Raiders have playoffs on mind hosting Mustangs

After a slew of injuries, four one-possession losses and a five-game losing streak, the Collins-Maxwell-Baxter football team still has its eyes on the playoffs in the final week of the regular season.

Although they don't need help from other teams, the Raiders (3-6, 2-3 Class 2A District 6) still need to defeat Davis County by seven points or more when the Mustangs (6-3, 3-2) come to Baxter this Friday for a crucial matchup in the regular-season finale.

"It'll be a weird situation as a coach when you're up by three with three minutes to go and you onside kick," CMB coach Rob Luther joked. "People won't understand it, but it is what it is. I think it'll be a fun night, and I just wish we didn't have that seven points hanging over our head."

The playoffs were probably one of the last things on the Raiders' minds earlier in the season when they were marred in a five-game slump while nursing multiple injuries at any given time. Things have changed since, however, as the team is nearly 100 percent healthy, besides the questionable status of senior Tim Thalacker, who is the far and away leader of the CMB defense.

"What it's done is kept us focused. We've been focused all year, but the record doesn't really dictate that," Luther said. "I've had plenty of seasons where you're just trying to keep them excited through the end. But going to four playoff games really helped us out this year."

Other injuries included a scary moment for sophomore Bryce Kemp that resulted in a sprained neck and a concussion, a broken hand for junior Austin Moorman and lingering injury that kept junior dual-threat quarterback Zach Samson from extensively running the ball. With all of the skill positions healthy though, Luther is expecting the Raiders to stick with their high-scoring ways of the past few weeks.

"I would like to think we're one of the better three-win football teams around," Luther said with a laugh. "This team does a lot of the things our really good teams have done, but injuries really smacked us hard. The good thing is we're about as healthy as we've been in a long time, and that's a positive going in."

The Raiders will welcome a Davis County team, which snuck past PCM 20-17 last week, that runs a spread not too much unlike what the Raiders run themselves. Senior quarterback Calvin Utt has made the most of that spread this year, passing for 1,185 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions while running for another 644 yard and nine touchdowns. He trails Samson in each category, however.

Utt isn't the only weapon the Mustangs offer, however. Fellow senior running back Colton Roberts has 10 touchdowns and 658 yards to his credit this year. Utt's weapons in the passing game include seniors Damen Dixon (483 yards, five touchdowns) and Mark Mikels (334 yards, eight touchdowns) who appear to have some big play potential.

"We've seen a lot of film on them because it's the end of the year, so we think we know what they're going to do," Luther said. "But they know what they're playing for too. They could just as easily be out, and only one of us is getting in."

With the Raiders' skill positions back at full health, Luther is hoping to get the offense back to where it was at the beginning of the year. The team certainly showed signs that offense was back in the past few weeks with Samson's ground game improving and junior Zach Huffaker rushing for 222 yards and three scores two weeks ago.

"It isn't rolled back, we've just been doing some different things," Luther said of the team's playbook. "When Zach was limited and couldn't run, that changed some things we had to do. We've always been one to take what you give us, and that's the great thing about our offense."

The win-by-seven-and-you're-in game will kick off at 7:30 p.m.