District 15-5A Finale Between Sulphur Springs + Marshall The ETSN.fm + Dairy Queen Game Of The Week

Two playoff berths from District 15-5A are accounted for, and two more are up for grabs for three teams this week.

Friday night's regular-season finale between Sulphur Springs and Marshall, chalk-full with playoff implications, is the ETSN.fm/Dairy Queen Game of the Week. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Maverick Stadium in Marshall.

Longview and Texas High have already secured postseason spots. Sulphur Springs (5-4, 4-2) and Hallsville (6-3, 4-2) are tied for the third place with Marshall (5-4, 3-3) just one game behind.

Hallsville and Sulphur Springs each control their own destiny, while Marshall needs a win and a little help from arch-rival and district champion Longview (7-2, 6-0), which plays to Hallsville this week.

A Hallsville or Sulphur Springs win punches playoff tickets for both, but if heavily-favored Longview defeats Hallsville and Marshall knocks off Sulphur Springs, a three-way tie for the final two postseason berths would ensue.

The tiebreaker would come down to point differential among the three teams. Since Hallsville is sitting at minus-5 after a 21-19 win over Marshall and 49-42 loss to Sulphur Springs, any kind of Marshall victory would place the Mavericks ahead of Hallsville and into the playoffs.

If a three-way tie does arise, the final spot essentially comes down to Hallsville and Sulphur Springs, which is a plus-7 at the moment. Hallsville is in at that point only if Marshall defeats Sulphur Springs by 13 points or more. Otherwise, Sulphur Springs makes it.

Whatever happens Friday night, the final two playoff entrants from 15-5A will have Ennis and Nacogdoches waiting in the wings in the bi-district round of the playoffs next week.

Be sure to check out the Sulphur Springs-Marshall game preview Wednesday morning on ETSN.fm, follow contributor Anthony Hawthorne (@Ant_Hawthorne) for updates throughout the game, and head back to ETSN.fm late Friday night or early Saturday morning for complete game coverage.