TheDOCTORdre
11-30-2004, 03:30 PM
SW-Snyder rivalry gets new twist
By Ron Howell/The Reporter Sports Editor
It's one of the state's older rivalries, dating back to 1925 with 56 previous games. But when Sweetwater and Snyder butt heads this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Big Spring, it will mark only the second time the teams have met in the playoffs.
And until now, the only time the Mustangs and Tigers played in December was on a bas-ketball court.
This is also the first time that the teams have ever met in the quarterfinals, and it's the first time that each came into the matchup with 11 victories al-ready under their belts.
Sweetwater holds a 34-21-1 edge in the all-time series and has already beaten Snyder once this season, 35-25, back on Oct. 15 in a District 4-3A matchup. The Tigers have lost two in a row to the Mustangs since their last victory, a 26-20 double overtime shootout two years ago at Snyder.
Incidentally, this is only the second time Sweetwater and Snyder have played football against each other twice in the same season. The other time came in 1982, when the teams -- due to the closing of Odessa's Ector High School which left a hole in their schedules -- agreed to play two games with only the second one counting as a district contest.
Many of you reading this column no doubt will remember the only other time Sweetwater and Snyder met in the playoffs in 1990. That area-round game was played at Mustang Bowl and attracted a huge crowd that was one of the largest in the stadium's 65-year history.
Realignment prior to the '90 season had placed Sweetwater and Snyder in separate districts for the first time in 17 years, but the rivalry was extended due to the first-ever football playoff between the two schools.
Sweetwater not only had the homefield advantage in 1990, but also a seemingly-huge psy-chological edge over the Tigers. The Mustangs had won the pre-vous 11 matchups, and most by big margins.
But the toughest loss for Snyder had come in the previous season, when Sweetwater pulled out a miraculous last-second 18-13 win by intercepting a pass and scoring a touchdown on the last play.
However, the Tigers got sweet revenge on their tormentors in 1990. Sweetwater took a 3-0 lead in the early going, but failed to score again as Snyder, taking advantage of several critical turnovers, rallied for a 17-3 victory despite not making a first down in the second half.
Throughout the rivalry, one team or the other has run off several wins in a row. Sweetwa-ter lost seven straight to Snyder during the 1970s before winning the next 11. That was fol-lowed by three straight Snyder wins, but Sweetwater then won four straight before losing three consecutive games in 1998, '99 and 2001.
For some reason, the rivalry was shut down for 15 years af-ter the 1937 season. But since it resumed in 1952, the Mustangs and Tigers have faced each other on the field every year with the exception of 1972, 1973, 1991, 2000 and 2001.
Remember back before the start of the season when every-one was talking about District 4-3A being one of the toughest in the state? Well, now we have proof to back up that claim.
With three weeks of playoffs remaining, 4-3A is the only dis-trict in the state that has three teams still playing.
In addition to this weekend's Sweetwater-Snyder showdown, Wylie will face Royse City in the Division I (big-school) sem-ifinals this Friday at Texas Sta-dium in Irving.
Sweetwater and Snyder are in Division II (for the "small schools"), which has an extra week of playoffs.
Nine other districts still have two teams playing. In Class 3A, Cuero and Hallettsville of 26-3A are still alive.
The other districts with two teams still playing are the follo-wing:
Class 5A: District 5-5A (Southlake Carroll and Denton Ryan) and 26-5A (Converse Judson and Smithson Valley);
Class 4A: District 5-4A Wichita Falls Rider and Sher-man) and 17-4A (Marshall and Kilgore);
Class 2A: District 8-2A (Hol-liday and Henrietta) and 25-2A (Rogers and Lexington);
Class 1A: District 1-A (Sunray and Stratford) and District 19-A (Harleton and Big Sandy).
By Ron Howell/The Reporter Sports Editor
It's one of the state's older rivalries, dating back to 1925 with 56 previous games. But when Sweetwater and Snyder butt heads this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Big Spring, it will mark only the second time the teams have met in the playoffs.
And until now, the only time the Mustangs and Tigers played in December was on a bas-ketball court.
This is also the first time that the teams have ever met in the quarterfinals, and it's the first time that each came into the matchup with 11 victories al-ready under their belts.
Sweetwater holds a 34-21-1 edge in the all-time series and has already beaten Snyder once this season, 35-25, back on Oct. 15 in a District 4-3A matchup. The Tigers have lost two in a row to the Mustangs since their last victory, a 26-20 double overtime shootout two years ago at Snyder.
Incidentally, this is only the second time Sweetwater and Snyder have played football against each other twice in the same season. The other time came in 1982, when the teams -- due to the closing of Odessa's Ector High School which left a hole in their schedules -- agreed to play two games with only the second one counting as a district contest.
Many of you reading this column no doubt will remember the only other time Sweetwater and Snyder met in the playoffs in 1990. That area-round game was played at Mustang Bowl and attracted a huge crowd that was one of the largest in the stadium's 65-year history.
Realignment prior to the '90 season had placed Sweetwater and Snyder in separate districts for the first time in 17 years, but the rivalry was extended due to the first-ever football playoff between the two schools.
Sweetwater not only had the homefield advantage in 1990, but also a seemingly-huge psy-chological edge over the Tigers. The Mustangs had won the pre-vous 11 matchups, and most by big margins.
But the toughest loss for Snyder had come in the previous season, when Sweetwater pulled out a miraculous last-second 18-13 win by intercepting a pass and scoring a touchdown on the last play.
However, the Tigers got sweet revenge on their tormentors in 1990. Sweetwater took a 3-0 lead in the early going, but failed to score again as Snyder, taking advantage of several critical turnovers, rallied for a 17-3 victory despite not making a first down in the second half.
Throughout the rivalry, one team or the other has run off several wins in a row. Sweetwa-ter lost seven straight to Snyder during the 1970s before winning the next 11. That was fol-lowed by three straight Snyder wins, but Sweetwater then won four straight before losing three consecutive games in 1998, '99 and 2001.
For some reason, the rivalry was shut down for 15 years af-ter the 1937 season. But since it resumed in 1952, the Mustangs and Tigers have faced each other on the field every year with the exception of 1972, 1973, 1991, 2000 and 2001.
Remember back before the start of the season when every-one was talking about District 4-3A being one of the toughest in the state? Well, now we have proof to back up that claim.
With three weeks of playoffs remaining, 4-3A is the only dis-trict in the state that has three teams still playing.
In addition to this weekend's Sweetwater-Snyder showdown, Wylie will face Royse City in the Division I (big-school) sem-ifinals this Friday at Texas Sta-dium in Irving.
Sweetwater and Snyder are in Division II (for the "small schools"), which has an extra week of playoffs.
Nine other districts still have two teams playing. In Class 3A, Cuero and Hallettsville of 26-3A are still alive.
The other districts with two teams still playing are the follo-wing:
Class 5A: District 5-5A (Southlake Carroll and Denton Ryan) and 26-5A (Converse Judson and Smithson Valley);
Class 4A: District 5-4A Wichita Falls Rider and Sher-man) and 17-4A (Marshall and Kilgore);
Class 2A: District 8-2A (Hol-liday and Henrietta) and 25-2A (Rogers and Lexington);
Class 1A: District 1-A (Sunray and Stratford) and District 19-A (Harleton and Big Sandy).