Texas high school football playoff spot decided by a coin flip

Given the fierce competition in Texas high school football, playoffs spots are often determined by a team’s regular season win-loss record. A squad has a better chance at championship glory if they garnered more victories.

That said, why then did the playoff fate of three teams depended on a coin flip? Apparently, this story involved one of those squads breaking the rules.

Coaches and representatives from Amarillo High School, Lubbock High School, and Caprock High School met at the Toot ’n Totum gas station in Plainview to decide which team will have at least one more game. The Sandies wouldn’t have been in this position if not for forfeiting six victories after the University Interscholastic League deemed one of their players ineligible due to clerical oversight.

The decision reversed the Sandies’ record from 7-2 to 1-8, and they needed a victory over rival school Tascosa to stay in the mix. Meanwhile, Lubbock carried a 3-7 record, including a victory via forfeit against Amarillo. Caprock was at 3-8, including a 29-8 win over Lubbock.

To determine the team entering the playoffs, representatives from the three schools simultaneously flipped coins, with the odd team out getting into the Texas high school football Class 5A Division 1 playoffs. Lubbock and Caprock flipped heads, while Amarillo earned the slot after flipping tails.

In this video on X, Amarillo head coach Chad Dunham emotionally said, “It’s God’s plan. We have a special group of kids. I hate this because I’m just crying all the time. I’m an emotional wreck, but it’s God’s plan. I cannot wait, we’ve got a meeting at 10 a.m. in the morning with parents and kids and there’s gonna be a lot of hard conversations and there’s still gonna be some hard conversations. But, there’s also gonna be a celebration. I might just break the news and see if they want to come up tonight.”

Amarillo will face El Dorado in the Texas high school football 5A D2 bi-distict round on November 14 at the El Paso SAC II Stadium. The Aztecs will enter the playoffs with a 9-1 record with their only loss coming against Eastwood.

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