Vega hoping third time's the charm against Wellington on Friday
The Wellington Skyrockets have eliminated the Vega Longhorns from the football playoffs two years in a row.
The two teams face off for a third straight year at 3 p.m. Friday at Happy State Bank Stadium in Canyon. The Longhorns, who don’t want the same results, know what will have to happen in order to make the third time become a different outcome.
“Control the line of scrimmage," Vega coach Jason Porton said. "Definitely going to have to control the line of scrimmage to come out on top in this one. They’ve done that the last two years we’ve played them and they’ve come out with the win both times so that’s the key to the game for both of us.”
Vega had a brutal non-district schedule and struggled to a 2-4 start with losses to Farwell, Panhandle, Stratford and New Deal. The Longhorns rebounded to go undefeated in district and have two lopsided playoff wins over Memphis and Seagraves to put them at 8-4 going into Friday’s contest.
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The Longhorns are led on offense by Joaquin Segovia, who finished the regular season rushing for 1,640 yards and 18 touchdowns. Paxton Green will lead the defense after finishing with 119 tackles.
For the Skyrockets, it's been a near perfect season.
Aside from a 28-24 loss to Lubbock Christian in week two, Wellington has gotten the better of every team its faced. The Skyrockets ran the table in district, outscoring their five opponents 250-16. They've dominated their two playoff games against Boys Ranch and Sudan, 106-6.
Wellington operates a Wing-T offense, relying on multiple players to run the ball down its opponent's throats. Travon Lewis has been the Skyrockets' top performer the past two weeks. He had 102 yards and a score on just seven carries last week and 130 yards and two touchdowns on six carries the week before.
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Head coach Greg Proffitt agreed with Porton that winning the battle up front would be the biggest key to victory. It's not the only similarity between the two teams.
“We’re very similar," Proffitt said. "Both of us are pretty good up front with our offensive and defensive lines. They have a really good skill kid in Segovia, he’s really talented. We know it’ll come to slowing him down, winning that battle upfront and taking care of the football.”
While Wellington would look like the favorites on paper, Proffitt is well aware that the previous two years will be lingering in the Longhorns' minds.
“We know that we have a quality opponent in front of us," he said. "We know that Vega is going to be after us. We’ve knocked them off the last two years and we know their mindset is to avenge those. They’re well coached, do things right and play extremely hard. We know that we have a big challenge ahead of us.”
The Longhorns have enjoyed the journey so far and hope that they'll be moving on to keep the fun going.
“We’re excited," Porton said. "It’s the fourth time in five years we’ve been this far. We know that we’re taking on a great team in Wellington and we’re going to have to play a great game Friday afternoon.”
WELLINGTON VS. VEGA
Class 2A Division II regional semifinal playoff game
When: 3 p.m. Friday
Where: Happy State Bank Stadium, Canyon
Records: Wellington 11-1; Vega 8-4
Coverage: Follow @Hpisani91 on Twitter for live updates, plus post game video, stories and photos to appear on amarillo.com.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Vega football hoping third time is charm against Wellington
