Sigourney-Keota needs a win to get into the playoffs

A win over visiting Cardinal this Friday night would likely put the Savage Cobras in the Class 1A playoffs.

The Savage Cobras (3-4, 2-2 District 6) are tied with Wapello for the district?s fourth and final postseason spot. A win this week would likely put Sigourney-Keota in the playoffs, as the Indians finish the season with games against Iowa City Regina and Wilton, which are the top two teams in the district. The Savage Cobras, thanks to a 50-44 win over Wapello on Sept. 14, also hold the tiebreaker.

?I?ve been telling the kids this is a must win,? Sigourney-Keota head coach Jared Jensen said. ?We?re playing it like if we win, we?re in, and if we lose, we?re not.?

The Savage Cobras seemed to get back on track with a 40-13 win at Eddyville-Blakesburg last week. Junior tailback Kolton Greiner rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns in that game, and junior quarterback Luke Lyle added 118 yards and a score.

Quarterback Dakota Showman, who has thrown for five touchdowns this season and rushed for three more, leads the Comets (3-4, 0-4 District 6).

?The key is to slow down their offense,? Jensen said. ?We feel like we can move the ball on them, so if our defense can slow them down, we think we can win the game.?

That should be possible. Cardinal has scored just 16 points while losing its last three games.

Mid-Prairie at West Burlington-Notre Dame

Mid-Prairie, which had been averaging 170.7 rushing yards per game this season, was limited to just 53 yards on the ground in last week?s 41-0 Homecoming loss to No. 2 Mediapolis. Junior tailback Eesaa Baylor, who had been averaging 114 yards per game, ran for just 12 on eight carries.

But expect Baylor and the Golden Hawks (5-2, 3-1 Class 2A District 5) to bounce back in a big way this week. West Burlington-Notre Dame?s defense has yielded 275 rushing yards per game. The Falcons (1-6, 0-4 District 5) gave up 235 yards to Columbus senior Esteban Gutierrez in a 24-0 loss on Sept 7 and yielded 216 yards to Louisa-Muscatine junior Brandon Tomer in a 54-32 loss on Sept. 28.

?We couldn?t run the ball [last week], and then we turned the ball over three or four times,? Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh said. ?We could just never get the run established. We want to get back on track this week and have no turnovers.?

Columbus at No. 2 Mediapolis

Columbus head coach Jeff Martin said his team has played its best football of the season over the last two weeks, but the Wildcats will have their hands full at No. 2 Mediapolis this Friday night.

The Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 Class 2A District 5) are led by Kansas State recruit Jesse Ertz, who has completed over 75 percent of his passes this season for 1,385 yards and 24 touchdowns without throwing an interception. He?s also the team?s leading rusher, running for 675 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 11.4 yards per carry.

?I think a lot of teams have their hands full with these guys. They?re pretty good,? Martin said. ?They have a kid who?s a Division I football player, and he throws the ball really well. We want to limit their explosive plays. They have big-play ability.?

Columbus (2-5, 2-3 District 5) is coming off of a 38-30 Homecoming win over Central Lee. Leading rusher Esteban Gutierrez rolled his ankle in the second quarter of that game, but brothers Mark and Maurico Ramirez filled in and combined for 304 yards rushing. Maurico, a freshman, ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

?He?s a kid we had to press into service when Esteban got hurt,? Martin said. ?We didn?t necessarily want to save him, but it?s not always a good idea to play freshmen against seniors. But it wasn?t a surprise. He?s a really good athlete.?

Martin said that Gutierrez, who has rushed for 876 yards and seven touchdowns this season, is expected to be back for Friday?s game at Mediapolis.

?He?s still a little gimpy, but we?re hoping he?s ready to go by Friday,? Martin said.

New London at WACO

WACO hosts winless New London for Senior Night this Friday, and Warrior head coach Chad Edeker plans to start all of his seniors.

?We have 12 seniors, and we?re going to start all of them,? Edeker said. ?That?s going to be good for us. A couple of those seniors haven?t gotten a lot of playing time.?

Senior Tyler Ayers leads the Warriors (5-2, 3-2 Class A District 5 ? and the district ? with 1,033 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

New London has sputtered offensively, only scoring three touchdowns this season.

?They?re struggling,? Edeker said. ?We haven?t hid the fact that they?re 0-7 from the kids. But we just try to keep getting better.?

Highland at No. 7 Lisbon

Lisbon may be riding a six-game winning streak, but Highland head coach Tony Johnson is confident that the seventh-ranked Lions haven?t met a team with a defense as physical as Highland?s.

?Defensively, I don?t think they?ve come across a team since Week 1 that wants to get physical with them, and that?s how we play,? Johnson said. ?We want to attack the ball.?

Junior Jesse Hootman leads the Huskies (5-2, 4-1 Class A District 5) with 57 tackles, including 18 for a loss. Senior Trey Brenneman has 54 stops on the season, including 10 for a loss, and senior Brett Walsh has 46 tackles, including a team-leading seven sacks.

The Huskies must stop Lisbon quarterback Logan Rickard. The junior signal caller has thrown for 453 yards this season, and 10 of his 26 pass completions have been for touchdowns. Rickard is also the Lions? leading rusher with 566 yards and 12 touchdowns this fall.

?Their quarterback is a running quarterback, and you have to key on him and make him do things he doesn?t want to do,? Johnson said.