(Audubon) Audubon travels to Montezuma in round two of the eight-player football playoffs. This game is arguably the featured matchup on Friday night between these two highly ranked eight-player programs in the state. The Wheelers are 8-1, and the Braves are 9-0.
Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks says it all starts with Eddie Burgess, Montezuma’s 6’4, 230-pound quarterback. Burgess has thrown for 1,956 yards with 27-touchdown passes and 1,206 rushing yards to date.
“He throws the ball well, and his running ability is just as good,” said Birks. “He’s elusive and runs more like a 170-180 pound back, with his ability to cut back and juke defenders. We watched last season’s semi-final game film against St. Mary’s Remsen, and at times Burgess made the state champions look like they were standing still.
“They do so many different things with their offense. They’ll use motion, spread, an RPO, and play action, and their lineman sell run even when they throw the ball, and their backs sell run when they’re throwing it,” said Birks. “They’re well-coached, a reason they’re undefeated, and why they’re ranked so high in a lot of the polls. They earned the home field, and we have to travel and play spoiler this week.”
This week, the message to the team is, “we’re not ready to be done yet,” said Coach Birks. “This is when players, especially the seniors, sense of urgency starts to show up. They don’t show it much in practice because they are so even-keeled, but we’ll see it during warmups before Friday night. We’ll see that look in their eyes. They have to decide how much this means to them, and what kind of urgency they want to play with, and if they can flip that switch, and I think they will.”
The Wheeler’s offensive stats are impressive entering this second-round post-season bout, with 2,686 rushing yards and another 820 yards passing. Gavin Smith leads the team in rushing yards with 1,691 yards and 36 touchdowns, and Carter Andreasen averages 10.2 yards per touch.
Defensively, Coach Birks says they must avoid getting caught in one-on-one situations any more than they have to. “In eight-man football, you have to tackle one-on-one quite often, and that’s what they (Montezuma) enforce,” said Birks. “That’s what we want our opponents to do to us; we want the opposition to try and tackle Gavin Smith one-on-one and Carter Andreasen one-on-one.”
As in most all games, the outcome comes down to the play of the guys upfront. Coach Birks says they have to do their best to rally off blocks, rally to the ball and keep their rush lanes. “Because if you get one-on-one with this team, and Burgess is one of them, we’re going to be in for a long night,” stated Birks. “The defensive line needs to dominate and control the running and passing game because if they get around the edge, we’re in trouble.”
This game is a classic matchup between two outstanding programs. High School football fans will have their eye on this game, not only locally but across the state.
“It should be an entertaining game, with a lot of good athletes on both sides of the ball, with a lot going on,” said Birks. “It should be fun to watch.”
