Time is ticking, but there is still sand in the hour glass for the McKinney Lions 2019 football team. At 4-4 and 2-3 in District 9-6A, McKinney certainly controls a bit of its own destiny along with a little help needed from its MISD-brethren McKinney Boyd and Prosper.
On the first half of that equation, McKinney must first take care of business against Dallas Jesuit, which is 5-3 overall and 4-1 in district, and McKinney Boyd, which is 2-6 and 1-4 in district. The back half of that equation calls for Plano to lose to McKinney Boyd and then Prosper.
Because Plano holds the tie-breaker over McKinney with a head-to-head win, any loss by McKinney or a win by Plano in either of the final two weeks eliminates McKinney from playoff contention.
But first, head coach Marcus Shavers and his team are focused on Jesuit.
"(We're) approaching this week like a playoff game," Shavers said. "We know that the only thing we can control is how well we play, and we want to play extremely well as a team."
To be at its best, McKinney will have to play a well-rounded game, which will mean not getting behind early, playing ahead of the chains and not turning over the ball.
In its four wins this year, McKinney won the turnover battle in three of those contests and were able to get its defense off the field, limiting teams to just 257.5 yards a game. Conversely, the Lions lost the turnover battle in two of its four losses and gave up no less than 490 yards.
"The key will be for us to eliminate mistakes. The team with the fewest amount of mistakes will win this ball game," Shavers said. "We want to play a disciplined, clean football game."
But with riding a two-game win streak, Shavers and his team have momentum and are seeking a program's third straight playoff appearance. Doing so would be huge for a program looking establish itself as a regular playoff-bound team.
"We have built a solid foundation of trust, accountability, toughness, and togetherness. (Getting back to the playoffs) would mean that the trajectory of our football program is moving upward expeditiously and that we did what needed to be done. To represent our school and district in Texas State Playoffs is a big deal."