2017 Class C 8-Man Playoffs (Semifinals)

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Playoff Bracket: http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/docu ... Player.pdf

Circle (#3 East) at Drummond/Philipsburg (#1 West)

Circle Key Players - RB/DB Trey Taylor (Jr.), OL/DL Ethan Beery (Sr.), RB/LB Calder Fleming (Jr.), QB/DE Grady Taylor (Sr.)

Drummond/Philipsburg Key Players - QB/LB Colton Grange (Sr.), RB/LB Colby Manley (Jr.), WR/DB Jaxon Lee (So.), OL/DL Riley Allen (Jr.)

Drummond/Philipsburg (Flint Creek Co-op) had no problems disposing of the #2 seed out of the East as they beat the Fairview Warriors 46-8. I predicted the Titans would win 50-16 so I had this one relatively pegged as Flint Creek QB Colton Grange had a hand in five first-half touchdowns, throwing two touchdowns to WR Jaxon Lee and running in three on his own to pace the Titans. RB Colby Manley also ran in a touchdown to make it 24-0 after the 1st quarter. Fairview RB Cody Asbeck plunged into the endzone from four yards out to make it 24-8 but Flint Creek rattled off 22 unanswered points before halftime to make it 46-8. Neither team scored in the second half so Drummond/Philipsburg will return to the 8-Man semifinals for the first time since 2012. Drummond fell to eventual 8-Man champ Superior that year in the semifinals so the people of Drummond will be excited to host a playoff game once again.

The Titan's opponent will be the upstart Circle Wildcats who came into the playoffs as the East's #3 seed. Last week, Circle went on the road to face the North's #1 seed, Hobson/Moore/Judith Gap (Tri-City Co-op). Despite the being a lower seed, I predicted Circle would win 38-26 because of how well the Wildcats were playing heading into the game and the final score ended up being 34-22 in favor of Circle. The game was a tightly contested battle throughout as HMJG took a 22-20 lead into halftime. Titan QB Zach Thomas threw three first half touchdown passes (two to WR Sawyer Connerton and one to WR Austin Grove) to pace the home team. In the first half, Circle countered with a 20-yard TD run from RB Calder Fleming and two touchdowns (one passing/one rushing) from QB Grady Taylor but two missed PAT's was the reason the score was 22-20 at half. After a scoreless third quarter, Circle would get rushing touchdowns from Calder Fleming and RB Trey Taylor to advance Circle to the semifinals. Fleming was the star of the game for Circle as he also paced the Wildcat defense with 22 tackles. A year after winning the first football playoff game in Circle's history, the Wildcats will now play in the first semifinal.

This matchup will interesting as both teams are built similarly. Flint Creek's Colby Manley and Circle's Calder Fleming are identical football players as they bring a physical presense at both running and linebacker. Both teams have physical offensive and defensive lines that get after opposing offenses and defenses. Circle RB Trey Taylor can be a problem for opposing defenses because of his speed as can Flint Creek WR Jaxon Lee. The x-factor will likely be Flint Creek QB Colton Grange. He is an exceptional playmaker on both sides of the ball for the Titans and I think Circle will have a tough time slowing him down. Both teams like to run the ball but both QB's can let it loose to some good receivers. Should be a good one in Drummond this Saturday but I think Flint Creek has too much firepower and an overall faster team.

Prediction: Drummond/Philipsburg wins 48-28

Ennis (#2 South) at Forsyth (#1 East)

Ennis Key Players - QB/LB Tanner Wood (Sr.), WR/LB Corbin Wood (Sr.), RB/LB Brayden Oberg (Jr.), TE/DE Agustus Dickinson (Sr.)

Forsyth Key Players - QB/LB Caleb Knoche (Sr.), WR/DB Cade Johnstone (Sr.), WR/DB Paul Johnstone (Sr.), RB/LB Nathan Weber (Sr.)

I predicted an 18-point victory for Forsyth and the Dogies proved me right, defeating Charlo 50-32. However, the #1 seed out of the East had their hands full in the first half. The West's #2 seed possibly has the #1 player in Class C in junior QB Landers Smith and he did everything he could to will his team to a victory last Saturday. After the Dogies took a 14-0 lead in the opening period, Smith exploded for five touchdowns (4 rushing/1 passing) to take a 32-22 lead into halftime. Logan Martens, Paul Johnstone, and Nathan Weber all scored rushing touchdowns for the Dogies in the first half but Forsyth QB Caleb Knoche was held out of the endzone for the first two quarters. That changed in the second half as Knoche essentially took over the game, throwing two touchdowns and running for two more, as he guided the Dogies into the semifinals in the school's first year under the 8-Man classification. Charlo, the 2016 8-Man runner-up, was sent home early but will be just as tough to beat in 2018 as Landers Smith is only a junior. Forsyth's senior contingent was strong again in this one as their defense put the clamps down in the second half against one of the toughest offenses in all of 8-Man.

A week after taking on the 2016 runner-up, Forsyth will welcome the 2016 State champ to town this Saturday as they will do battle with the South's #2 seed: the Ennis Mustangs. Ennis went on the road to face Belt last week and it was a high-scoring affair as both teams struggled to stop the opposing quarterback. But the Mustangs ended up winning 72-52 to advance. Ennis QB Tanner Wood put on another phenomenal performance as he accounted for five touchdowns (3 rushing/2 passing) while twin brother Corbin rushed for three touchdowns of his own. John Fortier returned two punts for touchdowns for the Mustangs and Gus Dickinson caught both of Wood's touchdown passes. Ennis did nearly all of their damage in the 2nd and 3rd quarters as they scored 36 and 28 points in each, respectively. Belt struggled to keep up offensively in the first half as they scored three touchdowns to Ennis' six. Belt QB Keagan Stroop put on a gustly performance and never gave up on his team. The senior signal-caller threw seven touchdown passes which accounted for seven of Belt's eight touchdowns on the day. Belt RB/WR Hunter Vogl, WR Robbie Flinn, and TE Trey Heitzman all hauled in two touchdown passes each from Stroop while All-State FB/TE Troy Hennes caught one. Vogl also ran in the game's final score on a 20-yard run. Ennis held quarter leads of 8-6, 44-18, and 72-36 before finishing with a 72-52 victory.

Drummond/Philipsburg is a very good football team but Forsyth and Ennis will have a title game feel to it. I believe both teams will be at full health. For Ennis, the Wood twins stir the pot for the Mustangs on offense and defense. They are tremendous athletes that show a good blend of power and speed running the ball or tackling on defense. Forsyth will have to contain them if they want to win this game. However, Ennis will have their hands full with Forsyth's offense. Caleb Knoche is a grinder at QB for the dogies and he does a good job of keeping all his playmakers involved on offense. I'm confident Ennis can slow down Forsyth's run game but I'm unsure if the Mustangs have the athletes to match up with the Johnstone twins at WR. Forsyth's closest margin of victory this year came last week in their 18-point victory over Charlo. If Ennis can get some scores in the first half and turn this game into a shootout, I wouldn't bet against the Mustangs. If Forsyth can contain Tanner Wood at QB, it will be a long day for Ennis. The story of this game will likely be told in the first half with how each team matches up with each other.

Prediction: Forsyth wins 52-36