The winner will advance to the postseason while the loser will be done when the Rangers travel to Hugo for the regular season finale on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Gene Nesbitt Stadium.
Roland and Hugo have identical 5-4 overall records and both teams are 3-3 in District 3A-4, which leaves them in a tie for fourth place. The winner will grab the league's final playoff spot.
Victory Christian has alreay clinched the 3A-4 championship. Eufaula and Metro Christian will play on Friday to determine who gets second and third place.
In order to make the playoffs, the Rangers will have to find a way to slow down Hugo's talented Locke brothers-Delvonsha and Derrick.
Delvonsha, a 6-foot, 185-pound junior, lines up at running back for the Buffaloes and leads Class 3A in scoring with 28 touchdowns. Derrick, a 5-10, 165-pound quarterback, has reached the end zone nine times this season. The Locke brothers have scored 230 of Hugo's 261 points on the year.
Hugo put a scare into third-ranked Victory Christian last week, playing evenly with the Conquerors for three quarters. Derrick Locke tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Delvonsha for a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. Derrick broke loose for a 15-yard TD run and added the two-point conversion in the third period to knot the score at 14-14 before Victory eventually pulled away.
Hugo outrushed Victory by a 187-79 margin, but gave up 214 yards passing, turned the ball over four times and was flagged for 11 penalties.
Roland did its part to set up this week's showdown by coming through in a must-win situation last week. The Rangers defeated Morris 7-0 behind tough defense, a good kicking game and a second-half touchdown drive.
Roland marched 75 yards in 12 plays for the game's only touchdown, a five-yard run by Justin Dowdy with 11:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Punter Ricky Acevado pinned Morris deep in their own territory on four occasions, including a punt in the fourth quarter that was downed at the Eagle one-yard line. Logan Beakley sealed the win for Roland by intercepting a Morris pass in the final minutes.
With tailback Matt Goodson out with a broken arm, quarterback Kyp Matlock is Roland's leading active rusher with 589 yards entering the Hugo game. Dowdy gained 80 yards last week to push his season tally to 242. Matlock has also thrown for 520 yards with Tony Brown leading the receivers with 16 catches for 158 yards.
