North Shore-Atascocita among repeats
Eight quarterfinal matchups across the state feature season rematches
Beating a good team twice is difficult.
So is altering the original outcome against an elite program that already proved it was better on the field.
Which task is tougher depends on what side a coach is currently selling.
But North Shore coach Jon Kay and Atascocita coach Craig Stump can concur that their rematch in the Class 6A Division I Region III final definitely deepens the drama of an inherently intense situation.
“It adds a level of intrigue,” Kay said.
“I prefer not to do it as a coach, but we’re going to play the game that’s in front of us.”
Rematches aplenty
North Shore (12-1) and Atascocita (11-1) met for the first time earlier this year, with the Mustangs winning their District 21-6A matchup 31-21 on Oct. 7 at Turner Stadium.
They reunite at 7:30 p.m. Friday at NRG Stadium in the Region III championship game.
Their rematch is one of eight in five classes across the state between teams that met in district this season.
The 6A regional finals includes three.
District 25-6A rivals Lake Travis and Austin Westlake renew their acquaintances in the Division I Region IV final, and 7-6A foes DeSoto and Cedar Hill meet again for the Division II Region I crown.
Lake Travis (49-7) and DeSoto (33-18) won the first meetings.
“Whether you’re on the winning end or the losing end of the first one, it does add some intrigue, in terms of either trying to make your mark, as a person trying to get a little revenge — if you believe in that — and get another shot at somebody who beat you earlier, or if you are a person who is really trying to set your sights on being that dominant program in the district,” Kay said.
Chasing ghosts
For the Eagles, in their second consecutive regional final, this rematch is about second, and even third, chances.
They fell 49-28 to Westlake in Region II last year.
“Our kids like the idea of getting another chance to play someone who beat them,” Stump said. “By the same token, it really doesn’t matter who you’re playing, but … it’s always good to play somebody again who maybe you didn’t do some things you wanted to do against in the first game.”
The Eagles were within 17-14 late in the third quarter the first time, then North Shore pulled away in the fourth.
Now they can revisit the video, see what worked, what didn’t, and plan accordingly.
At the same time, that contest was eight weeks ago — an eternity in the evolution of a high school team. Schemes and personnel change, young players improve, and injuries are always a factor.
Thus familiarity potentially is as misleading as it is helpful in preparations.
“The problem you run into is the more you look at it, the more it becomes an enigma,” Kay said. “You beat them one time, so do you stay with the stuff that you have, which obviously had some sort of success the first time?
“But then you know they’re making adjustments, so you start to make adjustments, and the next thing you know, you’re defending ghosts that don’t really exist.”
A whole new game
North Shore, the reigning 6A Division I champion, is chasing consistency in its third rematch in three years.
It defeated Clear Springs in non-district and the playoffs each of the last two seasons, with nearly identical results in both cases, winning 36-16 and 45-20 in 2014, and 49-13 and 52-14 last year.
But underdogs can overcome the ever-changing odds.
Dekaney famously did so in its fourth varsity season in 2011, upending established powerhouse Westfield, which won their game in district, in a regional-finals rematch en route to the 6A Divison II title.
“(Quarterback Daveon Boyd) is playing a lot better,” Stump said. “He had a little elbow soreness earlier in the year … and aside from that, some of the other guys we have at receiver, who were new, have increasingly gotten better at what they’re doing, where early in the year they might have been inconsistent.
“Now they’re making the plays they weren’t making earlier in the year, so they’ve got some confidence.”