A trip to the UNI-Dome will be on the line when #2 (1A) Dike-New Hartford hosts #5 (1A) South Hardin in a 1A quarterfinal Friday. It’ll air on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Wolverines (9-1) are coming off two dominant wins in postseason play, but could face their stiffest competition in several weeks.
“You’ve got to stay balanced with them because they’re such a balanced offense,” DNH coach Don Betts says. “The quarterback throws the ball, he can run it. If he doesn’t like what he sees, then the running game is really, really solid. So for us, it’s going to be a matter of getting our eyes in the right place, guys knowing their job, doing their job, those kinds of things, try and slow them down. And it’s one of those things that if you can get a big play and set them behind the sticks, it helps you, but they’ve got playmakers just all over the place.”
DNH has proven to have an explosive and balanced offense, but only had to attempt nine passes last week. Betts notes the ability of senior quarterback Colin Meester as a key weapon on offense that they’ll count on to make plays.
South Hardin (9-1) is coming off a resilient win over Emmetsburg last week, where they erased a 20-12 deficit to win 27-20. Peyton Welch passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns in one of the more pass-heavy games of the season. Head Coach Nick Eller says executing the game plan at a high level is paramount.
“This week has been just huge on getting our exact game plan in, getting a comfortable feel for what they’re going to do on offense, what they’re going to do on defense. And you don’t know, you might see something completely different Friday, but all we can do is get them ready for what we’ve seen, what we expect. And I thought the guys have had a good week. I think they have a pretty good grasp on it. There’s going to be some things that catch us tomorrow night. Dike-New Hartford has great speed. They’re going to do it at a different level, and then we can rep with our scout team, so we’ve just got to be able to scramble and kind of adjust. We’ll have to make some adjustments in the game like we did last week, but I think we have at least a good grasp on it. Now it’s show up and play and show that we’re ready.”
The winner will advance to next week’s 1A semifinals.
Meet the Tigers will begin at 5:00 p.m., followed by the Roling Ford Road to the Dome Warmup Show at 6:15. The kickoff will be at 7:00.
Don Betts interview:
Nick Eller interview:
