What a flip: Timberview makes football playoffs at a Whataburger

Around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Mansfield Timberview’s playoff hopes rested with a coin flip at a Whataburger restaurant in Midlothian.

And probably for good reason: The Timberwolves had just lost 33-29 to Mansfield Summit, blowing a late-game lead. That dropped them to 3-4 in District 14-5A in a three-way tie with Mansfield Legacy and Waxahachie, a team that beat Timberview 42-31 Oct. 16.

But a quirk in 14-5A’s tiebreaker process -- and the luck of a quarter landing on tails -- pushed the Timberwolves (5-5) into the postseason.

Timberview coach James Brown made the 15-minute drive alone from Mansfield’s Newsom Stadium to Midlothian to watch his team win the toss.

In the three-way tie, Legacy was eliminated first, on a point differential, leaving Timberview and Waxahachie alive. Because 14-5A’s tiebreaker rules don’t allow teams to revert back to the head-to-head result, a coin flip was their only option, Brown said. Timberview was pre-assigned tails.

Around 11:34 p.m., the Timberview team, waiting at the school field house, received word from Brown that they won the flip.

“We’re in!!” quarterback Devin Williams said in a text message.

Said Brown, on his way home, “Honestly, we had opportunities tonight to avoid this. We’re just appreciative Lancaster did their part.”

Timberview will be the No. 2 seed out of 14-5A in Class 5A Division II.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 1:36 AM with the headline "What a flip: Timberview makes football playoffs at a Whataburger."