Interesting Question..

[Buckeye80]

You're the football coach of the second largest school in the district. In the final game of the regular season, you play the largest school in the district. If you beat them by 20 or more points, they are eliminated from the playoffs and your team will go D1 (the tougher route, IMHO). So you have the ball on fourth down and goal at they're 15 yard line with about 3 minutes left in the game, and you have a 19 point lead. Do you kick the field goal or not? (You're kicker makes the kick if he tries it!)

[CatWoman]

Buckeye80:
You're the football coach of the second largest school in the district. In the final game of the regular season, you play the largest school in the district. If you beat them by 20 or more points, they are eliminated from the playoffs and your team will go D1 (the tougher route, IMHO). So you have the ball on fourth down and goal at they're 15 yard line with about 3 minutes left in the game, and you have a 19 point lead. Do you kick the field goal or not? (You're kicker makes the kick if he tries it!)Does the word LOSER mean anything?? Just my opinion. Never, ever lose on purpose.

[crzyjournalist03]

CatWoman:

Buckeye80:
You're the football coach of the second largest school in the district. In the final game of the regular season, you play the largest school in the district. If you beat them by 20 or more points, they are eliminated from the playoffs and your team will go D1 (the tougher route, IMHO). So you have the ball on fourth down and goal at they're 15 yard line with about 3 minutes left in the game, and you have a 19 point lead. Do you kick the field goal or not? (You're kicker makes the kick if he tries it!)Does the word LOSER mean anything?? Just my opinion. Never, ever lose on purpose.I don't think the question involved losing...the question was would you want to win by 19 and go DII or go for the blowout, win by more than 20, and go DI???

[CatWoman]

crzyjournalist03:

CatWoman:

Buckeye80:
You're the football coach of the second largest school in the district. In the final game of the regular season, you play the largest school in the district. If you beat them by 20 or more points, they are eliminated from the playoffs and your team will go D1 (the tougher route, IMHO). So you have the ball on fourth down and goal at they're 15 yard line with about 3 minutes left in the game, and you have a 19 point lead. Do you kick the field goal or not? (You're kicker makes the kick if he tries it!)Does the word LOSER mean anything?? Just my opinion. Never, ever lose on purpose.I don't think the question involved losing...the question was would you want to win by 19 and go DII or go for the blowout, win by more than 20, and go DI???My bad.

[sahen]

Always take the points...3 minutes is enough time for anything to happen...most likely nothing will happen but if they come back some how it would be on ur head for not kicking the field goal....Plus u dont know they could score 1 TD in 3 minutes then u still only win by 16...

[PAINTBALL]

sahen:
Always take the points...3 minutes is enough time for anything to happen...most likely nothing will happen but if they come back some how it would be on ur head for not kicking the field goal....Plus u dont know they could score 1 TD in 3 minutes then u still only win by 16...If my kids and town expected to go Division 2 and their chance of success was a lot greater in Div 2, I would not make decisions that was different then what the kids and town wanted. If my kids wanted to go Div. 1 and was looking forward to it and had worked hard to try and get the 20 points, I would give them the 20 points if I could. My only loyality in that decision would be the kids on my team and the town paying my salary. More facts need to be known before I could say what I would do.

[sahen]

PAINTBALL:

sahen:
Always take the points...3 minutes is enough time for anything to happen...most likely nothing will happen but if they come back some how it would be on ur head for not kicking the field goal....Plus u dont know they could score 1 TD in 3 minutes then u still only win by 16...If my kids and town expected to go Division 2 and their chance of success was a lot greater in Div 2, I would not make decisions that was different then what the kids and town wanted. If my kids wanted to go Div. 1 and was looking forward to it and had worked hard to try and get the 20 points, I would give them the 20 points if I could. My only loyality in that decision would be the kids on my team and the town paying my salary. More facts need to be known before I could say what I would do.But if u dont take the points and then something happens and u loose the game then see what the town thinks of u...Most of the time this late in the year loosing a game at this time can be the difference between going to the playoffs and not going...ur playing w/ fire if u dont take ur points....

[PAINTBALL]

sahen:

PAINTBALL:

sahen:
Always take the points...3 minutes is enough time for anything to happen...most likely nothing will happen but if they come back some how it would be on ur head for not kicking the field goal....Plus u dont know they could score 1 TD in 3 minutes then u still only win by 16...If my kids and town expected to go Division 2 and their chance of success was a lot greater in Div 2, I would not make decisions that was different then what the kids and town wanted. If my kids wanted to go Div. 1 and was looking forward to it and had worked hard to try and get the 20 points, I would give them the 20 points if I could. My only loyality in that decision would be the kids on my team and the town paying my salary. More facts need to be known before I could say what I would do.But if u dont take the points and then something happens and u loose the game then see what the town thinks of u...Most of the time this late in the year loosing a game at this time can be the difference between going to the playoffs and not going...ur playing w/ fire if u dont take ur points....Like I said, not enough facts are known. If those dangers exits, then obviously they would influence my decision. Has the other team been successful at moving the ball on our defense, would losing cost us the District title, would losing affect our chances at the playoffs, etc.

[Gilmer Buckeye]

I think if you are talking about Gilmer and Lindale, the point spread in that game is irrelevant in terms of a potential 3-way tie for second between Lindale, Mount Vernon and Winnsboro.

Gilmer would indeed have to out-and-out "throw" the game with Lindale on Nov. 7 to assure Lindale making the playoffs (and therefore being the Div I representative instead of Gilmer) if Lindale doesn't wrap it up tomorrow night by defeating Winnsboro.

That's because the other game on the night of Nov. 7 will be between Winnsboro and Mount Vernon and you wouldn't know the outcome of that one yet. If W'boro beats Lindale and MV then turns around and upsets Winnsboro, you'd have your 3-way tie.

I personally don't think Gilmer will have an easier time of it in Div II, but that seems to be the consensus of practically everyone else. For one thing, to win the Div II title, you have to win six games as opposed to only five in Div I.

I just hope Lindale can somehow win tomorrow night so we won't be presented with this possible dilemma in Week 10. Gilmer's ideal goal should be to go 15-0 or 16-0, whatever it takes. That way they would be rememberd in history as a truly great team.

[Buckeye80]

Gilmer Buckeye:
I think if you are talking about Gilmer and Lindale, the point spread in that game is irrelevant in terms of a potential 3-way tie for second between Lindale, Mount Vernon and Winnsboro.

Gilmer would indeed have to out-and-out "throw" the game with Lindale on Nov. 7 to assure Lindale making the playoffs (and therefore being the Div I representative instead of Gilmer) if Lindale doesn't wrap it up tomorrow night by defeating Winnsboro.

That's because the other game on the night of Nov. 7 will be between Winnsboro and Mount Vernon and you wouldn't know the outcome of that one yet. If W'boro beats Lindale and MV then turns around and upsets Winnsboro, you'd have your 3-way tie.

I personally don't think Gilmer will have an easier time of it in Div II, but that seems to be the consensus of practically everyone else. For one thing, to win the Div II title, you have to win six games as opposed to only five in Div I.

I just hope Lindale can somehow win tomorrow night so we won't be presented with this possible dilemma in Week 10. Gilmer's ideal goal should be to go 15-0 or 16-0, whatever it takes. That way they would be rememberd in history as a truly great team.C'mon Buckeye, you know I'm just trying to open a conversation. I personally don't think Lindale has a shot to beat Winnsboro, and Mt. Vernon definitely doesn't. For that matter, Lindale has no shot at beating us next week. The only reason I point out the disparity between D1 and D2 is that our road to the D1 Finals goes through: Pleasant Grove (maybe), Gainesville (very good), Forney (maybe better), Everman (they'll be there, trust me), and then Burnet (enough said). D2 is the much easier road. I'm not saying we couldn't beat those other teams, I'm saying it'll be easier in D2.

[Gilmer Buckeye]

I think it IS possible that either Lindale and/or Mount Vernon can beat Winnsboro. My main point was that the tiebreaker formula in the case of a 3-way tie involving those teams would be head-to-head against each other and not how close they played Gilmer.

I also think having to beat teams like Daingerfield, Atlanta and Kennedale, plus three others would be just as difficult as having to beat Gainesville, Forney and Burnet, plus two others.

You know what the problem is? Too many bleepin' teams are allowed to make the playoffs these days. Only district champs and possibly runners-up should go. This third place stuff is for the birds. And to think they were seriously considering adding a fourth!

There should be one state champion in each classification. Maybe there should be more classifications, but that can be remedied at a later time by the UIL.

[Buckeye80]

Hey Buckeye, I'm being attacked by a Spring Hill fan. You might wanna watch this under the "Longview Spring Hill" topic. It's gonna get fun! I think he thinks he's playing with an amateur. That makes it so fun doesn't it?

[aamove]

You play the game to win and to be the best. If you throw a game to have a better chance in another division, then you don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

[PPHSfan]

Here is another interesting theory. If Winnsboro beats Lindale by 3 points or more, and Mt. Vernon beats Winnsboro by 3 points or more, then Lindale is out.

Now you are Winnsboro, if you win against Lindale and lose to Mt. Vernon you push Gilmer into D1 and don't have to worry about the chance of meeting them again in the fourth round. Mt. vernon is beating you by 4 points late in the fourth quarter. There is 15 seconds left on the clock and you have the ball 1st down and Goal on the MV 9. Do you try and win, or do you put Lindale out and send Gilmer to D1? :D

[CatsDen]

If you think DII is the "easy" route, Kennedale will be waiting for you. You take the 3 points and keep your focus on one game at a time. If the team is looking that far ahead to possible matchups in later rounds of the playoffs, then they have lost their focus and could very well take an early exit. One game at a time.

[BulldogGrl64]

If you are looking for the easier route to win, then you really shouldn't be playing in the first place. I don't think it's right to try and detemerine whether it would be easier to win in DI or DII. I think that by not attempting a field goal at that point in the game is dumb because ANYTHING can happen with 3 minutes left in a footbal game. Besides that, you can't even predict what will happen in the playoffs. The teams that you might think will be the easier teams to beat, might prove you wrong by beating the snot out of you once you come head to head with them. So to not take a chance to score when you have the opportunity is dumb. If you have the ball and you have the ability to score with it....then do it!

[Phil C]

It can backfire either way. Look at Cuero. If they were to play second or third stringers against Gonzales to let Gonzales get to the playoffs so they could get to Division 2 with the expectation that they could win it all without having to face Burnet. But then other teams like Rice Consolidated and others in Division 2 are tough. It is sort of like pick your poison. I think what happened with Bandera last year is a rare thing. I don't think many third place teams are going to win State in the long run. No insults to Bandera intended but that is just my own opinion. I know Cuero wouldn't lose on purpose but it is just a thought.

[St. Ivender]

To answer the original question, which is a legitimate one, NEVER would I attempt a field goal with the possibility of it being blocked and returned for a touchdown when I could simply run it up the gut for a possible touchdown of my own. At worst the ball goes over on downs (or I fumble) and your opponent has to march 90 yards for a score and if he is successful he's still 2 scored down.