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Despite their respective struggles during District 30-5A play, La Joya Palmview and McAllen Rowe have an outside shot of making the playoffs.

The only problem is that the teams are in must-win situations, starting a 7 tonight at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“That is one of the things you play for all year is to get to the playoffs. To still have a shot at it is something we still have to play for,” Warriors coach Gary Lauer said. “We still have three toughies in (Rio Grande City), Palmview and McAllen High. It is going to take a good effort for us to do that.”

The Warriors (3-4 overall, 1-3 District 30-5A) and the Lobos are still on the outside looking in. The winner of the Donna-RGC game Friday will have sole possession of fourth place. The Lobos (3-4, 1-3) need a little more help because they have lost to RGC and Donna and after this week have to face first-place Sharyland and playoff-bound McAllen High.

“Obviously, we talked about it on Friday after the Rio Grande game,” Lobos coach Manuel Flores said. “You are at a point when you have to win every game from here on out.”

Palmview would have been in a better position if not from a come-from-behind RGC win last week. The Lobos were leading by 14 heading into the fourth quarter but the Rattlers scored 20 in the final 12 minutes to win 48-45.

That the Lobos have a chance at the playoffs is a complete turn around from last season when they finished 0-10.

“Obviously, we have shown some improvement,” Flores said. “There are still some things that we have to do to get better. …We are definitely headed in the right direction.”

One reason Palmview has been competitive this year has been the play of quarterback Javier Fermat. The junior leads District 30-5A in rushing with 1,049 yards and has rushed for 12 touchdowns.

Unlike Palmview, Rowe employs a two-quarterback system. Juniors Josh Gatling and Danny Navarro have split time under center. Lauer, who likes having two QBs, said the last three games will go along way in determining next year’s starter.

“Both of them are pretty equal in their stats,” Lauer said. “One has 48 completions and I think the other one has 43. One has rushed for 280 and one has rushed for 250. We are just trying to see which one has the hot hand.”

Peter Rasmussen covers District 30-5A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.