2016 Class C 8-Man Playoffs (Championship)

The place for news, information and discussion of High School Sports.

Moderators: rtb, kmax, SonomaCat

Post Reply
User avatar
VimSince03
Golden Bobcat
Posts: 9442
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:43 pm

2016 Class C 8-Man Playoffs (Championship)

Post by VimSince03 » Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:59 am

Playoff Bracket: http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/docu ... ket-C8.pdf

Ennis at Charlo - 1:00 PM, Saturday, 11/19

Ennis Key Players: OL/DE Ty Morgan, RB/DE Jake Knack, WR/MLB Gavin McKitrick, QB/OLB Tanner Wood

Charlo Key Players: QB/LB Landers Smith, RB/LB Jared Doty, RB/DB Trent Dennison, WR/LB Zane Hafliger

QB Landers Smith and the Charlo Vikings took care of business last Saturday and beat the Belt Huskies, 50-35, to advance to the State C 8-Man Championship. Smith had 314 yards of offense (246 rushing/68 passing) and six total touchdowns (four rushing/two passing) to pace the Vikings. On the day, Charlo had 353 rushing yards as RB Jared Doty added 82 yards and a score on the ground (he also caught a TD from Smith). This game was still very entertaining as Belt had their fair share of big plays. In the 1st quarter Smith and Doty ran in scores for the Vikings while Belt QB Harry Green tossed a 3-yard score to TE Jarin Maki to make it 16-7 Charlo after one. With four minutes left in the first half, Green hit Maki for another touchdown pass (this one from 10 yards) to make the score 16-14. On the next possession, Smith got loose for his second rushing touchdown (44-yard run) to make it 22-14. The next kickoff turned out to be the biggest play of the game. Smith (who also kicks off) was supposed to squib the ball but it hit a Belt player and Charlo recovered in Belt territory. Four plays later, Smith found Doty for a 23-yard touchdown. After a Trent Dennison two-point conversion, the score was 30-14 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Charlo added to more touchdowns (another Smith run and touchdown pass to WR Zane Hafliger) to make it 42-14 going into the 4th. However, Belt fought back in the 4th as Harry Green threw scoring tosses to Jess Bodner and Jarin Maki (his 3rd TD reception of the game). This made it 42-29 Charlo with less than five minutes to play. But Landers Smith shut the door with his longest touchdown of the game, going 54 yards to the endzone. After another two-point conversion, this made it 50-29. Belt would muster one more touchdown by Keagan Stroop but time had run out on Belt's undefeated season. Belt just couldn't stop the big-play potential of Charlo and especially QB Landers Smith. Belt also struggled to get the ground game going, only rushing for 77 yards on 35 attempts. QB Harry Green was 31/44 for 252 yards with four passing touchdowns and one interception. Green also carried the ball 24 times for 57 yards for a mere 2.38 yards per carry. Despite Belt's struggles on the ground, they were only outgained by Charlo 427-389. Green had a fantastic season for the Huskies and Jeff Graham will surely miss the seniors graduating in 2016. The scary thing for opponents of Charlo is that Landers Smith is only a sophomore.

The team that will have to figure out how to slow him down will be the most dominate team in Montana this year: the Ennis Mustangs. Ennis came into their semifinal matchup knowing Wibaux would give them probably their stiffest test of the season as the Longhorns also were undefeated and playing in their final 8-man playoff. But the game played out like every game this season: Ennis' opponent couldn't hang with them for four quarters. Wibaux stood tall early as they responded to Ennis QB Tanner Wood's 54-yard touchdown with a Noah Schneider scoring toss to RB Shawn Schaefferkoetter. After a missed extra point, the game was tied at 6-6...and this would be the closest Wibaux would get for the rest of the afternoon. All-State RB Jake Knack added two rushing touchdowns and WR Gavin McKitrick added a touchdown pass to QB Tanner Wood on a reverse to make it 26-6 Ennis at halftime. Wibaux held Ennis to only one score in the third quarter as Knack ran one in from 60 yards out. But Tanner Wood and Knack would score two more times on runs of 66 and 31, respectively, to make it 46-6 Ennis. Ennis DL Ty Morgan dominated a good Wibaux offensive line and the 6'5", 220 lb. kid (who is the definition of "farm strong") has proved he is one of the five best defensive lineman in Montana. Wibaux just couldn't get anything going on offense and that was the story of the game. The defense actually held Ennis to their lowest point total all season at 46 points, which shows how dominate Ennis really is. Jake Knack rushed 19 times for 190 yards and four touchdowns while Tanner Wood had 188 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns (two rushing/one receiving). Wibaux Head Coach Jeff Bertelson (coaching in his final game as he will retire) summed up Ennis pretty accurately: "Ennis is a great football team. They were what we thought they were. They’re football players that run track. I knew the difference was going to be up front. They’ve got some of the best guys in 8-man football up front. And with that speed and athleticism, they’re a tough team to stop.”

Ennis will be traveling to Charlo for the title game because of the bracket rotation. Ennis has been just as good on the road this year so I don't see that as much of an advantage for Charlo. The only way Charlo has a chance in this one is if they can score with Ennis. Charlo's defense will not be able to stop Ennis. But Charlo has arguably just as good of an offense as Ennis, mostly because of how deep they are at each position. However, no team has been able to play four quarters with Ennis. If Ennis shuts down Landers Smith, this one will get ugly. Sure, Charlo has Trent Dennison and Jared Doty to pick up the slack. But Ennis has about six guys with as much ability and talent as the big three of Charlo. I've never seen an 8-man team with as much team speed as Ennis. They are too deep, too strong, too fast, and too talented to lose this game. Prediction: Ennis wins 58-16.


"There's two times of year for me: Football season, and waiting for football season."

Post Reply