The Galveston County Daily News

There is a famous scene in the movie “Friday Night Lights” in which coaches of three high school football teams have to flip coins to determine which squad is going to the playoffs.

In District 24-4A, that scenario could become a reality Friday night.

In the event of a multiteam tie in 24-4A, if one team hasn’t beaten the others involved, then it comes down to point differential. In almost all cases, that tiebreaker can sort out a jumble of teams competing for one playoff spot.

However, Santa Fe, Manvel and Texas City all beat each other by four points this season. That means if all three of those squads finish the district season tied at 3-4, it goes to the final tiebreaker — a coin flip.

“I haven’t had to rub a coin or do any practicing flipping before,” Texas City coach Tim Finn said. “That would be a new experience.”

Four things must happen Friday night for the coin flip to become a reality. Santa Fe must lose at home to Dawson, Texas City must win at home against Brazosport, Manvel must win at undefeated Angleton, and La Marque must lose on the road to Friendswood.

Finn, Santa Fe coach Jay Buckner and Manvel coach Kirk Martin already have agreed to meet Friday night at the Santa Fe field house to do the coin flip, should that scenario become a reality.

“I know neither Coach Buckner or Coach Martin wants to see me on Friday,” Finn said with a chuckle. “ But I told Buckner there will never be a time that I will want to see him more.”

Santa Fe (6-3 overall, 3-3 district) is the only team in the district with control of its playoff destiny. If the Indians win, they clinch the final playoff spot and eliminate the three other teams in contention.

That’s the scenario Buckner is hoping comes to fruition.

“It feels pretty good to be in control of your own destiny,” Buckner said. “We know there are other different scenarios out there in which we can still get in. But we know if we win, we are in. That’s the only thing we are worried about right now.”

A victory also would clinch only the third playoff berth in Santa Fe history. Buckner said with history on the line, he’s glad to be playing at Joe Raitano Field.

“I can’t imagine anywhere I would rather be on Friday,” Buckner said. “We’ve played some really good games at home this year, and I think our crowd is really going to energize us again on Friday.”

Texas City (3-6, 2-4) doesn’t have the luxury of having multiple scenarios to get into the postseason. The Stings’ only shot is hoping for the coin flip tiebreaker.

“Are we thrilled about the spot we are in? No,” Finn said. “We are pretty much at the mercy of someone else, and you never want to be there. So we are just going to concentrate on our business first. Brazosport is the toughest one-win district team I’ve seen, so we know we have a challenge just playing them.”

Other Six Scenarios

There are six more scenarios for a tiebreaker that come into play only if Santa Fe loses.

Manvel (4-5, 2-4) has the best chance at winning the tiebreaker, coming out ahead in three of those scenarios. La Marque (4-5, 2-4) can clinch in two of the scenarios, while Santa Fe can get the final playoff spot in the final one.

Here are the scenarios with point differential number in parenthesis:

• La Marque, Texas City and Manvel win — Manvel clinches (+8)

• La Marque and Manvel win, Texas City loses — Manvel clinches (+12)

• La Marque and Texas City win, Manvel loses — La Marque clinches (+5)

• La Marque wins, Texas City and Manvel lose — La Marque clinches (head-to-head over SF)

• Manvel wins, La Marque and Texas City lose — Manvel clinches (h2h over SF)

• Texas City wins, La Marque and Manvel lose — Santa Fe clinches (h2h over TC)

Sideline Tweets

Want to follow all the games with playoff implications in 24-4A on Friday night. Follow The Daily News sports crew on Twitter.

Sports Editor Joshua Buckley will be at Santa Fe as the Indians host Dawson. Follow him at twitter.com/joshuabuckley.

Sports reporter Evan Mohl will be at the La Marque at Friendswood contest. Follow him at twitter.com/evanmohl.

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District 24-4A Schedule

Friday

• Manvel at Angleton, 7 p.m.

• Brazosport at Texas City, 7 p.m.

• Dawson at Santa Fe, 7 p.m.

• La Marque at Friendswood, 7 p.m.