The NSAA state football playoffs continue today with the state quarterfinals in all classes. SEM and Sandhills/Thedford have both continued their winning ways this season after winning the state championship in their respective class last year.
SEM won the six man state title last season and is the top seed in the six man bracket this year. The Mustangs are undefeated and advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 54-30 win over Wauneta-Palisade last week. While some key pieces from last year’s state championship team returned this season, SEM also had to fill some spots that were created due to graduation. SEM head coach Shane Hrasky told KCNI/KBBN sports that he has been very pleased with the development of players who had to step up or move to a new position.
“Yeah, we had some starters to replace from last year and threw some guys in there at some positions early in the year and most of those have stuck. I mean they have worked their butts off. They’ve done everything they’ve needed to to stay on the field and I think we look really good right now.”
SEM plays on the road today as they travel to Diller to face Diller-Odell. Diller-Odell is now 7-2 on the season after defeating Leyton last week 54-26 to advance in the bracket. Today’s game between SEM and Diller-Odell will be broadcast on KCNI 1280 AM / 96.3 FM / kcni1280.com / Free KCNI Pure Country App. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Sandhills/Thedford is the defending Class D2 state champion. The Knights averaged 64 points per game in the regular season and scored 68 and 76 points respectively in their first two playoff wins. Sandhills/Thedford head coach Tyson Cox praised the perimeter blocking for providing the big play ability of the Knights rushing offense.
“Yeah, you know we run a different style of offense. We run the quarterback a lot. To us it’s kind of a numbers deal and we have two great kids, you know our line is really good, but Maurice Robinson and Carson Cooksley are tough physical football players and if we can get them moving in space and Kyle (QB) behind them it works really well. We have Ethan Rabou who came in and he took one of those spots that we lost due to graduation from the center and we’re able to pull him out and get him out in front on the outside has been great for us.”
Sandhills/Thedford will host Riverside in the state quarterfinals today in Thedford. Riverside finished the regular season at 6-2 with their only losses coming to undefeated Archangels Catholic and to 9-1 Central Valley. Riverside rolled into the quarterfinals with a 68-16 win over Winside in round one and an 84-46 win over Creighton last week. Today’s game between Sandhills/Thedford and Riverside will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and kbbn.com with a live video stream, accompanied by the radio call, available through sandhillsexpress.com. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
