Prep Confidential

Down to two

Posted by: Marcus Jackson

Sunday, November 9, 2008 12:52 AM

When the season started, few would have picked Tuscola to be among the final eight teams remaining in Class 1A. But as is custom for the Warriors, they're back in th quarterfinals. 

Saturday's win against Mount Olive marked the fifth straight season in which Tuscola has reached the round of eight. It also marked the third consecutive season the Warriors ended Mount Olive's season.

Perhaps the things that's helped Tuscola the most is playing in the Okaw Valley Conference. The Warriors play 2A and 3A schools each week, so dropping down to face 1A competition in the postseason makes things a bit easier.

Next up for Rick Reinhart's squad is Concord Triopia. The Warriors smoked the Trojans 62-8 in the 2007 playoffs, but this will be a tough test. Triopia ousted Arcola 46-0 Saturday.

Salt Fork avenged its 2007 playoff loss, beating Greenfield-Northwestern 14-0 Saturday in Jamaica. 

Naysayers claimed the Storm's 9-0 regular season wasn't that impressive with the Vermilion Valley being down this year, but Brian Plotner's got a pretty good football team.

The Storm will face Pawnee, which ousted previously unbeaten Villa Grove 20-8 Saturday. The spread offense is all the rage these days, but the Indians run what can be called the anti-spread.

They pack everything in as tight as possible and they run, run, run. Seven players had at least three carries against Villa Grove.

Should both Tuscola and Salt Fork win next week, they'd meet in the semifinals. COuld be a fun one.

MJ

mjackson@news-gazette.com

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