Small school playoff preview

Six of the Union area small school football teams will kick off their playoff journey on Friday night.

Sigourney-Keota, Mid-Prairie, Columbus, Pekin, WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union will all be in action.

Sigourney-Keota (7-1) vs. West Branch (2-6)

Sigourney-Keota has been one of the hottest teams in the Union area and haven’t lost since the first game of the season.

Meanwhile, West Branch enters on a four game losing streak.

The two will square off in the Class 1A First Round.

The two teams get their points a little differently.

Sigourney-Keota has only thrown for 506 yards and eight touchdowns, but has rushed for 2,507 yards for 37 scores.

West Branch does a little of both, throwing for 1,064 yards and five scores with 791 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

For the Cobras, Isaac Bruns has rushed for 1,285 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Brayden Wood has thrown for 343 yards and five touchdowns as the Cobras quarterback.

On the receiving side, Ayden Galindo has caught two balls for 135 yards and two scores.

Connor Rios leads West Branch with 676 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Cooper Gates has rushed for 492 yards and five touchdowns. Brandon Pedersen has caught 13 passes for 245 yards and five scores.

Mid-Prairie (5-3) vs. Union Community (3-5)

Mid-Prairie will take on Union Community in a Class 2A opening round matchup.

After losing three straight games to start the season, the Golden Hawks haven’t lost.

Union Community enters off a loss to West Marshall 14-0.

Through the regular season, Mid-Prairie has thrown for 1,305 yards and rushed for 1,213, scoring eight and 27 touchdowns respectively.

The Knights are similar, throwing for 958 yards and rushing for 703. However, Union Community has only 15 touchdowns on the season.

Brady Weber leads Mid-Prairie with 1,299 yards passing and eight touchdowns.

Hudson Ehrenfelt has rushed for 1,079 yards and 22 touchdowns. Ehrenfelt leds the Goldens in receiving as well, catching 20 balls for 249 yards and two scores.

Kaden Kos has 74.5 tackles for Mid-Prairie with 16.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.

For Union Community, Andrew Sadler has thrown for 958 yards and four scores.

Justice Luke has 216 yards on the ground with two scores. Luke is the receiving leader as well, catching 24 passes for 417 yards and two scores.

Pekin (7-1) vs. North Linn (6-2)

Pekin gets North Linn in its Class A first round bout.

Still the Panthers lone loss came against top five ranked Lisbon.

North Linn comes in off back-to-back losses.

Pekin has put up 1,933 yards and a whopping 41 touchdowns on the ground, accompanied by 1,129 yards through the air and 11 touchdowns.

North Linn enters with 910 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. In the run game, North Linn has 1,377 yards and 16 scores.

Will Adam leads the Panthers with 1,067 and 11 touchdowns. He also paces Pekin with 667 rushing yards and 13 scores.

On the receiving end, Robert Brown has 409 receiving yards and 409 yards.

For North Linn, Will Sommerfelt has thrown for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s rushed for 520 yards as well.

Drew Ries has 566 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

Cole Griffith leads on the receiving end with 351 yards and five scores.

Columbus (4-4) at Maquoketa Valley (7-1)

Columbus faces a tough test in the opening round of their Class A first round matchup.

Columbus likes to move the ball on the ground. The Wildcats have rushed for 1,926 yards and 25 touchdowns. Through the air, they’ve thrown for 605 yards and nine scores.

Maquoketa Valley gets it done both ways. They’ve ran for 1,891 yards and 29 touchdowns with 1,468 yards in the air and 15 scores.

Columbus is led by Riley Kaalberg in the rushing attack with 1,405 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Trevor Phillips has 605 passing yards and nine touchdowns.

Phillips top receiver is Tyson Kaalberg with 13 catches for 294 yards and four scores.

For Maquoketa Valley, Brady Wall has amassed 1,367 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Rogan Heidt has 1, 295 yards rushing with 19 touchdowns. Taten Intorf this season has caught 21 passes for 407 yards.

WACO (7-1) at Central City (6-3)

WACO will face a familiar opponent in the first round of the 8-Player opening round in Central City.

The Warriors downed the Wildcats 51-36 in week one.

Through the season, WACO has passed for 1,493 and 22 touchdowns with 1,342 yards on the ground and 31 scores as well.

Central City comes in with a whopping 3,168 rushing yards and 56 touchdowns. Through the air, Central City enters with 591 yards and five touchdowns.

Clayton Miller leads the Warriors with 1,421 yards passing and 22 touchdowns.

Louden Huisenga has ran for 888 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Gage Samo has 483 yards receiving on 29 catches.

Matthew Klostermann has 1,846 yards rushing with 32 touchdowns.

Kaleb Walker has 306 passing yards and three scores.

Winfield-Mt. Union (5-3) at Montezuma (8-1)

Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Montezuma in its opening round matchup.

The Wolves were defeated by the Braves 55-14 back in September.

Through the season, WMU has thrown for 1,524 yards and 21 touchdowns.

On the ground, the Wolves have 1,281 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Montezuma has 2,470 yards rushing with 57 touchdowns. The Braves also have 973 yards passing with 16 touchdowns.

Jake Edwards, who did not play in the first contest, leads the Wolves with 1,336 yards passing and 17 scores.

Lane Genkinger has rushed for 769 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also accumulated 694 receiving yards with eight scores.

Cooper Buffington has 47 tackles and 10 tackles for a loss.

Brady Boulton leads the Braves through the air and on the ground. He’s passed for 907 yards and 15 touchdowns with 901 yards on the ground with 14 touchdowns.

David Rose has 16 catches for 353 yards and five touchdowns.

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