SPOTLIGHT: Hough senior linebacker Connor Millikin has made more than 50 tackles and grabbed an interception this season. (Chris Hunt/DavidsonNews.net)

By CHRIS HUNT
DavidsonNews.net

CORNELIUS – With one game remaining in the regular season, the Hough football team’s 2011 playoff possibilities are far from certain. A logjam in the I-MECK 4A Conference standings has created multiple playoff scenarios to be determined by the results of this week’s games, which will be played Friday night, Oct. 28.

As it stands, seven teams are still mathematically eligible for the conference’s five automatic playoff bids. Depending on Friday night’s outcome, Hough (4-6 overall, 3-3 in the I-MECK 4A) could finish anywhere from third to sixth place. With four wins this season, a wild card spot is still an option for the Huskies if they finish outside the top five in the standings.

The Huskies, however, would rather control their own fate.

For the third straight week, Hough has an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth with a win. For Hough to capture its fifth win of the season, however, will be a monumental task. The Huskies travel to the home of defending I-MECK 4A Conference Champion Mallard Creek, a team that is undefeated this season (kick off 7 p.m.).

The Mavericks boast as much College Division I talent as any other high school team in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. Shrine bowl selection Jela Duncan is a running back with scholarship offers from college football programs such as South Carolina, Purdue, Wake Forest and Duke. Wide receiver Jamel Harbison – another Shrine Bowl invitee – has committed to the University Minnesota and Hough Coach Bobby Collins said the Mavericks’ D.J. Humphries is the best high school offensive lineman in the nation.

“They have multiple weapons at every position,” said Collins. “To compete against a team like Mallard Creek, you have to win the first down battle. At lot of teams try to go in and win the point battle, but you have to keep your defense off the field. If you keep your defense off the field by continuing to get first downs, you give your players a chance to make plays at the end of the game.”

Hough doesn’t have to upset Mallard Creek to reach the postseason. The Huskies’ postseason fate could be determined the next day, Saturday, Oct. 29. If West Charlotte (2-4 in the I-MECK 4A), Hopewell (2-4) and Mooresville (5-1) all win, there will be a five-way tie for third place and the head-to-head tiebreakers would be knotted up at 2-2 for each team. To break such a standstill, coaches will draw from a hat the day after the regular season ends.

“You can’t be frustrated at any coach who pulls a playoff spot out of the hat,” said Collins. “If you did what you are supposed to do during they year, you wouldn’t have put yourself in that position. It just lets you know how harder you have to work to following year.”

The Huskies could put away their rabbit’s foot, four-leaf clovers and other lucky charms if Vance (3-3) and North Mecklenburg (0-6) defeat West Charlotte (2-4) and Hopewell (2-4), respectively. Such an outcome would award Hough fifth place because the Huskies hold tiebreakers over Vance and West Charlotte, but not Lake Norman and Hopewell.

Collins, however, isn’t counting on getting help from other teams because he isn’t conceding a loss to Mallard Creek on Friday night.

“I never gamble on sports – especially high school football – because you never know what team is going to show up for the game,” said Collins. “That’s why we prepare the same way for every game: to put our kids in a situation to win. I think we are playing pretty good defense right now which gives us a chance.”