There will be a lot of fans in the stands at tonight’s area-round playoff game between Guyer and Mansfield Legacy. They will all be rooting for their respective team, but then there’s Barbara and Gary Fischer.

Barbara Fischer is the principal at Guyer. Her husband, Gary, was a longtime head coach at Denton, and their son, John, is a secondary coach for Legacy. Another son, Matt, is the athletic coordinator at Crownover Middle School and is on the Guyer sidelines during games helping out the Wildcat coaching staff.

So it should come as no surprise that Barbara Fischer won’t be in the stands tonight when her two worlds collide on the turf at Dragon Stadium in Southlake at 7:30 p.m.

“I’m going to sit in the press box,” she said. “I’m not going to be where I usually am [in the stands]. It’s hard for a mom. I love both teams and I’m so proud of Guyer and what they’ve done. I’m proud of what Legacy has done in two years [of existence]. They made the playoffs and that’s great.

“I’m in a bind. I want my sons to do well. I love Guyer, and I want them to do well. I’m staying out of this situation.” 

And the connections don’t end with the Fischers.

In fact, Guyer and Legacy have many ties, including in the top spot of the Broncos’ football program.

Legacy head coach Chris Melson is the son of Guyer cross country coach Carl Melson, and Gary Fischer was Chris Melson’s high school football coach in Ada, Okla., where Carl Melson coached with Fischer. The elder Melson followed Fischer to Denton and was his offensive line coach until Fischer stepped down after the 2004 season.

“It’s not really that weird, not for me,” said Chris Melson, whose team is in the playoffs in just its second varsity season. “I just prepare my team for the team we have to play. It’s interesting with all the time we’ve had with the Fischers and my dad. As for me, if my dad coached football it’d be a little weird. It is neat though.

“I love the Fischers and she does a great job at Guyer and her son’s a great coach. And my dad’s my dad, obviously. I learned everything I know about coaching form my dad.”

Even though there are many connections between the two new schools, the only focus tonight will be advancing to the regional quarterfinals to face the winner of Saturday’s game between Abilene Cooper and El Paso Del Valle.

The team will pit two of the better defenses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area against each other, but Guyer has the nod offensively.

The Wildcats (10-1) have the eighth-ranked defense in the area, allowing just 254.8 yards per game, but Legacy (8-3) is one spot higher, giving up just 232.6 yards per game, and the Broncos do it with a speedy 3-4 defensive front and an a super-athletic secondary.

Guyer is the area leader in Class 4A offensively, averaging 519 yards per game, and Guyer head coach John Walsh said his balanced unit will take whatever Legacy decides to give it.

“I think from this point on, it comes down to what are you gonna give us?” Walsh said. “Boswell tried to play a nine-man box [in last week’s 59-28 Guyer win] and there’s not many guys that can run down the field with [wide receiver] Connor Crane [who caught two long touchdown passes last week].”

Chris Melson acknowledged the power of Guyer’s offense, especially quarterback J.W. Walsh, who’s accounted for 3,127 yards of total offense and 44 touchdowns while turning the ball over just four times this season.

“The key there is his [John Walsh’s] son,” Melson said of the junior quarterback. “When he came things started clicking. He’s a great player and a coach’s son, which always is good. He’s got a great cast him around him and they have everything they need to make a state championship run. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they do win one with J.W. under center.

“We’ve got one of the best defenses around. We’ve just got to be able to slow them down. No one’s really done it. I don’t think Ryan really slowed them down until the fourth quarter. No one has stopped them. I don’t know that we will, but we’re sure gonna try.” 

Guyer’s defense got bit by the injury bug in last week’s win over Boswell as outside linebackers Antonio Burton and Kamrhan Jones both suffered season-ending injuries.

Legacy’s offense took a big hit in last week’s bi-district win over Fort Worth Eastern Hills when quarterback Kennedy Jones broke his leg in the fourth quarter after throwing for a score and running for two more. Quentin Hasten will take over under center for the Broncos and likely run a lot of zone read plays to attack the Guyer defense.

“Kennedy brought an extremely athletic talent to the quarterback position,” John Walsh said. “You can tell he was a home run with his legs and he threw the ball very good too. Watching [Hasten], it’s kind of scary because when he comes in he runs different types of offense with the read game than what we’ve seen on film. The unknown is always a little scary.”

Guyer defensive tackle Taylor Bible said that despite the loss of their starting quarterback, the Broncos can still be a dangerous team with Hasten under center.

“They lose some athleticism there, but they gain the ability to read [the defense] better,” Bible said. “Their backup quarterback isn’t as fast but he can read things a lot better and knows when to pull it and run.

“They’re still very dangerous if we let them stay in the game.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .