There won’t be any funky tiebreakers when it comes to deciding the final three playoff spots in Class 2A District 7.
Prairie City-Monroe’s scenario in locking down the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game is simple: Just win.
A home victory over North Polk on Friday is what the Mustangs need. A loss to the Comets pushes North Polk to the two and drops PCM to the three.
“Our kids really, really want to get that home playoff game,” PCM coach Greg Bonnett said. “Plus, it’s Senior Night so there will be some extra motivation.”
Logan Gilman, Logan Littrell, Reid Jenkins, Chase Wilkie, Gunnar Davis, Davis Herndon, Austin Sneller and Tyler Foster are part of the senior class that will be honored before the game. It is a group trying to make the regular-season finale the second-to-last home game on the schedule.
Either way, PCM will be in the playoffs again, The Mustangs were the No. 4 seed last year and lost in the opening round to Williamsburg. They can do no worse than third this year. Things have been so much easier for PCM at home where it is 3-0 in 2015.
The biggest reason the Mustangs went from a 4-5, No. 4 seed in 2014 to a 6-2, No. 2-3 seed in 2015 is because of turnovers — or a lack there of.
“The key again for us against North Polk will be to not turn it over,” Bonnett said. “We have turned it over less this year and that’s the biggest reason we are playing for a No. 2 seed.”
PCM and North Polk head into the regular season finale with identical 4-1 district records. Both squads lost to top-ranked Albia — PCM 42-6 and North Polk 56-6.
Offensively, Bonnett said his team will try to get the ball to the playmakers, and he is telling his team to have fun and enjoy the moment.
PCM’s playmakers are quarterback Logan Gilman, running back Logan Littrell and wide receivers Luke Greiner and Noah Clark.
Gilman leads 2A in passing yards with 1,742 yards and is second in touchdown passes with 19. Greiner is third in receptions with 45 and tied for second with 11 touchdowns. Littrell has scored 11 touchdowns on the ground and Clark has caught seven more.
The Mustang defense will have to worry about another standout receiver on the other side of the field.
North Polk’s Matt Cox has 41 catches for 626 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Max Karpinske also will be key. He has thrown for 1,484 yards and 12 scores, rushed for 331 yards and scored six times and he has three interceptions on defense and taken two back for scores. Grant Rampton has four picks on defense and three touchdown receptions for the Comet offense.
“We’ll need to know where No. 8 (Cox) is at all times on defense,” Bonnett said. “They have really good wide receivers, a threat at quarterback and the defense is playing really well.
“They don’t quit either. We had them down 14-0 last year and they still came back to thump us.”
Kickoff for the varsity game in Monroe is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Belle Plaine (5-3, 3-3) at
Lynnville-Sully (5-3, 4-2), 7 p.m.
The Hawks can earn the No. 3 seed with a win over Belle Plaine but also can drop to the No. 4 seed or miss the playoffs completely.
Sage Ehresman leads Lynnville-Sully into the regular season finale and a victory gives the Hawks the No. 3 seed out of Class A District 7 with a 5-2 mark.
Belle Plaine can make the playoffs but has to beat Lynnville-Sully by more than five points. Belle Plaine is eliminated with a loss or a win by five points or fewer. If Belle Plaine wins by less than five points, Montezuma claims the three seed and the Hawks earn the four.
The Hawks will have to deal with a two-headed monster at running back. Joey Schwenn has gained 806 rush yards and scored nine touchdowns, while Zac Slaymaker has 998 rushing yards and 12 scores. Belle Plaine has rushed for 29 touchdowns in all.
Ehresman leads the Hawks’ rushing attack with 765 yards and 14 touchdowns. Dylan Roozeboom leads the defease with 53 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and three sacks. Kobe Fisk has a team-high four interceptions.
Collins-Maxwell/Baxter (5-3, 2-3)
at Centerville (2-6, 2-3), 7 p.m.
A win for either team would lock up the fourth and final playoff spot in Class 2A District 7.
The Raiders will once again be short-handed. Running back Blake Coughenour’s MRI on Monday revealed a torn ACL, and he’s done for the year, while quarterback Hunter McWhirter and center Toren Schultheis will both miss the game due to concussions.
Both CMB and Centerville have lost three of their last four games and each team’s two wins have come against the same teams in Clarke and Davis County.
The Raiders turned it over five times in last week’s loss to North Polk. They’ll try to bounce back against a Centerville squad which is 0-4 at home and has allowed at least 34 points in each of its six losses.
Brett Kauzlarich has 686 yards passing on the season but has thrown 13 interceptions. Bryce Cardani leads the rushing attack with 633 yards and seven touchdowns, while Hunter Cowens has 19 catches for 232 yards and three scores on offense and three interceptions on defense.
Colfax-Mingo (6-2, 5-1) at
GMG (1-7, 0-6), 7 p.m.
Win or lose, the Tigerhawks will be the No. 2 seed out of Class A District 7 when the playoffs start on Wednesday.
Colfax-Mingo shouldn’t have any issues with a GMG team which has lost six straight games and been shutout five times this season. The Tigerhawks also are 4-0 on the road this year.
The Tigerhawks are seeking their best single season record since the program went 9-1 in 2003, and the second-most wins since the 1985 Colfax-Mingo merger.
Several players are closing in on individual single-season school records, too.
Jared Myers, who already has the most career passing yards in school history, is 471 passing yards away from the school’s single-season mark of 2,664 yards by Mitch Larson in 2011. Myers, who left left last week’s loss to No. 2 BGM in the third quarter due to injury, is expected to play only offense this week. He set the single-season touchdown mark of 24 earlier this year.
Two of Myers’ favorite targets are closing in on a pair of receiving records.
Jacob Lietz is three receptions away from a school record. Lietz has 50 on the year and Joe Borts set the mark with 52 catches in 2010.
Blake Summy can tie a school record with two touchdown grabs on Friday. He has eight on the season and the school record is 10, set by Jimmy Donahoo back in 2002.
The other school record that could fall Friday is on the defensive side of the ball. Colin Lourens enters the game with five sacks and the school’s best mark was the 6.5 sacks Gary Alexander had back in 2011.
Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com