In their final district game of the season, the Rangers will travel to Borger Friday night for the 7 p.m. contest.
For the past two years, the Borger-Perryton district game has been a “do or die” win to make it into the playoffs. But this year, the Rangers are 2-1 in district, 3-5 overall and Borger is 1-2, 1-8 overall.
Levelland and Seminole will face off on Friday as well, with the winners of the two games determining playoff seeding.
Last Friday, Perryton beat Seminole 28-14 to improve its record. Borger was off, but the week before, the Bulldogs lost to Seminole 20-7, their only score coming in the first quarter.
Borger also came up short against Levelland in district action, with a 27-14 loss. The Bulldogs were ahead 14-6 at the half, but the second half belonged to the Lobos. The Rangers came out on top against Levelland with a big 34-7 win over the Lobos.
The Bulldogs were a surprise winner over Estacado, 23-20, their only win so far this season. By contrast, the Rangers lost a close 26-20 game against the Matadors.
The only non-district opponent the Bulldogs and the Rangers share is Pampa. Borger was trounced by the Harvesters, 56-15, while Perryton played a much closer game, losing 41-35.
The Bulldogs also racked up close losses to Hereford, 20-13, and Friona 27-21.
This will be the 54th meeting between the Rangers and the Bulldogs, in a series that began in 1929. Perryton holds a slight edge in the series, 26-25. There have been two ties, in 1930 and 1941.
Last year, in Borger the Rangers won big, 50-24 to clinch the final playoff spot.