8 Man Quarterfinals Breakdown
#1 Sedgwick County at #9 Merino
Merino grabbed a very nice win to open their playoff run going on the road and beating Granada. They were one of two teams as the lower seed to upset the higher seed in 8 Man and they did it easily. Merino beat Granada 35 to 6. No stats were posted from either team but now Merino must quickly refocus and figure out how they score points on the best defense in 8 man.
Sedgwick County started their title defense by making quick work of McClave. They handled McClave easily beating McClave 50 to 0. That shutout gives Sedgwick County their third shutout in a row and 6th shutout on the season. No teams has figured out how to beat this defense and they must continue that to repeat as state champions.
These two teams are very familiar with each other. They are from the same league and have been playing each other for some time. This year Sedgwick County beat Merino 30 to 13 but that was the lowest offensive output that Sedgwick County has had against a Colorado team. Merino has to feel some confidence going into this game. They saw they could handle Sedgwick County but still need their offense to score more than 13 points. Merino to pull the upset will need to hold Sedgwick County to under 30 points. Sedgwick County is one of the best teams to make adjustments for the second time they play a team. If you look at the state championship from last year Akron barely lost to Sedgwick County during the regular season but in the State Championship it was a blowout. Sedgwick County will look to continue that this week against Merino. Sedgwick County has been unstoppable since their loss to Perkins County NE. They have yet to be held to under 30 points this year by a Colorado team and most teams I am guessing are looking at that Perkins Count tape and try to duplicate what they did. I don’t think Merino will be able to keep it close and have a feeling this will turn into a blowout. I am going with Sedgwick County to win by 28.
#5 Norwood at #4 Hoehne
Norwood started their playoff run with a very impressive victory over Plateau Valley. Norwood scored 48 points in the first half and had the mercy rule going by half time. Norwood was dominate on defense holding Plateau Valley to just 14 points. The final score was 63 to 14. Norwood offensively was superb. They rack up 526 yards of rushing and Devyn Rummel who had a career day rushing for 276 yards and 4 touchdowns. This game was never in doubt for Norwood and now they must prepare for Hoehne.
Hoehne opened their playoff run very impressive as well posting the shutout victory over Mancos. Hoehne score 36 points in the first quarter and had the running clock going by halftime. Hoehne once again controlled the line of scrimmage and was dominate running the ball. They ran for 433 yards and 8 touchdowns. They were led by Jacob Yates who ran for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hoehne on defense was also very good forcing 3 INT’s and stopping Mancos rushing attack. Hoehne now must be ready for what I think is going to be the best game in 8 man this weekend.
Norwood and Hoehne have two common opponents. Both teams easily beat Mancos and both teams lost to Sargent by 2. This will be a very good game. The game will go by quickly as well as both teams want to run the ball and will keep going at it to pull of their strategy. The small advantages that each team has is Norwood has the better defense slightly and Hoehne is scoring more points per game by about a touchdown. I think this will be a defensive struggle and whichever team’s controls the line of scrimmage will get the advantage. Neither team wants to throw the ball and doubt that will happen much this game. The slight edge in passing goes to Hoehne. Hoehne has the better offense in terms of stats. They are rushing for 378.4 ypg and Norwood is only rushing for 288.1 yards per game. Both defense will look to play their best game of the season this week. I am giving the slight edge here to Hoehne because their offense is slightly better. I am going with Hoehne to pull off the victory and it will be a close one and the score difference will only be by 7.
#3 Akron at #11 Haxtun
Haxtun pulled off the huge upset last weekend. They upset #6 Pikes Peak Christian in a lower scoring game. Haxtun won 29 to 18 and the victory was possible due to their 21 point first quarter. Haxtun failed to score in the second half and used their defense to hold off a surge by Pikes Peak Christian. Once again Haxtun was very balanced on offense throwing for 226 yards and 2 INT’s and rushing for 206 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bo Soukup was their offensive leader racking up 315 yards of total offense. The biggest issue offensively for Haxtun was their 3 turnovers and that must be fixed to pull off another upset. Defensively Haxtun held off an offensive surge by Pikes Peak Christian in the second half and pulled out the victory. They forced 2 INT’s and had 4 sacks on defense. Haxtun now must bring that same style of defense to try and pull the upset this week.
Akron somewhat struggled against Holly in the first round. Even though the final score was 35 to 14 it was only 14 to 7 at half and 21 to 14 at the end of the 3rd. Akron surged in the fourth to blow the game open. Akron on defense played pretty good holding Holly to only 90 yards rushing but did give up 164 yards passing but forced 3 INT’s. Akron on offense was pretty good rushing for 244 yards and throwing for 100 yards. Akron must quickly figure out what happened in this game and get it fixed. Defensively they played pretty good but are going to have to figure out their pass coverage or expect a very good game again against a pass happy Haxtun team.
When these two teams meet a couple week ago this game had a ton of fireworks and of course a ton of scoring. Akron pulled off a miracle pass to win at the end of the game. The final score was 48 to 43. Haxtun will be hoping to improve defensively against Akron. Akron also will be looking to improve on defense. Haxtun if they want to pull the upset must score a bunch of points. Their defense has been susceptible to giving up a ton of points so if that happens their offense must carry them. For Akron to win they must bring some defensive intensity to stopping the pass. Akron cannot afford to give up over 200 yards to Haxtun. This also will be a very good game and expect a high scoring game once again. These two teams know each other and are league rivals so this will be a fun game to see who comes out on top. I am going with Akron to hold onto the victory and I have them winning by 10 points. I think their defense will make 1 or 2 stops and that will determine the game.
#7 West Grand at #2 Sargent
West Grand came to play last week against Dayspring Christian. They were trailing heading into half time 17 to 8 but came out in the third quarter and scored 20 unanswered points and that led them to the victory. West Grand on offense got their rushing attack going rushing for 231 yards and four touchdowns. Their rushing attack was led by Luis Dominguez who ran for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. Passing wise West Grand did pretty good as well passing for 159 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 INT. Their offense picked up the pace in the second half which powered them to the win. Defensively West Grand was torched through the air. They gave up 232 yards and 1 touchdown but also had 2 INT’s. West Grand did a great job of stopping the run holding DCA to only 116 yards rushing which proved to be the biggest factor in the game. West Grand must keep the momentum they gained in the second half to try and pull the upset this week.
Sargent made quick work of Soroco scoring 32 points in the first quarter and had the mercy rule going by the second quarter. Sargent did give up 20 points in the game but most of them were in the second quarter when the starters were pulled out. Defensively Sargent held Soroco to just 38 yards rushing but did give up 178 yards passing. Offensively Sargent ran wild rushing for 397 yards and 5 touchdowns. The two headed monster of Hacsi and Davis was in full affect. Davis ran for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns and Hacsi ran for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. They did all the damage on just 15 carries between the two of them. Special teams also played a factor as well as Sargent ran the opening kick back for a touchdown and that set the tone. Sargent must improve in their pass defense this week and keep feeding Hacsi and Davis.
These two teams have 2 common opponents. Both of them played Sanford and Soroco. West Grand beat Sanford 38 to 12 and Soroco 46 to 22. Sargent beat Sanford 57 to 0 and Soroco 60 to 20. West Grand will need to stop the run this week or could be in trouble. They can’t completely stack the box either because they have weapons on the outside who could burn the deep. West Grand cannot give up over 200 yards rushing and expect to win this game unless they match Sargent with their own offense which won’t be easy considering Sargent defense is the second best in the state. Sargent must defend the pass better this week. They cannot allow West Grand to open their rushing attack by throwing successfully. Sargent also must be able to throw the ball if need. I don’t think West Grand has the offense to score a ton of points on Sargent. Sargent defense is top notch and they must be on top of their game. This game will be broadcasted on the Mix 96.5 and online at network1sports. I am picking Sargent here to flex their defensive muscle and win by 17 points.
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