Plano East's football season continues Friday night in Bedford. Plano's ended a week earlier than it hoped, on a tiebreaker decided in Richardson.
The Panthers (6-4) face Euless Trinity (8-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pennington Field in the Class 6A Division I bi-district round, according to pairings published by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Star Local Media. Trinity won its district at 7-0 and enters on a seven-game winning streak, per its MaxPreps schedule.
Its two losses came in nonconference play, 35-10 at Westlake and 31-7 against Aledo. Trinity opened the season with a 28-17 win at Berkner, the same score by which Berkner later beat Plano East.
Trinity's recent margins have been narrow. The Trojans won 17-9 at Haltom on Oct. 30 and 17-14 against Hurst L.D. Bell on Nov. 5. Their defense has carried much of the season, allowing 149 points in 10 games. Plano East has scored 308 and allowed 246.
Plano East reached the bracket through a three-way tie. District 7-6A ended with Plano East, Plano and Richardson Berkner tied at 4-3, and The Dallas Morning News reported that the point-differential tiebreaker left Plano as the team on the outside. Berkner had clinched with a 38-10 win over Richardson Pearce on Nov. 6, Star Local Media reported.
The Panthers' district record shows how thin the margin was. They beat Plano 31-17 on Oct. 16, won 24-6 at Plano West, edged Richardson 39-35 and outscored Pearce 52-41. They lost 21-14 to Lake Highlands, 28-17 at Berkner and 48-15 at Coppell in the regular-season finale.
Enrollment, not district finish, decided which bracket each 7-6A qualifier entered. In Class 6A, the two largest schools among a district's four playoff teams go to Division I and the other two go to Division II. Plano East joins Coppell, which plays South Grand Prairie, in Division I. District champion Lake Highlands opens in Division II against Haltom, and Berkner meets L.D.
Bell at Coppell High School.
Plano finished 4-6 after a 28-14 win over Plano West on Nov. 6 at John Clark Stadium. A playoff berth would have given the Wildcats their first back-to-back postseason trips since 2013-14, according to The Dallas Morning News.
"We did it to ourselves," Plano coach Cody White told the newspaper after the game, adding that he would have liked to see his seniors play one more game. White also pointed to a young roster, saying the team had 10 underclassmen on offense. Plano West finished 3-7.
