WHO’S IN? WHO’S DONE? | A look at what ETBlitz-area football teams are headed to the playoffs, who has to win to get in, and seeding

Well, the Texas high school football regular season ends this weekend – here’s a look at playoff scenarios for the 12 high school programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area.

As soon as all playoff first-round matchups are set, we’ll have that announcement and break it down here on ETBlitz.com.

Henderson: The Lions are 6-3 overall, and 3-2 in District 9-4A, Division I, headed to Lindale tonight for a 6 p.m. start at Lindale’s Eagle Stadium. Lindale is 4-5 overall, and 2-3 in district.

This one is simple: win the game and Henderson is in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 4A, Division I playoffs, with what would be a 4-2 district record. Lose and the season is over – Lindale and Henderson would each have 3-3 district records, with Lindale taking the tiebreaker with the head-to-head win.

The winner claims the fourth and final playoff spot in the district. For more on that district, let’s go to…

Kilgore: The Bulldogs finished their regular season Friday night at home, with a 48-0 win over Mabank. Kilgore finished up 8-2 overall, and 5-1 in district play, the one loss being to Henderson. Kilgore opened the district schedule with a win over Pine Tree, which wound up being a very important win: the Bulldogs and Pine Tree each have one loss. Chapel Hill, another contender in the district, lost to both KHS and Pine Tree.

So, regardless of what Pine Tree does tonight at Palestine, Kilgore is locked into the number one seed going into the 4A-DI playoffs, and Pine Tree is locked in at No. 2. Chapel Hill – open this weekend on the final weekend – is 4-2 in district play with a big win over Henderson last week.

That win locks Chapel Hill in at the number three spot.

As mentioned earlier, Henderson plays at Lindale tonight to see who will be number four – and whose season is done.

District 9-4A matches up with teams from District 10-4A in the first round of the playoffs. That means Kilgore will get either Vidor or Lumberton in the first, or bi-district, round next week, and Kilgore will host that game at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.

Gilmer: The Buckeyes have done well in District 7-4A, Division II, having finished the regular season with a 7-3 overall record, and 4-1 in district play. That lone district loss is to Pleasant Grove, which is still unbeaten in district play. Pleasant Grove (7-2 overall, 4-0 in district) hosts Van (7-2, 3-1) tonight. It’s possible things could get thrown into chaos, if Van beats PG.

But regardless of what happens elsewhere in that district tonight, Gilmer is locked in at the number two seed, because the Buckeyes have already finished their regular season and have that 4-1 record, and the very important win over Van. Van can’t finish higher than third.

The fourth playoff spot will go to the winner of tonight’s Pittsburg-Spring Hill game, at Spring Hill at 6 p.m.

Gladewater, Tatum, White Oak, and Sabine: The Bears, White Oak and Sabine had the unfortunate luck of playing in District 8-3A, Division I, maybe the most challenging 3A district in the state this year.

Jefferson leads the district with a 9-0, 5-0 record. Liberty-Eylau is 7-2, and 4-1. Both of them are currently ranked in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 3A-Division I poll, and have been for almost the entire season.

Jefferson defeated L-E, and will go into the 3A playoffs as the number one seed. L-E has Sabine tonight. L-E will go into the playoffs as the number two seed from the district, because it defeated the third-place team, Atlanta, straight-up.

Atlanta, which has an open date tonight, gets the third-place seed with a 4-2 district record, and can’t finish any higher because of losses to Jefferson and L-E.

Tatum visits Jefferson tonight, but the Eagles – who are 6-3 overall, and 3-2 in district play – have beaten all the teams under them (White Oak, Gladewater and Sabine) and can’t be caught. Tatum has already clinched the fourth spot in the playoffs.

So that means, unfortunately, that White Oak (5-4 overall), Gladewater (3-6 overall) and Sabine (2-7) are all out of the playoff hunt. White Oak and Gladewater play tonight at White Oak, and a win for the Roughnecks would mean a six-win season after not winning a game in 2023. And for the Bears, a win over White Oak would get them four wins, but more importantly, two of them over rivals Sabine and White Oak.

White Oak and Gladewater are each 1-4 in 8-3A, and Sabine is 0-5, but could play spoiler in its regular season finale at home against L-E, and send the Leopards into the postseason with a loss.

Troup, West Rusk and Arp: All three of these teams are in District 11-3A, Division II, behind New Diana, who just happens to be undefeated (9-0) and has won all its district games, topping Troup, WR and Arp.

New Diana finishes with Elkhart tonight, but can’t be caught, so the Eagles will go into the playoffs as the top seed in the district, its champion. Troup (6-3 overall, 4-1 in district play) finishes up tonight at home against Buffalo, but Buffalo is far out of the district’s playoff picture, and Troup has locked up second place and can’t be caught: the Tigers beat both of the other playoff contenders, West Rusk and Arp.

In fact, Troup has already announced its first-round playoff opponent in the 3A-DII playoffs. The Tigers will take on Anderson Shiro on Friday, Nov. 15, at Jack Driskell Stadium in Crockett.

So, when West Rusk (4-5, 3-2 in district play) hosts Arp (6-3, 3-2) tonight at Bruce Bradshaw Stadium, it’ll be to decide third and fourth place. Both the Raiders and Arp’s Tigers are going to the 3A-DII playoffs; tonight’s game will decide the seeding.

The other teams in the district – Elkhart, Winona and Buffalo – can’t catch West Rusk or Arp for that fourth seed. Elkhart has two district wins, but lost to WR and to Arp, and Winona is 1-5; Buffalo is 0-5.

Overton: Nothing too complicated for coach Scotty Laymance’s Mustangs, either.

The Mustangs trail Lovelady in the District 11-2A, Division II standings, simply because they lost to Lovelady head-to-head. But that’s Overton’s only district loss.

Overton is 7-2 overall, and 4-1 in district play after that heart-pounding 45-44 overtime win at Mount Enterprise last Friday. That means as long as Overton beats 2-7 Cushing tonight at Coach Chester Roy Stadium in O-town, the Mustangs will go into the playoffs as the district’s number two seed, behind champion Lovelady.

Grapeland will be number three, and Mount Enterprise, who beat Alto Thursday night, 46-32, will be number four. So there’s nothing to be decided in 11-2A this weekend. It’s all decided and wrapped.

Leverett’s Chapel: LC’s Lions don’t have any uncertainty this weekend, either.

Coach Keith Hughes’ Lions finished their regular season Thursday night with a 56-8 blowout win at home over Campbell, and LC is 6-4 overall, and 2-2 in District 10-1A, Division I, the only six-man program in the ETBlitz coverage area.

LC lost to both Union Hill and to Saint Jo – those two teams are both undefeated in district play and meet tonight, at Union Hill. The UH-Saint Jo winner will be the district champion, and take the top seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game will be the number two.

LC, who beat Savoy and Campbell, is locked in at number three, and Savoy, by virtue of its win over Campbell, is number four. So that district is also decided.