With a Pioneer League championship in hand, Iola High’s Mustangs have a couple of other significant goals lying ahead for the 2012 football season. THE PLAYOFF fates of other schools could be decided Friday night as well, particularly for Crest High, which faces its biggest remaining hurdle of the regular season at home against Chetopa. Win, and the Lancers improve to 2-1 in district play behind undefeated Waverly in Kansas Eight Man II, District 3.
With a win over arch-rival and former Southeast Kansas League foe Chanute Friday — something that hasn’t occurred since the 1980s — Iola can take a significant step toward returning to the postseason playoffs.
The Mustangs and Blue Comets will face off at 7 p.m. Friday at the Riverside Park football stadium to open Class 4A, District 6 play.
Iola’s district games, against Chanute, Fort Scott and Anderson County, will dictate who from the district will advance. The top two schools in each district will advance.
Iola’s 5-1 start to the season now essentially reverts to 0-0.
“District play is what we’ve worked the first six weeks for,” Mustang head coach Doug Kerr said.
In Chanute, Iola is facing an opponent that has seen some ups and downs, largely because of an inconsistent offense, Blue Comet head coach Don Simmons said.
“We’ve continued to play with good defense,” Simmons said, pointing to Chanute’s three shutouts so far in 2012. “But our offense needs to be more consistent.”
Offensive errors were major contributors in two of Chanute’s three losses, Simmons noted, including a heart-breaking 20-14 loss Sept. 28 to Coffeyville in which Chanute lost two turnovers at the goal line in successive possessions in the fourth quarter.
Iola’s defense, which surrendered a number of big plays before halftime in last week’s win over Wellsville, improved considerably in the second half, limiting the Eagles to a single touchdown after intermission.
“We understand that on paper Chanute is probably bigger, faster and stronger than us,” Kerr said. “And our defense has had to adjust the past few weeks mainly on power running teams. We’ve had to adjust our mindset a bit because Chanute runs the spread and has a lot of offensive weapons.”
Forcing Blue Comet mistakes will be a major contributor on whether Iola will come out on top Friday evening, both coaches agreed.
“Our goal is to see if we can bounce back if we get hit early and continue to fight,” Kerr said.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs must continue to show offensive balance against a stout Chanute defense.
“The goal is to see if we can keep the game close into the fourth quarter,” Kerr said.
Much of the talk this week also has been to remind the Mustang players that past records of Chanute and Iola have no bearing on Friday’s contest.
“We’re not comparing this year to last year or before that,” Kerr said.
Simmons has come away duly impressed with Iola’s mindset.
“Coach Kerr has done a great job of getting the kids to believe in themselves,” Simmons said.
Waverly, one of the top eight-man schools in the state, already has defeated Crest. Chetopa is 1-0 in district play, but has yet to face Waverly.
“It looks like this game could decide who goes to the playoffs: Chetopa or us,” Crest head coach Brent Smith said
Southern Coffey County, at 1-1, will play out of its district in a game against Baileyville B&B. Chetopa has yet to play Waverly.
Marmaton Valley, meanwhile, appears set on a titanic showdown in the game’s regular season finale Oct. 25 against St. Paul. Both teams are undefeated in Kansas Eight Man I, District 2 play and overall.
The Wildcats travel to 3-3 Pleasanton Friday.
“We can’t afford to look ahead to St. Paul,” Wildcat head coach Kent Houk said. “We have to take this a game at a time.”
Unlike 11-man football teams, which play three district games, Kansas eight-man schools have already begun district play. The Wildcats are 2-0 in district action.
Humboldt High, meanwhile, looks to have a strong shot at the postseason as well in Class 3
Crucial week ahead for IHS, other prep squads
