2017 Class C 8-Man Playoffs (Quarterfinals)

[VimSince03]

Playoff Bracket: http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/docu ... Player.pdf

Top-Side of Bracket

Fairview (#2 East) at Drummond/Philipsburg(#1 West)

Fairview Key Players - RB/DB Cody Asbeck (So.), QB/LB Carson Cayko (Jr.), OL/DL Rex Reynolds (Sr.), FB/LB Austin Calvert (Jr.)

Drummond/Philipsburg Key Players - QB/LB Colton Grange (Sr.), RB/LB Colby Manley (Jr.), WR/DB Jaxon Lee (So.), OL/DL Riley Allen (Jr.)

Like the Circle game, I was curious to see how the North would match up with the East teams in the first round and I sided with the North by picking teams like Great Falls Central and Centerville to win their first round games over Fairview and Circle, respectively. Turns out I was majorly wrong and the East is as advertised as even Scobey gave #1 Belt a good enough game. Also like the Circle/Centerville matchup, the first half was close, specifically the first quarter, as GFC built a 16-6 lead early in the 2nd quarter. Fairview RB Cody Asbeck scored his second rushing touchdown before half to make it a 16-14 GFC lead at halftime. But it was all Fairview in the second half starting with an Asbeck 75-yard kickoff return for a TD and ending with a 36-yard touchdown pass from QB Carson Cayko to WR Braiden Taylor to make it a 44-16 Warriors victory. Asbeck finished with four total touchdowns to pace the Warriors while Noah Ambuehl threw two first half touchdowns for Great Falls Central. Meanwhile, the #1 seed out of the West, Drummond/Philipsburg, pitched a shutout over Lone Peak with a final score of 64-0. Overall, this game and the Ennis shutout were the two most thorough beatdowns of the opening round of the 8-Man playoffs. The Titans are one of three undefeated teams in the playoffs and their average margin of victory in every win this season is 56-8. They are led by QB/LB Colton Grange, RB/LB Colby Manley, and WR/DB Jaxon Lee as all three played a part in six touchdowns in the victory over Lone Peak. The scarier thing about this team is that Mark Estes, who transferred to Kalispell Glacier in the offseason for his senior season, was going to be the starting QB for the Titans prior to his transfer. Drummond/Philipsburg is dominant but would have been nearly untouchable if Estes was on the squad. Regardless, Colton Grange is a tremendous football player on both sides of the ball and he has got the Titans playing at a high level right now. I think Fairview can hang on for a bit in this game but I don't think they have the horses in the stable to play four quarters with Drummond/Philipsburg. Prediction: Drummond/Philipsburg wins 50-16

Circle (#3 East) at Hobson/Moore/Judith Gap (#1 South)

Circle Key Players - RB/DB Trey Taylor (Jr.), OL/DL Ethan Beery (Sr.), RB/LB Calder Fleming (Jr.), QB/DE Grady Taylor (Sr.)

Hobson/Moore/Judith Gap Key Players - RB/LB Jordan Nees (Jr.), OL/DL Austin Grove (Sr.), QB/MLB Brandon Bergum (Sr.), RB Sawyer Connerton (Sr.)

I think all analysts thought the Circle/Centerville game would be a good #2 vs. #3 matchup and it started out very well for Centerville as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead on two Carson McGinness touchdown passes. But no one expected Circle to score 68 unanswered points en route to a 68-14 win. Circle RB Trey Taylor ran for four touchdowns and picked off a pass for a touchdown. Circle RB/WR Calder Fleming caught a touchdown, ran for a score, and threw a touchdown pass for the Wildcats. The big takeaway from the game is that Circle is a good football team with a bad loss to Forsyth and a close loss to Fairivew on the season. It also showed that maybe 8-Man North isn't as strong as everyone perceives it to be. Belt is still very good but they played close games with Centerville both times this year and Circle absolutely demolished Centerville. Hobson/Moore/Judith Gap surprised many by taking the #1 seed away from Ennis in the 8-Man South who was the preseason favorite by a large margin. HMJG has a very good RB in junior Jordan Nees who was held to only three touchdowns in HMJG's 34-20 win over Plains in round 1. Plains actually tied the game by halftime at 20 a piece before being shutout in the second half. During the year, the Titans caught Ennis when the Mustangs were without a few key starters including RB/WR/LB Connor Wood and it showed as Jordan Nees ran all over the Mustangs. HMJB's lone loss on the year came against Joliet, a 42-36 decision that threw a wrench into who would win the #1 seed in the South and it wasn't cleared up until the final week of the regular season. My point is that HMJG is a good football team with a good-sized line that likes to run the ball at will but Circle has been a very good football team since their 48-40 loss to Fairview. The Wildcats have won six straight and have averaged 64 points a game during that stretch. This should be a good game but Circle has a lot of good momentum coming in. Prediction: Circle wins 38-26


Bottom-Side of Bracket

Charlo (#2 West) at Forsyth (#1 East)

Charlo Key Players - QB/LB Landers Smith (Jr.), RB/LB Toby Odom (Sr.), WR/DB Tyson Petticrew (Sr.), WR/DL Brady Fryberger (Sr.)

Forsyth Key Players - QB/LB Caleb Knoche (Sr.), WR/DB Cade Johnstone (Sr.), WR/DB Paul Johnstone (Sr.), RB/LB Nathan Weber (Sr.)

Charlo got one of the tougher first-round matchups by playing the #3 seed out of the South in Joliet. After falling behind 8-0 after one quarter, Charlo went off for 38 2nd-quarter points en route to a 68-38 win. Joliet hung tough getting five touchdown passes from QB Taylor Rowlison with four going to WR Ryan Olson and one to WR Brett Robinson. Junior Charlo QB Landers Smith accounted for seven touchdowns (6 rushing/1 kickoff return). Charlo was not very good defensively in this game but made enough plays to win relatively easily. But they will need to be much more sound if they want to win their quarterfinal game against possibly the best team in 8-Man. Forsyth did not lose a game in the regular season, winning by an average of 55-13. Their most impressive victories were 46-18 and 54-8 wins versus Circle and Fairview, respectively. The Dogies are just built so balanced as they have two good running backs who are both star wrestlers: Nate and Mike Weber. They have two track athletes at WR who are also twins in brothers Cade and Paul Johnstone and a veteran senior QB in Caleb Knoche who is a great playmaker. To finish off the offense, they have a pair of lineman over 240 lbs. This team would've challenged teams like Huntley Project and Colstrip for the East B title if they would've stayed in Class B in 2017 and may even have won it. It will be a fun matchup to watch their defense go after Landers Smith on offense. Charlo only lost to Drummond/Philipsburg this fall which is why they have to face Forsyth in the quarterfinals as the West's #2 seed. If Forsyth slows down Smith, they win this game running away. One thing is for sure, everyone will know how good the West and East actually are when this game concludes. Prediction: Forsyth wins 40-22

Ennis (#2 South) at Belt (#1 North)

Ennis Key Players - QB/LB Tanner Wood (Sr.), WR/LB Corbin Wood (Sr.), RB/LB Brayden Oberg (Jr.), TE/DE Agustus Dickinson (Sr.)

Belt Key Players - QB/DB Keagan Stroop (Sr.), FB/TE/DE Troy Hennes (Sr.), WR/LB Robbie Flinn (Sr.), OL/LB Trey Heitzman (Sr.)

Ennis QB Tanner Wood accounted for seven touchdowns (4 running/3 passing) en route to a 56-0 win over Arlee. Ennis has one loss on the year, falling to Hobson/Moore/Judith Gap 48-28 in game where several of their starters were injured. Other than that loss, Ennis has nearly been the same dominant team it was in 2016 winning by an average score of 56-18 in their 10 games this year including the playoff win over Arlee. Belt comes in as one of the three undefeated teams in the 8-Man playoffs. Unlike Ennis' first round game, Belt got a decent effort from Scobey en route to a 58-34 win. Star QB Keegan Stroop accounted for six touchdowns (4 running/2 passing). WR Robbie Flinn was on the receiving end of both of those touchdown passes while also scoring a touchdown on a 5-yard run in the 4th quarter. Belt's defense gave up some yards on the ground to Scobey's stud RB Riley Linder but their offense was simply on another level than Scobey's. So how do Ennis and Belt matchup? I think both offenses are almost impossible to stop when at full health, which both are. I would be very surprised if this game was a defensive battle as I'm predicting a shootout. A lot of good football players at any level in the state playing in this game. Should be fun. Prediction: Ennis wins 48-42