Regional programs ready for playoff openers

Six area football teams are gearing up for playoff football Thursday night and its a guarantee that at the most, only five will remain.

Arlington and Wahoo High highlight playoff action in the area with a Class C-1 matchup at 7 p.m. in Wahoo.

“I looks to be another typical game between Arlington for us,” Wahoo high head coach Chad Fox said. “It should be physical and the team that makes the fewest mistakes should end up with the win.”

The Eagles and Warriors, both 5-3 on the season, didn’t face each other this fall but last met in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Arlington won that game 32-29 in a matchup of run-oriented offenses.

Both teams feature a strong running game this season as well.

Arlington is led by running back Jared Maslowsky who has 603 yards rushing on 125 carries this season with seven scores. Matt Ostrand has 413 yards on 65 carries with on touchdown and quarterback Adam Dillenburg has 284 yards on 61 carries with five TDs.

Wahoo’s rushing attack is eerily similar.

Greg Milliken has 677 yards on 103 carries with seven TD to lead the Warriors. Corey Davis has rushed for 267 yards on 47 carries with three scores and Seth Stewart has 199 yards on 33 carries with two scores. Quarterbacks Christian Hohl and Sean Lindgren have split time under center but have accounted for 369 yards on 81 carries and 785 yards on 38-of-94 passing and six TDs.

“Wahoo has good ground game. We need to be able to hold their running game in check and force some turnovers,” Arlington head coach Steven Gubbels said. “Offensively, we must protect the ball and win the field position game by converting 3rd downs early and keeping their offense off the field.”

Ostrand leads the Eagles’ defense with 72 total tackles from his linebacker position and defensive lineman Derek Enloe has 56.

For Wahoo High leads the team with 104 tackles and Davis has 60

The Arlington/ Wahoo High winner will face the winner of Wahoo Neumann and Falls City High School who will battle at 6 p.m. Thursday on Neumann’s field.

Neumann struggled out of the gate losing its first three but have won five straight to earn the No. 4 seed.

The Cavaliers are led by running back Ryan Swartz with 577 yards on 104 carries with seven touchdowns. Quarterback Dylan McGill returned in early October after suffering a shoulder injury in the first game of the season. He has 423 yards on 56 carries with four TDs in roughly 4 1/2 games.

In Class C-1 Oakland-Craig (7-1) hosts Tri County (5-3) at 6 p.m.

Both the Knights and Trojans feature a strong rushing attack.

O-C has 1,888 yards rushing on the season with Michael Enstrom carrying the bulk of the load with 787 yards on 129 carries and seven touchdowns. Dylan Jensen has 340 yards on 49 carries with six TDs.

“We’re still not 100 percent healthy and we’ve yet to be healthy for one game this season,” said O-C head coach Rusty Droescher who will be with out two starters due to pneumonia. “But we’ve got enough depth that we can do some things that a lot of schools our size can’t ... we’ve been fortunate to be able to patch up holes when we need to and still play some pretty good football.”

The Trojans are led by running back Talon Matzner, who placed in four events at the state track meet last spring as a sophomore, and fullback Dillon Wheelock who also possesses break-away ability.

“They’re a veer team with a lot of speed that we’re going to have to bottle up somehow,” Droescher said. “We haven’t seen a veer team yet this year to we’re going to have to be sharp in practice and really work on our responsibilities.”

Also in Class C-1 is West Point Central Catholic (5-3) who is making its seventh straight playoff appearance.

They will face Wilber-Clatonia (6-3) in Wilber at 6 p.m.

The remaining area team is Dodge High School (5-3) who will play at Hampton (7-1) who is looking to make it past the first round in the playoffs for the first time since 1977.

Hampton is led by running back Alex Dose who entered the 2009 season with 3,488 career rushing yards.

“Hampton is going to be a difficult challenge,” Dodge head coach Ron Lund said. “They have a great RB in Alex Dose and have an excellent overall team with plenty of size and speed. We will need to be at our best to have a chance to advance to the next round.”