(Exira) Trey Petersen’s 500 yard passing performance last week has helped set up Exira-EHK with a chance to play their way into the playoffs. The 4-3 Spartans can get in with a win against 3-4 Coon Rapids-Bayard.
Exira-EHK coach Tom Petersen says the top priority for his defense will be slowing down Crusader quarterback Tanner Oswald. “First and foremost you have to see what Tanner Oswald is doing. He’s thrown for 1,200 yards so we have to know where he’s at throwing the football and then also as a running threat. He’s able to get some big gains if you’re not gap sound and he doesn’t make mistakes with 14 touchdowns to just one interception. We obviously need to make sure we identify where he is at. They have a couple of big play guys out there that he throws the ball to with Easton Hays and Preston McAlister. We have our work cut out for us. It’s going to be one of those 50/50 games. I just hope our kids are excited for this chance.”
The good news for the Spartans is they’ve come out on the good end of all of their tight games this year. They are 3-0 in contests decided by one score, including their huge 50-47 win against Boyer Valley last week. They outscored the Bulldogs 32-13 in the 2nd half to stay alive in the playoff race. “We made some adjustments at halftime and I thought out boys executed really, really well with what we did. We went from man back to zone defense to have help over the top. We were giving up big plays, too many of them. We did a great job once again with stopping the rush, but our achilles heel has been people throwing the football on us. It’s something we have to clean up this week. I was proud of them. We were down at halftime and probably couldn’t have played much worse in the first half. We were able to battle back and put ourselves in good position for this week.”
8-Player, District 10 is no cake walk. For Exira-EHK to be in position to qualify for the playoffs during the final week of the regular season is noteworthy. “I think it’s something the kids have earned. We have a lot of kids that play both ways and at the same time we are able to bring in some youth. We are still extremely young in a lot of areas with kids that are still learning. It’s always fun to have a chance in Week 8, or Week 9 as it used to be, to have an opportunity to play for something pretty special. It’ll be good for the kids to try and step up there game a little bit more.”
Tyler Kingery has had a big year catching the football with 49 catches for 717 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he’s one of six different players with a TD grab this year. “We have to make sure we are putting our guys in position to be successful. Trey did a better job of not just targeting one person so much. That’s soWe’ve got other guys that can do some things. Tyler does obviously have a lot of receptions for us. Trey has to be able to make those reads when he comes to th eline of scrimmage and exploit
Aiden Flathers has 19 catches for 373 yards and a TD, Derrek Kommes has 11 catches for 198 yards and three TD’s, Kayden Hansen, Cash Emgarten, and Dane Paulsen all have one touchdown catch apiece. Trey Petersen passed for 509 yards and 4 TD’s in last week’s win over Boyer Valley.
Exira-EHK coach Tom Petersen:
