Class 8-Man State Championship Breakdown
#1 Sedgwick County (12-0) at #3 Akron (10-2) Saturday 1:00pm
The 8-Man state championship is between two teams everyone saw coming once they released the bracket. Sedgwick County has cruised to the state finals and Akron had one tough matchup last week to reach the finals. The state championship is also a rivalry game. For my predictions I picked a perfect 8-man bracket so far but I know my state champion is different than most people.
Sedgwick County has destroyed every team they have played this year with the exception of Akron. Sedgwick County once again held a team to under 10 points beating Sargent 50 to 8. Offensively Sargent did a great job of slowing down Sedgwick County in terms of yards. Sedgwick County had 121 yards passing on 4 of 5 attempts for 3 touchdowns and 181 yards rushing on 22 carries and 3 touchdowns. So in terms of yards was not a huge day but they also were starting on their side of the 50 most of the game. Defensively they forced 2 turnovers one INT and 1 fumble and held a good Sargent offense to under 10 points. Sedgwick County has held 8 teams under 10 points this year.
Akron was able to reach the State finals by blanking Norwood 16 to 0. I figured this would be a close game and it was but it was also a much lower scoring game than I thought. On offense Akron was able to get their ground game going rushing for 233 yards on 41 carries and passing wise they threw for 81 yards. Akron on offense is led by Levi Basler who has racked up 779 yards passing and 1123 yards rushing and has a total of 18 touchdowns and only 3 INTS. Defensively Akron forced 3 turnovers 1 INT and 2 fumbles. Akron has also held 7 teams under 10 points this year.
This game features two top teams in the state in 8-man and actually features two teams ranked in the top 20 nationally. Akron is ranked 20th in the nation and Sedgwick County is ranked 10th in the nation. Sedgwick County has only been challenged once all year and that was a 22 to 3 game against Akron. Akron on the other hand lost to Holyoke (11 Man) to open the season and were also challenged by Norwood in the Semifinals. If this game turns out to be as good as the first meeting we are in for a show. The first game was decided by two big plays. Sedgwick County had a punt return for a touchdown and the other big play was a long play action play for a touchdown. For Akron to win this game they must limit the big plays and force turnovers like they did in the first game but also must capitalize on the mistakes. If Akron wins it will be their first 8-Man State Championship. For Sedgwick County to they must keep forcing turnovers but also need to limit their turnovers. Sedgwick County is looking to cap off their first winning season since 2007. Sedgwick County is going to be the favorite in this game and no teams has been able to hang with them all season. I am going to go against the grain though and I am taking Akron to pull off the biggest upset of the year. I have Akron pulling off a 3 point upset of Sedgwick County.
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