dollar.
http://varsity.oaoa.com/articles/seminole-5030-playoffs-football.html
Football: Lucky flip of the coin puts Andrews and Seminole into the playoffs
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
Coin flip snaps Greenwood's decade-long playoff streak
November 07, 2009 11:09 PM
BY JOEL A. ERICKSON
Finding the right change has never been so hard.
But in the week leading up to Seminole’s 53-6 win over Lamesa Friday night, people kept stopping Indians head coach Chris Burtch to make sure he was ready.
Most wanted to know whether or not Burtch had chosen his lucky piece of metal. A few offered to let the coach borrow the coin they normally carried.
“The funny thing is that I never put much stock in that,” Burtch said. “I always believed any coin was as good as the next.”
In Andrews, Jeff Cordell already had his coin hand-picked. Back in 2003, the referee that worked Cordell’s first playoff win as a head coach at Gainesville had handed his captain the coin from the opening flip as a memento.
A football helmet on the front. The back end of a long snapper representing tails on the other side. His captain handed the coin to his coach. Cordell has been carrying that coin ever since.
Greenwood head coach Steve Taylor had been carrying around a half-dollar for the better part of three months, trying to get rid of the sucker every time he left the house.
A half-dollar isn’t good for much these days. Can’t use it in a vending machine.
“A 50-cent piece is sort of an oddball,” Taylor said. “But I couldn’t get rid of it. Thought that meant it was the one I was supposed to use.”
---
Heading into the final week of the season, every football fan in Andrews, Seminole and Greenwood could read the writing on the wall.
Sitting in second place in District 3-3A with a 3-1 record, Greenwood held a slim one-game lead on Seminole and Andrews at 2-2.
But the Rangers had to play mighty Monahans, the district bully, a team ranked No. 4 in the state. Facing district doormats, Seminole and Andrews were good bets to force a three-way tie for two playoff spots.
To make matters worse, the three schools played Ring Around the Rosie in head-to-head competition. Andrews upset Greenwood 36-19. Greenwood knocked off Seminole 14-0. And Seminole blasted the Mustangs 31-13.
Throw that tiebreaker out the window. And because of the large margin of victory in each game — District 3-3A caps the amount of positive-negative points a team can build at 14 — the second tiebreaker didn’t matter, either.
Leaving the coaches thinking about the plays that could have kept them out of the coin flip.
“Against Greenwood, we’re down on the 10,” Burtch said. “If I had kicked a field goal instead of trying for a touchdown, we’re in, it doesn’t matter.”
Cordell kept thinking about the egg the Mustangs laid against Seminole. And Taylor’s team coughed up an interception the Mustangs returned for a score and a fumbled a snap on the Rangers’ 2 that flipped that game upside-down.
“At the end, we were trying to get it close enough to kick a field goal,” Taylor said. “That would have got it to 13, and we knew that might make the difference.”
All three teams stuck to the script Friday night.
At some point during Seminole’s 53-6 rout of Lamesa, something shiny caught Burtch’s eye as he headed back to the sideline.
A penny. Burtch finally had his coin.
---
Turns out District 3-3A didn’t need the truck stop of Friday Night Lights fame.
This time the Andrews administration building worked just fine.
Except that Cordell had to wait nearly an hour for the other two coaches to make the trip.
“Probably the longest hour of my life,” Cordell said. “I’ve been in the profession 19 years, been a head coach eight years, and never had this happen.”
Neither had Burtch, Taylor, or anybody else present. Nearly as soon as the other coaches arrived, the three coaches counted to three and flipped.
All three coins came up tails.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Burtch thought. “Time to take a deep breath.”
Minutes passed. Three coins flipped into the air.
Cordell’s football coin landed first. Tails.
Taylor’s tagalong half-dollar landed second. Heads.
Burtch’s penny hit the ground and just kept spinning.
“Mine lands, and it’s spinning,” Burtch said. “And I’m thinking, no matter if it goes heads or tails, I’m in.”
That Lamesa penny came up tails.
---
Burtch and Cordell couldn’t celebrate.
Not with Taylor picking up his coin in quiet agony. So the three coaches shook hands and picked up their cell phones.
Burtch called his wife first. Then he called his assistant coaches, waiting on the bus with the team.
“I told the team as a group,” Burtch said. “And then all I heard was a bunch of whoops and hollers and yells.”
Taylor called his assistant coaches at the fieldhouse in Greenwood. After the assistants told the team, most of the Rangers cleared out.
But when Taylor got back and met with his assistants, they cried.
“We had been in the playoffs 10 years in a row,” Taylor said. “And these kids worked hard from November through the summer to make sure they weren’t the group that didn’t make it.”
Taylor hasn’t had a chance to talk to the kids yet. After a season like that, looking forward to basketball doesn’t seem right.
“I’ve been moping around all day,” Taylor said. “It might take me a month to get over it.”
All because of that pesky half-dollar.