Playoff hopes are on the line tonight as the Farmers [3-3 overall, 1-0 district] face rival Flower Mound Marcus [1-5, 0-1] for homecoming at 7:30 p.m.

Head coach Gregg Miller said that the game against Marcus, known as the Battle of the Axe, is a must-win for both the teams.

“They have to win or they’re pretty much eliminated from the playoffs,” Miller said. “And that doesn’t happen to Marcus. They don’t not go to the playoffs. This game is huge for the both of us. If we win, we have a chance of being in the playoffs. Almost guaranteed.

“And if they lose, it’s almost guaranteed that they will not make it to the playoffs. There are strained implications on this game. It’s more so than just the axe or homecoming.”

Miller said that, to the team, this game is just like any other game, regardless of the axe and the extra attention on the game.

“Battle of the Axe and all that stuff is for the school and the community,” Miller said. “You just focus on the game. If you start worrying about that other stuff and talking about it all the time then that’s really what you start focusing on. We can’t do anything about the axe and where it’s been and the history behind the game and the hoopla. We just gotta stay on football and do what we’re supposed to do on that.”

Marcus’ offense and defense take care of business similarly to the Farmers, especially sophomore tight end Kaden Smith, Miller said.

“They’ve got an awesome tight end, number 82,” Miller said. “He’s outstanding.They’ve got a great wide receiver. Their defense is really, really good.They’ve got an attacking, swarming defense and they’ve got guys up front that can get after it.”

Although Marcus’ record is a bit deceiving, Miller said a team’s ability can not be interpreted by the numbers.

“The records don’t mean anything,” Miller said. “They played the defending 4A state champions. They played Arlington when Arlington was at their strongest. When we played Arlington, they had a lot of injuries. You can’t ever use the other team’s scores and records as an indicator.”

Miller said the team’s attitude has been great despite the hectic week.

“We’re very focused,” he said. “We’ve had a really distracting week. We didn’t have school on Monday and it rained. [Tuesday] it was cold and rainy. So we did some stuff inside; we didn’t want them to get wet twice. It was very chilly, and we wanted them to focus, not fight the rain and focus.”

Miller said he is hoping for one thing and one thing only from the game.

“Just a win,” Miller said. “If we win by one, I’ll be happy. I don’t care how ugly it is, I don’t care how long it takes.”

According to senior team captain and quarterback Matt McDougal, the Marauders and the Farmers are tied so far over who has had the axe for more years. This game will be a tie breaker, and an entrance to the playoffs.

“It’s tied right now,” McDougal said. “I definitely don’t want them to take over on that deal. We need to get the axe back, and another district win would mean a good spot for the playoffs.”

Last week’s 25-23 win against Flower Mound has given the team confidence, McDougal said.

“I think it was a good thing,” McDougal said. “I was worried that people would get overconfident, but I think it’s been a really great motivator for people to see that we can go to the playoffs and win these games, and I think it’s amped everybody up  and makes us practice a little bit harder and makes everyone a little more excited.”

Miller said that the close scores show the hard work and effort throughout throughout the games.

“Last year every game we played was close, and this year every game we’ve won has been close,” Miller said. “We have not had a game where we just out-battle somebody. It’s been a rough, tough fight until the end. Last year we were on the wrong end of it, and this year we’re on top of it.”