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McALLEN — In one of the more surprising twists in league play this season, McAllen Memorial, a team many picked to win the District 30-5A, is fighting for its playoff life.

It is not like the Mustangs (6-3 overall, 3-3 District 30-5A) have struggled. They have lost their three games by a combined 19 points and were only seconds away from beating Rio Grande City and McAllen High. Last week, Sharyland pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Memorial by nine points.

Memorial is averaging 431.0 yards per game and has three players — RB Gabe Phillips, RB Ben Garcia and QB Matthew Kaufmann — with more than 600 yards rushing.

Kaufmann has passed for 1,602 yards with his favorite targets being Garcia (29 receptions, 438 yards) and Andrew Salinas (32-680).

Those types of numbers are not indicative of where the team finds itself. In some of these games the ball just hasn’t bounced Memorial’s way and now the Mustangs need to beat Donna on Friday by at least 10 points to get into the playoffs.

"I don’t know if I find it strange," Littleton said about how the Mustangs’ season has played out. "I knew after the Rio Grande City ball game that this could possibly happen to us. Rio Grande City was a big game when we lost that game in the last 4 seconds. We knew it was going to be a game that was going to put us in a difficult situation. Sure enough, it did put us in a difficult situation."

IMPACT PLAYER

After losing the quarterback position to Scottie Meyer before the district season started, Bobby Moran has seemed to have found his place on the 9-0 Sharyland Rattlers.

Last week against McAllen Memorial, Moran ran for a touchdown and caught two more for scores. During the last three games, he has found the end zone six times.

Moran admitted after the game Friday that it was tough for him that he was not the QB.

"I’m not going to lie I was disappointed," Moran said. "It was hard giving it up to (Meyer)."

Moran said he is happy to contribute anyway he can to what has been a strong regular season for the Rattlers.

"I’ll take what I can get," he said.

DISTRICT 29-5A

The key game in the Laredo-area district is Laredo United vs. Laredo Alexander. District 30-5A takes on 29-5A in bi-district.

If Laredo United wins, it is in but there is a possibility of a three-way tie between United, Alexander and Eagle Pass. If there is a three-way tie, United would be out and Eagle Pass and Alexander would be in.

San Antonio Southwest and Del Rio have already clinched.

SURPRISING STAT

The two leading passing teams in District 30-5A is somewhat surprising. McAllen Memorial and Donna are known for running the ball but they are first and fourth, respectively, in passing.

The Mustangs have thrown for 1,622 yards while Donna has thrown for 1,269 yards.

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.