Last season, the Strasburg football team upended the Class 1A state playoff bracket in reaching the title contest as a No. 6 seed. Cheyenne Wells did the same in 6-man play, upsetting both the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds on its way to facing Stratton in the title affair.
While it’s not an exact science, the playoff seedings have played pretty true over the years with a few exceptions. History has shown, however, that any playoff qualifier is capable of pulling off an upset or two, and it’s what makes November special.
With that, here are a couple of dark horses in the small-school ranks as playoffs begin this week around the state.
Class 2A
Woodland Park/Sterling: The first round 7-10 matchup between the Panthers and Tigers feels like a good one, and one where the winner could get the confidence to make a run. Both teams are league champions who have averaged about 35 points a game while playing exceptional defense. Both teams played No. 5 Lamar, with the Panthers winning 24-20 and the Tigers falling by just one score, 30-22. Perhaps the most glaring difference between the teams is playoff experience, which heavily favors Sterling (WPHS has appeared in just one playoff game in the MaxPreps era.)
Eaton: The Reds made the state semis as a 15 seed last season, winning their first two playoff rounds by three points apiece. Though its offense was much more explosive last year, its defense has also tightened up and so a couple of grind-it-out, low-scoring games in the postseason would not be surprising. Its first-round opponent, Elizabeth, has been solid but scraped by Kent Denver, who did not make the playoffs, by a 28-21 count last week.
Class 1A
Buena Vista: The Demons, a very playoff-experienced program, face 4-5 Burlington in Round 1 with the hopes of getting a rematch with No. 4 Centauri the following weekend. Of Buena Vista’s two losses, one was a six-point setback to Centauri (19-13) way back on Sept. 13, and BVHS cruised to its league title. A second crack at the Falcons could prove fruitful.
Wiggins: The Tigers have been more down than up this season having lost four of six heading to their Saturday game against Colorado Springs Christian. But if they get on track against the Lions this week, a potential rematch with Limon lines up, and that’s a matchup that a healthy Wiggins would view optimistically after losing to the Badgers by a slim 21-19 score on the road about a month ago. Wiggins has scored just 115 points this season, so it’ll have to play clutch in all facets to win at any point this month.
8-man
Byers: The undefeated Bulldogs are very much a balanced team capable of marching to the semis as a No. 5 seed. They’ve outscored opponents 530-94 this season, winning every time out by at least 20 points. Some might say they didn’t play a strong schedule, but Byers nevertheless put the pedal to the metal each week. They’ve scored 11 non-offensive touchdowns (6 special teams, 5 on defense according to MaxPreps) and it’ll be those special plays that make a difference in a playoff game.
West Grand: The stigma of losing a first-round playoff game last year to the same team that you’re matched up against this year certainly has to be playing into the psyche of the Mustangs this week. But West Grand, at 9-0, should be a much more confident team having played much better on the defensive front overall this season. They face Sedgwick County in Round 1 and could face a tough Akron team in Round 2, and junior Blake Terryberry has kicked his game to a different gear (40 combined touchdowns).
6-man
Caliche: The Buffaloes can’t look past Hanover this week in the 7-10 matchup in 6-man, but CHS is riding a seven-game win streak since a loss to Stratton that has included some challenging moments. Two weeks ago, the Buffs squeezed past Briggsdale by a 35-34 score. Another big game from Zander Yost (2,155 total yards, 37 total TDs) could set up a rematch with Stratton in the second round.
Otis: Having dominated virtually every team they played this season, the Bulldogs seem like a lock to make semis as a 3 seed. The question becomes, can they get out to a better start against Stratton if the two were matched up in the semis? The Eagles were up 32-0 at half in their game Oct. 11, a 48-16 SHS win. Otis punished Idalia, Peetz and Eads in the three games thereafter, putting its season point total at 578 (57.8 per game).
