Lee Scheide says: Hey, Odessa, it's time to pack Ratliff

Odessa High has the Arlington Colts right where they want them.

Ratliff Stadium, the decreed epicenter of high school football in West Texas.

If ever there was a time for the Bronchos to break the mold of the past five decades, this Friday gives them the perfect opportunity.

Just once since 1953 has Odessa High advanced to the third round of the playoffs.

That was in 1997 when they defeated Lubbock Coronado in the bi-district round and then El Paso Franklin in the area round.

Duncanville, however, ended the Bronchos’ dream that season with a victory in the regional quarterfinals, which was, until last year, the last time that an OHS team had qualified for the postseason.

But the Bronchos have advanced two years in a row now, something that hasn’t happened since 1947 and 1948. That puts this year’s team in perfect position to continue its record-setting run with a second victory at home in the past two seasons.

But they are going to need some help.

The Colts are going to travel on Friday morning, a long, five-plus hour sojourn into a landscape that many of the players are going to be completely unfamiliar with when they step off the bus.

The winds will start rocking the charters between Big Spring and Midland and when the Colts finally disembark at the corner of Yukon and Grandview, the lights atop Ratliff Stadium shouldn’t be the only things they see.

Arlington should be witness to one of the biggest playoff crowds in Ratliff Stadium history, with OHS and Permian fans alike filling every nook and cranny of the venerable showplace, giving the Bronchos the backing they have rightly earned.

Because face it, except for one week each year, the OHS and Permian fans are secretly wishing for the other school to do well, to show the strength of Class 5A football in this region.

They have friends there or they work with someone who graduated from there and really isn’t as bad as they thought they would be.

So at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, kick the rivalry to the curb, at least for a few hours. I’m always hearing how passionate the high school football fans are in Texas, especially around this neck of the woods, and now is the chance for Odessa to pull out all the stops and prove it.

Put 15,000-plus in the stands and roar each time the Bronchos touch the football. Give the seniors one of the best memories they’ll take with them from their high school careers.

Winning a playoff game at the Sun Bowl was special in its own right, something that no one can take away from any OHS player on the field that night.

Winning a playoff game at Ratliff Stadium in front of a sellout crowd just six days before Thanksgiving?

Priceless.

>> There are just two District 2-5A teams alive in the Class 5A playoffs, so here’s a quick look at the games:

>> Odessa High 45, Arlington High 30: The Bronchos use the home field to their advantage in a rematch of last year’s area playoff contest.

>> Arlington Martin 24, Permian 20: The Warriors have just enough to edge the Tommey Morris-led Panthers in a day game at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.