Published: October 10, 2008 09:49 am         

Rams hope to collect second 6-4A win tonight

By Tommy Wells
sports@mineralwellsindex.com

The Mineral Wells High School Rams won’t find themselves in a must-win situation when they step onto the field tonight to face the Boswell Pioneers, but a win certainly would go a long way in helping the Rams keep their playoff hopes alive.

Fresh off a huge upset of Springtown, the Rams enter the third week of district play in a five-way tie -- with Birdville, Brewer, Boswell and Saginaw -- for second in the district standings with a 1-1 record. A win could help Mineral Wells remain in contention for one of the district’s four postseason bids.

The Rams head into tonight’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Ram Stadium with a full head of steam. Mineral Wells reeled off a season-high 42 points last week in their win over Springtown.

To put the Rams’ offensive effort against Springtown into better perspective, consider this fact: Mineral Wells had managed just 70 total points in their four other games. Prior to scoring 42 against Springtown, the Rams’ best offensive production had been 28 against Bridgeport.

Boswell will likely see a heavy dose of quarterback Clint Parkhill. The MWHS standout has starred in the Rams’ Veer offense, running for 357 yards and seven touchdowns through the first five weeks of play.

Defensively, Mineral Wells will be trying to slow a Boswell offense that has looked impressive, at times. The Pioneers scored more than 30 points in each of their first four games before being shut out last week by Aledo, 44-0.

As a team, Boswell is averaging 35 points a game thus far. Mineral Wells is averaging 21 per game.

The Pioneer offense is led by strong-armed quarterback Quinton Gregory. The Boswell signal-caller has completed 92 of 167 passing attempts for 1,069 yards and 11 touchdowns this year.

Gregory’s top target when he needs to take to the air has been Cameron Mavroulis. The BHS receiver has caught 39 passes for 413 yards and three scores.

A win over Boswell would lift Mineral Wells into second in the district standings and, in all likelihood, move them to within one win of securing a playoff berth.