A look at Friday’s matchup as the Houston Tigers (5-3) host the Liberty Eagles (5-3):
HOME DISTRICT GAME ON THE LINE: Week 9 is a very meaningful one for the Houston football team. And it’s very simple: Win and host a first-round district game. Lose and hit the road.
The Tigers’ postseason destination will be determined Friday night in their regular-season finale against Liberty at Tiger Stadium. If Houston wins, the Tigers would be the No. 4 seed in Class 2 District 3 and host the fifth-seeded Eagles again the following Friday night. Lose and HHS drops to sixth place and would travel to No. 3 Strafford to open district play.
Houston hasn’t hosted a district game since the Missouri Activities Association moved to its current format in 2012. The Tigers last hosted a postseason game – before districts were included in the regular season – in 2005, when the Tigers beat Strafford 33-20 in sectional play.
No matter the opponent, it will be a familiar one for districts. Houston has faced either Liberty or Strafford in the first round of districts for six straight seasons:
- 2017: Lost 35-27 at Strafford
- 2016: Lost 55-0 at Liberty
- 2015: Lost 46-20 at Strafford
- 2014: Lost 61-7 at Liberty
- 2013: Lost 54-0 at Strafford
- 2012: Lost 69-0 at Liberty
Houston is 4-0 at home this season compared to 1-3 on the road.
SENIOR NIGHT: It’s the regular-season home finale for the Houston football players as well as the members of the cheerleading team and band.
Houston’s football seniors are: Paydon Dixon, CJ Lee, Brecken Adey, Aiden Sawyer, Dawson Koch, Karson Miller, Blake Harrison, Tylor Zehm, Blake York and William Wilson.
The senior members of the 2018 HHS football team.
The senior cheerleaders are Taylor Buckner and Haylie Heathington.
The senior band members are Buckner, Christmas Shelton, Hunter Blankenship, Michael Washko and Levi Rist.
MORE TURNOVERS?: Last week’s loss at Mountain Grove was the first game this season the Houston defense failed to record a turnover. In the previous seven games, the Tigers had forced 19 turnovers that led to 73 points.
The Tigers committed two turnovers, including a controversial fumble with just over eight minutes remaining in the game that led to the Panthers’ go-ahead score in a 13-6 win.
LIBERTY’S WEAPONS: Junior quarterback Jaris Acklin is 125-of-211 passing for 1,506 yards with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. …Acklin’s top targets are senior Colten Foster (48 catches, 661 yards, eight touchdowns) and 6-foot-4 senior Andrew Holden (48 catches, 536 yards, eight touchdowns). …Junior Tanner Mitchell leads the Liberty ground game with 128 carries for 714 yards and five touchdowns.
WATCH ONLINE: The matchup will be streamed live in HD at www.houstonherald.com/live. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show featuring an interview from Sloan as well as keys to the game from announcers Ryan Munson and Jim McNiell.
HHS STAT LEADERS: A look at the Tigers’ statistical leaders through seven weeks of play:
RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD LG
Hutcheson 86 698 8.1 9 59
Dixon 97 367 3.8 2 22
Sawyer 65 295 4.5 5 23
Hurst 16 108 6.8 2 60
PASSING COMP ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Burchett 28 73 333 11.9 4
RECEIVING NO YDS TD AVG LG
Wilson 12 154 2 12.8 49
CLee 7 83 1 11.9 19
Sawyer 7 66 0 9.4 20
Hutcheson 6 34 0 5.7 12
SCORING TD 2PT FG PAT TOT
Hutcheson 9 0 0 0 54
Dixon 4 3 0 0 30
Sawyer 5 0 0 0 30
CLee 2 0 0 4 22
Wilson 3 1 0 0 20
DEFENSE T TFL S FF FR INT
CLee 80 5 0 1 3 0
Wallander 74 0 0 4 0 0
Dixon 65 2 1 0 0 0
Hutcheson 54 2 1 0 0 0
Cichon 39 10 2 4 1 0
CMitchell 37 6 0 1 1 3
Sawyer 35 7 0 1 1 0
TMitchell 23 4 0 0 1 0
Burchett 21 1 0 0 1 4
AROUND THE SCA: A look at last week’s conference scores and this week’s games:
Week 8 scores
Mountain Grove 13, Houston 6
Thayer 40, Willow Springs 0
Liberty 54, Salem 7
Ava 58, Cabool 12
Week 9 games
Liberty at Houston
Mountain Grove at Thayer
Cabool at Salem
Willow Springs at Ava