Del Rio News Herald

Don’t think that the Laredo Martin Tigers are just going hand the Del Rio Rams a victory tonight.

Despite being 2-7 on the season, and 0-6 in District 29-5A, the Laredo Martin Tigers will have something to prove this evening when the Rams pay a visit to Laredo’s Krueger Field. Tonight is Martin’s homecoming game and the Tigers will be looking to avoid another winless season in district.

Del Rio Head Football Coach Steve Hoffman said his team is well aware that tonight’s game could be a trap game for the Rams, especially considering Del Rio will learn their first playoff opponent following tonight’s game.

But before then, Hoffman said the Rams expect to deal with the Tigers first.

“This is the most important week of the season as we have to find a way to get better and get ready for the playoffs,” Hoffman said. “Our focus against Martin is to improve our play in some areas, such as kickoff returns and coverage. We’ve been telling our kids they have to get better. We have to keep on task.”

While the typical football logic would be to rest all of the valuable starters in order to keep them as healthy as possible headed into the playoffs, Hoffman said the Rams are approaching tonight’s game as if it were any other game.

“We’re going to let the game play out and see what happens. We’re going in ready to go. Really, our guys are anxious to get back out there. You can tell. If things go well, then we’ll hopefully get a lot of kids in there to play,” Hoffman said. “When you’re playing another team you can never underestimate your opponent. We know the Tigers will play hard especially considering this is homecoming for them.”

Hoffman said he and his coaches have worked with the team this week to keep their spirits high after a tough loss to Southwest last week. That game, a 17-8 loss for the Rams, decided the District 29-5A championship but also featured the only two teams in the district to already clinch a playoff spot.

“The first thing I told them after the Southwest game was that I was proud of them. They played so hard … they laid it on the line and played hard for themselves and the community. That was a game we should have won. We were a better football team but didn’t make the plays we needed to. There were tree or four plays we could have made that would have made a big difference. We were just fingertips away three times from scoring,” Hoffman said.

“What we’ve told our kids these past three or four weeks is that in past year’s we’ve gotten to a point where we didn’t get any better. This year, we’ve gotten better as the season’s gone on. We’ve played every game really well. We did what he had to do against Laredo United. We gave Southwest a tremendous game, and it could have gone either way, but we know we will play in more big games down the road,” Hoffman added.

While the complete District 29-5A playoff picture won’t materialize until later this evening, the District 30-5A situation, where Del Rio’s first round opponent will emerge from, is just as murky.

There is still one playoff spot up for grabs in both districts.

Eagle Pass High School snagged one of the available spots in 29-5A Thursday night with a 26-6 win over Laredo United South. That means the winner of tonight’s game between Laredo United and Laredo Alexander gets the fourth and final spot.

In 30-5A, McAllen Memorial and Rio Grande City are tied for the final spot but Rio Grande City already beat Memorial earlier this season. If they both lose, Rio Grande is in. If one wins and the other loses, the winning team is in. If both win, then it’s a matter of Memorial needing to win by more than 10 points – their margin of defeat against Rio Grande City. Anything less and Rio Grande City is in.

Hoffman said there are three possible teams the Rams could face in the first round – Donna, Rio Grande City or Sharyland – and that game could be played in either Laredo or San Antonio.

But no matter who it is, Hoffman said he feels confident that the tough schedule the Rams have faced late in the season will help them be ready for that first round match-up.

“These last three ballgames have been contested in playoff-type atmospheres and that will help us in the playoffs tremendously. And if our defense keeps playing great then we will be in the game every single time. They have been phenomenal. We have the best defense in the district and our guys take pride in that. They want to go out every week and prove it every week,” Hoffman said. “We’ll be adding a few more players to our roster for the playoffs, guys from our junior varsity team. They’ll get to get out there, down on the field, and see how much different it’ll be than sitting in the stands. It’s more intense. You’re right on top of the action and you can see how guys react in different situations and learn from that. Even though they may not play, or even if they play a lot, they’ll be out there in front of thousands of fans screaming and yelling and learn not to get overwhelmed.”

Kickoff for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Krueger Field is located at 700 East Del Mar Boulevard in Laredo. This is the first varsity game the Rams will play at that field.

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