Britton-Hecla’s football team rolled to a 56-6 win over Waverly-South Shore on Friday to assure itself of a home playoff game on Thursday, hosting Kimball-White Lake starting at 6 p.m.
The Braves, the eighth seed among 16 Class 9AA playoff teams, improved their season mark to 6-2, while Kimball-White Lake, seeded ninth, brings a 5-3 record into the playoffs. The two clubs played one common opponent during the regular season with both teams rolling past Redfield (BH 61-22, K-WL 55-0).
Statistically the two clubs are similar with B-H averaging 40 points per game and allowing 13. Kimball-White Lake, which had five playoff teams on its schedule, has scored an average of 35 points per outing and given up 18.
“Kimball is a lot like us. They want to run the ball, and they play very physical defense,” said Braves’ boss Jacob Skogstad. “It’s going to be an old school football game on Friday. Ball control and execution will decide who wins. We are excited to see our stands full of hometown fans. Come out and be loud!”
The winner of Thursday’s contest will meet the winner of the game between top-seeded Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy (8-0) and 16 seed Garretson (3-5) on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The Braves wasted little time in taking control of their final regular season foe, scoring 35 points in the opening period on the way to ending the game on the 50-point rule in the fourth quarter. It marked the third time in the eight-game regular season schedule that a contest ended early.
“I thought we played a very complete first quarter,” said Skogstad. “The second quarter felt a little sluggish, but they did some things defensively that we hadn’t seen yet. Credit to them, and I’m glad we saw that now heading into the playoffs where we can fix it. I thought offensively we did a great job establishing the run and mixing in splash plays. Defensively, we did a nice job applying pressure and making their quarterback get the ball out of his hands early. I loved the effort that we came out with.”
B-H senior runningback Bryce Hawkinson, who ran for 164 yards on 20 carries and now has 1,071 yards for the season, got the Braves off and running with two quick scoring runs of 33 and 14 yards. Following a W-SS fumble Ben Suther added a seven-yard TD and with only 6:03 gone in the opening stanza B-H led 21-0.
Then the Braves struck through the air when Jace Rein hit Mitchell Burger with a 62-yard toss and Jaxon Zuehlke closed out the first quarter scoring with a five-yard run. Lofton Heer kicked all the extra points and was a perfect 8-8 on PAT boots for the game.
WSS finally stopped the Braves a couple of times in the second period and turned the Braves’ only turnover into a score with 2:43 left in the half. B-H responded with a eight-play, 41-yard drive that ended with a Zuehlke eight-yard run, making the halftime score 42-6.
Suther scored his second touchdown of the game on a seven-yard run in the third period, and Zuehlke had his third touchdown, this time from 38 yards out, to end the game 56-6.
Zuehlke led the defensive effort with eight tackles as the Braves held a 359-140 total yards advantage and allowed just seven yards on the ground in 18 tries.
FOR FULL STATS SEE THIS WEEKS' JOURNAL
