At least two of the area’s five teams that are still alive in this year’s State playoffs will see their seasons end Friday night, and there is nothing they can do about it.
Two games — Waverly at Madison in 8-Man Division I and Olpe at Lyndon in the 2-1A bracket — will trim away two teams from the area’s list of title hopefuls, while Burlington also will be in action with a home game against top-ranked Silver Lake in the Class 3A playoffs.
The game with the most imminent of consequences will take place in Madison, as the Waverly Bulldogs (11-0) will face off against the Madison Bulldogs (10-1) to decide one half of the State championship matchup set to take place on Nov. 18 in Newton.
As if that wasn’t enough incentive, adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that Madison’s only loss of the season just happens to be a 38-12 setback on Sept. 29 at the hands of Waverly. Ever since that game, the two teams have been on a collision course of sorts, one that culminates with this week’s game.
So is Madison eyeing Friday night’s State semifinal game as a chance for revenge?
Not really, if you believe Madison coach Fred McClain.
“I think I’m looking at it as the last hurdle before you get to the State championship. I think that’s the way the team is looking at it,” McClain said. “We played earlier this season, but that’s not going to hurt us right now and that’s not going to help us right now.
“We’re just looking forward to a playoff game — a game that stands in our way of playing in the State championship.”
With Madison led by do-it-all quarterback Jordan Stout and bull-rushing running back Michael Luthi, while Waverly counters with the big-play threat of running back Matt Coursen and the gun-slinging quarterback Dentin Chapman, both teams appear to match up evenly offensively. But Waverly coach Mike Hevel said the similarities are not as prevalent as it would seem.
“Madison’s offense is really tough to defend, and what we do, we can do a lot of different things,” Hevel said. “To me, all good running backs, whether its Matt Coursen or Michael Luthi, they all kind of have their own style of play as running backs. Dentin has had a good year at quarterback, but Jordan and him are a little bit different style of quarterbacks. Jordan can run the ball extremely well ... and Dentin’s main job is to throw the ball well.
“I think we mirror each other offensively in the fact that we’re both tough to defend, but I think both offenses are a little dissimilar.”
In Waverly’s playoff-opening victory over Flinthills two weeks ago, Coursen ran the ball 10 times for 71 yards and two touchdowns while Chapman was a perfect 4-for-4 passing for 98 yards and two TDs. Add in weapons like Dakota Foster, Casey Church, Heath Redding and Matt Hevel, and the Waverly offense is as explosive as they come.
“Our balance offensively is hard to defend,” Hevel said. “Matt and Dentin have definitely been our main guys, but we have some good balance, and I think our offensive line has played well, particularly lately.”
Luthi has been a beast in the playoffs so far for Madison, as he has racked up 277 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in just two games despite missing a portion of Saturday’s 32-20 victory over Clifton-Clyde due to an injury (Luthi eventually returned to the game).
If Luthi is not toting the football, then there’s a good chance Stout is the one with the ball in his hands.
The quarterback’s best game of the playoffs came in the first round when he rushed 20 times for 260 yards and three scores against Marmaton Valley. Against Clifton-Clyde, Stout ran for 74 yards and passed for another 63.
McClain said it will take more than big games from just Stout and Luthi if Madison hopes to upset Waverly.
“I think it’s going to take a big game from a lot of kids — by our offense, by our defense, by our special teams,” he said. “It’s going to have to be a total team effort to knock off an outstanding team like Waverly.
“It’s quite a challenge, but we’re going to give it our best shot. We know what Waverly has. They’ve got an awful good football team, but we’re up for the challenge.”
One thing is for sure, the Lyon County League will have a representative in the State title game, as the winner of the Waverly-Madison matchup will advance to play the winner of the Jetmore-Macksville game for the 8-Man Division I championship.
“This is a big game. We don’t have to tell our players and Madison doesn’t have to tell their players that this is a big game,” Hevel said. “These kinds of games, you just never know what could happen. I think both teams will be excited to play, for sure.”
In Lyndon, coach Damon Leiss knows his Lyndon Tigers will have their hands full with Olpe (11-0).
The two squads played on Oct. 6 — a 34-6 Olpe victory — so Leiss has seen first-hand what his team is up against this Friday.
But, Leiss said, the Tigers (7-4) might not have gotten to where they are had it not been for the loss to the Eagles earlier in the year.
“I would say one of the turning points of our season was the Olpe game,” said Leiss, who’s team finished 2-1 after the Olpe loss to reach the playoffs. “We used the Olpe game as an example of ‘If you want to play at a State-championship caliber, this is the level you have to play at and this is what you have to do.’ We really dedicated ourselves to refocusing after that game. I told the team, ‘Look, we can either pack it in or we can go. If we want to go, then this is what we have to do.’ And the kids responded.”
Lyndon is coming off a 24-22 victory over Centralia, a team Leiss said was one of the fastest teams his Tigers had played all year long.
But, he added, the Eagles present a markedly tougher all-around challenge than that of the purely speed-based Centralia.
“I see a team that makes very few mistakes, if any. They make almost none,” Leiss said of Olpe. “They are one of the most polished teams that I have seen in a long time.”
“I think our game against Centralia — Centralia is pretty darn fast — and our kids adjusted to that. What we have to do is adjust to a different gameplan with Olpe. We have to contain some certain aspects of their offense, because they have a variety of things that they do better.”
As for Olpe, the Eagles are coming off a masterful defensive performance in a 23-6 win over Uniontown on Saturday in which Olpe limited the Uniontown power-packed duo of quarterback Chad Hays and running back Gage McKinnis to just 81 yards combined on the ground.
Led by a defense that has recorded five shutouts this season and has only allowed two scores in the playoffs so far, Olpe presents the stiffest tests Lyndon has faced in these playoffs.
“I think any time you can play a team of Olpe’s caliber, you get a chance to prove yourself,” Leiss said. “Playing one of the best teams in the league, our kids are excited; I’m excited. We’ve had a successful season, but we want to make it more successful by playing against the best.”
The last area team fighting for its playoff survival will be Burlington (9-2), which will have its hands full with a matchup against the class of Class 3A, the Silver Lake Golden Eagles (11-0). Silver Lake has topped the 60-point mark in both playoffs games so far with a 63-6 win over Mission Valley and a 61-0 blanking of Rock Creek.
Burlington, meanwhile, opened the playoffs with a 50-22 win over Erie and followed that with a 36-6 win over Caney.
For coverage of the area games as well as scores from around the state, check Saturday’s Gazette.