As soon as the final gun sounded in Friday’s 49-30 loss at Prairie View, Iola High’s Mustangs began shaping their game plan for the immediate rematch.
The Mustangs (4-4) are the 13th seed in the Kansas Class 3A playoffs on the eastern side of the state, and will travel back to LaCygne Friday for another crack at the 6-2 Buffalos.
Other schools also won’t have to go back far in their databases to learn about their playoff foes.
Marmaton Valley, Crest and Southern Coffey County all will open their postseasons against teams they faced during the 2023 campaign.
The Wildcats (7-1) will host Hartford (1-7) Thursday evening to open the Class Eight Man-Division II playoffs. The Wildcats defeated Hartford 80-22 last season, and 52-46 in a shootout in 2022.
Crest (5-3) gets a home game as well to open the postseason, courtesy of its second-place finish in its district, and will host Lebo (6-2), which took third in its district. Lebo had the upper hand the last time the teams squared off in 2023, winning 60-12.
Southern Coffey County gets a forfeit victory over Burrton to open the Kansas Six Man playoffs, and will not suit up until Nov. 8 at Cunningham. Cunningham topped the Titans, 52-0, when they squared off in 2023.
THE LONE exception for the playoff rematch trend lies in Humboldt, where the unbeaten Cubs will host Atchinson County (2-6) in Class 2A. The teams have never played before on the gridiron.
Yates Center (0-8) did not qualify for the playoffs but gets another shot at victory after coming up two points shy of knocking off Flinthills last week in a 22-20 setback.
The Wildcats will wrap up the 2024 campaign with a home game Thursday against winless Arma-Northeast. The teams last played in 2019, when Northeast came home with a 36-0 win.
