The 8 Man State Football Playoffs – Area Preview

The NSAA state football playoffs in classes D1 and D2 begin today across the state. Sandhills/Thedford, state runners-up in Class D2 last season, is the top seed in the Class D2 west bracket. The Knights completed the regular season undefeated and claimed the D2-9 district championship. Sandhills/Thedford opens with Lawrence Nelson who finished the regular season at 3-5 with wins against High Plains Community, Diller-Odell, and Giltner. Sandhills Thedford head coach Josh Deines visited this week with KCNI/KBBN sports and talked about the way they were pushed at the camps they participated in this past summer.  He said those experiences have proven beneficial as they have worked their way through this season.

Central Nebraska’s Sports Source will present a live video stream of today’s Sandhills/Thedford vs Lawrence Nelson playoff game.  The stream can be viewed on the KCNI/KBBN You Tube page, Sandhills Express Facebook page, and on Twitter @KBBNSports    Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Anselmo-Merna is the #5 seed in the west bracket of the Class D1 playoffs.  Anselmo-Merna finished the season at 7-1 with their only loss coming to top ranked Burwell.  The Coyotes will host Summerland in the opening round.  Summerland is the sports coop between Clearwater, Orchard, and Ewing.  The Bobcats finished the regular season at 5-3.  AM head coach Matt McGinn told KCNI/KBBN sports that he is proud of what his team has accomplished this season and is excited to see what they can do in the playoffs.

Today’s Anselmo-Merna vs Summerland game will be broadcast on KCNI 1280 AM / 96.3 FM and on kcni1280.com.  Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Arcadia/Loup City is the #9 seed in the Class D1 west bracket.  The Rebels finished the regular season at 6-2 with their only losses coming to top ten ranked Burwell and Anselmo-Merna.  ALC will start their playoff push on the road as they travel to Central City to face Nebraska Christian.  The two met earlier in the season with Arcadia/Loup City winning 45-12.  ALC head coach Mike Scott told KCNI/KBBN Sports that it is always a challenge to face a team for the second time in the same season.

Today’s Arcadia/Loup City vs Nebraska Christian playoff game will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and on kbbn.com   Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

In other area playoff matchups today, Ansley/Litchfield will face Pleasanton for the second time this season.  Both teams finished the regular season at 6-2 and faced each other back on September 17th with Ansley/Litchfield winning 44-40.  Today’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Litchfield.  Mullen has not lost since its season opener against Sandhills/Thedford.  Mullen is the #3 seed in the D2 west bracket and will host Loomis for a 6 p.m. central time kickoff.  Sandhills Valley (Stapleton/McPherson County) qualified for the playoffs at 3-5 and will play on the road against 7-1 Riverside.  Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.  Burwell is the top seed in the west bracket of the Class D1 playoffs.  The undefeated Longhorns will host Amherst in the opening round.  The two played each other last week with Burwell winning 28-15.   Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For the First Round of the playoffs, the 32 qualifying teams are placed on two 16-team brackets.  The sixteen first round winning teams will then be re-seeded 1 through 16 on a statewide bracket for round two using the regular season point system and point system tie breaker.

INTERVIEW WITH SANDHILLS/THEDFORD HEAD COACH JOSH DEINES

 

INTERVIEW WITH ANSELMO-MERNA HEAD COACH MATT MCGINN

 

INTERVIEW WITH ARCADIA/LOUP CITY HEAD COACH MIKE SCOTT

 

CLASS D1 STATE PLAYOFF BRACKET

CLASS D2 STATE PLAYOFF BRACKET

 

 

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