8 Man Semifinals Breakdown
Official Coin Flip Result for State Championship: Sedgwick County host if they win regardless of opponent. Sargent hosts if Hoehne wins and Hoehne hosts if Akron wins.
#1 Sedgwick County vs #4 Hoehne Saturday 1:00pm
Hoehne come into the semifinals with a ton of momentum and honestly pulled the biggest surprise of the weekend. I thought that their game against Norwood was going to be a great tightly contested game and still expected Hoehne to win but Hoehne demolished Norwood 50 to 8. The second quarter was the quarter that started the ball down the hill. Hoehne scored 20 unanswered points and the blowout began. Norwood had not been held under 20 point all season and Hoehne was able to show that its defense can play with some of the best. Hoehne on offense was unstoppable. They only threw the ball four times but when you rush for 349 yards and 6 touchdowns you don’t need to throw. Their rushing attack was led by Hunter Robins who ran for 191 yards on 15 carries and 4 touchdowns. Hoehne will now have to get their defense ready for one of the best offenses and defense in 8 man. They will need their rushing attack to dominate once again. They will need to play their best game of the year to upset the #1 team in 8 man.
Sedgwick County was once again able to make great adjustments for their game against Merino. The first time these teams played Merino was able to keep pace with Sedgwick County and keep it close till the fourth quarter. The second time Sedgwick County came to play and blew the game open with a 42 to 6 victory. No stats for either team were posted. Defensively this is their 9th game out of 11 holding an opponent to under 10 points. Offensively this is Sedgwick County 8th game breaking 40 point and have broken 28 point in every game this year. Sedgwick County now must prepare for a very physical team. Sedgwick County also must make sure their offense is ready for a physical defense and this I think will be Sedgwick County biggest test so far against Colorado teams.
Both of these teams have one common opponent. They both played Dayspring Christian. Hoehne lost to Dayspring 51-50 and Sedgwick County beat Dayspring Christian 49-0. I am not really too concerned about the score because of how early the game between the two happened. Hoehne will need their defense to play their best game this year. Sedgwick County is a very quick and athletic team and Hoehne will need to adjust to that. Hoehne also must score points. They cannot afford to be held under 20 points and might need 30 point to win this game. Sedgwick County has proven all year that no team can match up with them in Colorado. I think this will be their first real test. Sedgwick County has to make sure their run defense is stout. They have played run heavy teams but not a running attack like Hoehne. Sedgwick County also must have their offense preform like they have all year and avoid turnover. The keys to this game will be the line of scrimmage. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage will win this game. Hoehne must keep Sedgwick County under 35 point to pull the upset. This game should be a very fun and exciting game. I am going with Sedgwick County to hold on here. I think this game will be a very tough game for Sedgwick County and expect a tight game. I could see this game going any direction but I have Sedgwick County winning this game by 7.
#2 Sargent at #3 Akron Saturday 1:00pm
Akron was able to avoid the late drama that they experience the last time they played Haxtun. Early on though this game was filled with drama. Akron was trailing Haxtun 14-0 before Akron ran off 22 unanswered points. Haxtun made it close again but Akron finished off the game scoring the final 11 points and pulled out a good 33 to 20 victory and have themselves in the semifinals again. Akron defensively had to stop a very good passing attack and did a good job. They had 2 sacks and 1 INT and that helped swing the tide in this game. Offensively Akron was very good rushing the ball. They ran for 428 yards on 67 carries which is 6.4 yards per carry they also added 3 rushing touchdowns. Akron threw for 28 yards and 1 touchdown as well. Akron on offense is led by Levi Basler who had a great game. Basler threw for 28 yards and ran for 170 yards for a total of 4 touchdowns. Akron now has to get refocused on defense. Akron will be going from a pass happy offense to an offense that is run heavy but also proved they can throw the ball. Akron on offense will need to make sure they run the ball with efficiency as well as they are playing one of the best defenses in 8 man.
Sargent was in a tight one early. Leading 12 to 8 after the first quarter and 18 to 16 early on in the second quarter Sargent then proceeded to blow this game wide open. They ran off 35 unanswered point and blew the game wide open. West Grand was able to score 14 points in the fourth quarter but by that point Sargent was pulling some of its starters off the field. Sargent on defense will need to work on limiting the big plays. They gave up a few big plays early on but won the turnover battle by a lot. Sargent gave up 121 yards passing and 286 yards rushing but when the game was closer they were able to slow down West Grand rushing attack. Sargent on offense was super impressive. Sargent was missing their star player Justin Hacsi who was suited up but only was playing if they needed him. Sargent ran for 479 yards and threw for 112 yards for a whopping 591 total yards. Two players had exceptional games for Sargent. QB Ryan Davis threw for 112 yards and also ran for 126 yards and a total of four touchdowns. Esteban Aguilera moved back to RB for Sargent for this game and had one heck of a game. He ran for 235 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. Sargent now must get their offense ready for a run heavy offense and I am sure will be happy to have Justin Hacsi back for them as well. Sargent will need their offense to be on point again and hope their defense can stop the big plays.
Both teams have 2 common opponents. Both teams played Caliche and Fowler. Akron beat Caliche 60-0 and Fowler 48 to 6. Sargent beat Caliche 50-6 and Fowler 57-0. These two teams are very identical too each other. Both want to run the ball first but can pass if needed. Akron has the slightly better offensive numbers but Sargent has the better defensive numbers. Akron will need their defense to bring their A game. Sargent is very effective on offense and can put up big plays if needed. They also will be shifting Aguilera back to WR and he is a huge weapon for this team. Akron also needs their offense to run for a big game. Sargent must stop the big plays from happening. Against West Grand they gave up a few big plays. The two keys for this game are stopping the big play and stopping the run. Neither teams wants to turn into passing teams but if that does happen I give the edge to Sargent. Also big plays must be kept to a minimum for both teams. I am going with Sargent to win this game by 14. I think they are just going to be too much to handle defensively for Akron. I don’t think Akron offense will get going like they need and Sargent will be able to grab the victory. This game will be broadcasted on KSLV Radio 96.5 FM and hopefully streaming on Network1sports.com.
MileHigh Prep Report 