The Clinton-Massie football team will have a bye this week as it awaits either Washington Senior or Thurgood Marshall on Oct. 16.
The Falcons were the No. 1 seed in Region 16 and will scout Marshall at Washington Friday night. The winners plays Massie at Frank Irelan Field 7 p.m. Oct. 17.
“We’re going to take a couple of days off and let them (the players) get freshened up,” said McSurley.
The three teams in the other bracket that will advance to the third round and potentially play Massie are No. 8 Waynesville, No. 9 Bethel-Tate and No. 24 Urbana.
The Falcons ended their unbeaten regular season with a 56-21 triumph over Wilmington. It wasn’t easy, though, as Massie led 28-21 in the second half before reeling off 28 unanswered points.
The run ended a stretch of games the Falcons played against teams that aren’t afraid to pass the ball. Beginning with a bad performance against Western Brown, the Massie defense slowly got better against the pass.
“I think the weeks of playing mainly passing teams may have paid off,” McSurley said. “We were able to get some more players reps and really kept thing simple. I think it helped.”
McSurley and his Falcons have been to the playoffs 19 straight seasons and they know the there is one simple rule to post-season football.
“This time of year, it’s win and move on,” McSurley said.
But in 2020, that rule has an addendum.
“Staying out of quarantine may be the greatest challenge for any tmea in the playoffs,” he said.
