SIX-MAN FOOTBALL PREVIEW – WEEK TEN
BY: KERRY SHERMAN
Postseason is right around the corner, but there are still some big regular season contests on the schedule in this final week of action. All five leagues have been decided, with Briggsdale (North), Hanover (Central) and Branson/Kim (Southwest) all locking up their automatic berths last week, joining Granada (East) and Stratton (East Central) as champions. We take a look at some of the biggest contests in week 10, with all rankings coming from Thursday’s release of the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index.
FRIDAY
#7 SIERRA GRANDE PANTHERS (6-2 OVERALL) AT #2 GRANADA BOBCATS (7-1 OVERALL)
What’s at stake?… Granada is in a fight with Otis for the #2 seed in the postseason bracket and a win over a highly-ranked Sierra Grande team would go a long way towards locking up that position. As for the Panthers, a win most likely secures a first round home game next weekend.
Granada has won six straight games since a week two loss at Stratton, scoring at least 56 points in four of them. Maddox Coleman is a 1000-yard passer and 500-yard runner as a junior. Going into Granada’s last game against Kit Carson, he had scored 16 touchdowns and had thrown 23 more. Jonus Guevara had reached paydirt 15 times. Sierra Grande has been in a lot of tight games, with five decided by 11 points or less. The Panthers are 3-2 in those games. Aron Ojeda has thrown for more than 1200 yards and needs 31 on the ground to hit the 500 mark on the season. Tyler Kester leads a quartet of runners with more than 200 yards on the season, as he’s just eight yards away from 500. Granada has won all three previous meetings with the Panthers, 62-26 last year.
#3 OTIS BULLDOGS (7-1 OVERALL) AT #11 PEETZ BULLDOGS (7-1 OVERALL)
What’s at stake?… As mentioned above, Otis is in a tussle with Granada for the #2 seed in the bracket. It may not seem like there’s much difference between being #2 or #3, but it could determine who hosts a potential semifinal clash. Peetz was looking at hosting a first round contest just a few weeks ago, but the one-point loss to Briggsdale really hurt that group of Bulldogs in the Seeding Index. There’s still an outside shot that they could get into the top-eight with a win, but they would need a lot of help for that to happen.
Otis bounced back from its lone loss at Stratton to handle Arickaree 78-36 two weeks ago. Austin Hornung is just 100 yards away from a 1000-yard season as a sophomore QB. Sawyer Packer has proven to be tough match-up as his primary receiver, with 10 of his 21 catches going for touchdowns. Peetz has won two straight since its loss to Briggsdale, with the Bulldogs outscoring those two opponents 113-18. Their trio of Rhyder Bayne (1204), Chance Segelke (677), and Noah Naegele (599) have combined for more than 2400 yards of offense. Peetz has won the last two meetings with Otis, but none of the players for either team were in high school for those, as the most recent one came in 2019.
#4 BRANSON/KIM BEARCATS (7-1 OVERALL) AT #9 CHEYENNE WELLS TIGERS (4-5 OVERALL)
What’s at stake?… Branson/Kim is locked in as a first round host, and it’s not likely that the Bearcats can change their position in the final Seeding Index with a win. Even a loss probably doesn’t drop them out of the top-four. For Cheyenne Wells, a win very likely means a move into the top-eight and gives the Tigers a first round game at home next week.
The Bearcats have won seven straight games since dropping their opener to Granada. They exploded for a season-high 80 points in last week’s win at La Veta, with Kolter Cranson running for 314 yards and six TD, and Brock Doherty adding 191 yards and two scores. Doherty also caught two touchdowns. A month into the season, talking about Cheyenne Wells having a shot at hosting a play-off game seemed like a fairy tale, but the Tigers have since won four of their last six. One of the losses was by two points. Perry Chadwick tossed four touchdowns in last week’s win over Genoa-Hugo, two of them to Carson Noe, who has eight TD grabs in his 14 catches this season. The Tigers have won both previous meetings with Branson/Kim, including a 41-8 decision last year.
#6 IDALIA WOLVES (6-2 OVERALL) AT #13 EADS EAGLES (5-4 OVERALL)
What’s at stake?… Idalia could move up a spot in the seeding for the postseason with a win, but that’s about it for the Wolves. The gap to #4 looks like it might be just a bit too big. Eads could climb a couple of spots with an upset victory, but should still be safely in the postseason bracket with a loss, as their lead over #16 Mountain Valley is a full tenth of a point.
Idalia picked up its second straight win since its loss to Stratton, blasting Hi-Plains 73-6 last week. The Wolves led 48-6 after one quarter. Ten different players reached the end zone in that contest, with freshman Gabe Kechter scoring twice. He’s reached paydirt 16 times this season. Eads has won two straight and five of seven, with the two losses coming by a total of 11 points. All of the four losses by the Eagles have been by 14 or fewer points. Stockton Mitchek has scored 21 touchdowns on offense, 17 on the ground. Eads owns the last two wins in the series, with the Eagles winning 73-23 in 2020 and 84-28 last year.
#15 GENOA-HUGO PIRATES (3-5 OVERALL) AT #18 HANOVER HORNETS (6-3 OVERALL)
What’s at stake?… For the Pirates, their lead over Mountain Valley feels large enough to survive a loss in this contest and still claim the final at large berth in the bracket. Even with a win, it looks like the Pirates are locked in as the 15th seed. Hanover is in the final bracket as the champion of the Central, but the Hornets could climb up to the 16th spot in the final Seeding Index with a win.
Genoa-Hugo has lost its last two and five of the last six. The Pirates have allowed more than 50 points in three of those losses. Konner Rowden-Stum ran for four touchdowns in last week’s 69-38 loss to Cheyenne Wells, giving him 16 on the season. He’s also caught 11 TD passes. In the last two years, Rowden-Stum has 58 total touchdowns. Hanover’s five-game winning streak coincides with its Central league schedule. The Hornets outscored the rest of the league 234-57, with only one game being decided by fewer than 20 points. Tyler Decker needs 142 passing yards for 1000 on the season. These two programs used to be in the same league, so there’s quite a bit of history between them. Genoa-Hugo has won the last seven meetings, and the winning team has scored at least 50 points in eight of the last nine contests.
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