The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — It’s not always a good thing for a football team to have several of its top tacklers in the secondary.

For the Texas City Stings, though, it’s one of the reasons they are back in the playoff hunt.

Safeties Da’Lynn Rice and Kaleb Apffel are ranked second and third on the Stings in tackles. Rice has 71 stops, while Apffel has 65.

They’ve also combined for three interceptions.

They said their tackle totals are the result of their versatility to contribute in stopping the run and the pass.

“People see that we are among the team’s leading tacklers and they think that our defense isn’t very good,” Apffel said. “That’s not the case, though. We are able to come up and make tackles at the linebacker instead of waiting for them to come to us.”

Apffel and Rice take plenty of pride in their tackling. So much so, that the two keep tally during games, trying to beat the other in total tackles.

“It’s just bragging rights on the line,” Rice said. “But we take it very seriously.”

With so many different offenses in District 24-4A, it pays to have a secondary with some versatility. They’ve had to find a way to stop the passing attacks of Friendswood and La Marque, then adjust the next week to face off against running-based teams like Santa Fe and Angleton.

“Our safeties are real important to our defense this year,” Texas City coach Tim Finn said.

This week, Texas City will face a Dawson offense that is probably the most versatile of the district. However, Rice said the defense hasn’t really had to adjust from previous game plans throughout the season.

Texas City really needs to win out to have a shot at the postseason. Apffel said the team is relishing the underdog role, which has helped the team rebound from a 1-4 start to the season.

Playoff Picture

Prepare to pull out your abacus — the final playoff spots from 24-4A figure to once again come down to a multi-team tiebreaker.

In three- or four-way ties, if one team hasn’t beaten the others involved, then it comes down to point differential. There’s a maximum cap of 18 points and a minimum of -18 points when combining the point differential from each game of the participating teams.

Last year’s final playoff spot came down to a four-way tiebreaker between Texas City, Manvel, Dawson and La Marque. Each squad had a 3-4 record, but Texas City got in based on point differential.

A 3-4 district mark won’t be good enough to get into the postseason this year. In fact, there could be as many as five teams (Dawson, Friendswood, Santa Fe, La Marque and Texas City) with a 3-3 record heading into the final week.

There still are a few teams that can clinch with a win and a little help. Here are the scenarios.

• Angleton (8-0, 5-0) — Already clinched. Wins outright district title with win.

• Friendswood (5-3, 3-2) — Clinches berth with win and La Marque loss.

• Dawson (6-2, 3-2) — Clinches berth with win and La Marque loss.

• Santa Fe (6-2, 3-2) — Clinches berth with win, Dawson win and La Marque loss.

• La Marque (4-4, 2-3) — Eliminated with loss.

• Texas City (3-5, 2-3) — Eliminated with loss.

Short-handed Ships

Friendswood appears to have caught a bit of a break when it travels to Brazosport (3-4, 1-4) on Friday.

The Exporters will be without running back Gary Bivens, one of the top rushers in the district. Bivens broke his arm two weeks ago against La Marque and tried to play through the injury.

With Brazosport likely out of the playoff race, Bivens elected to have surgery on the arm.

“Obviously you hate to see a kid have to go through that,” Friendswood coach Steve Van Meter said. “Bivens is one of the premier athletes in this district and was definitely their cash cow.”

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District 24-4A Schedule

Friday

• Santa Fe at Angleton, 7 p.m.

• Friendswood at Brazosport, 7 p.m.

• Texas City at Dawson, 7 p.m.

• Manvel at La Marque, 7 p.m.