State Playoffs: Red Oak, Southwest Valley and East Mills all set for first round

Three area teams will be competing in the first round of the state football playoffs Wednesday night.

Red Oak, Southwest Valley and East Mills will all be in action. Of the three teams, two of them will be home, while the third has to travel several hours for a road game.

The Red Oak Tigers (3-6 overall, 3-3 district) will be the one on the road when they go to Gilbert to play the Gilbert Tigers (6-3 overall, 5-1 district) in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.

This will be Red Oak’s second playoff appearance in a row.

In Red Oak’s first appearance at the state playoffs last year, they lost to West Marshall 48-6.

The Tigers reached the playoffs this season with their 13-10 win against the Shenandoah Mustangs. A Greene County win against OA-BCIG gave Red Oak the fourth seed.

In addition to Shenandoah, Red Oak’s other wins this season were against Clarinda Academy and OA-BCIG.

Gilbert meanwhile enters the playoffs having won four of their last five games, including last Friday against West Marshall to win the district title.

Coached by Scott Auderer, the Gilbert Tigers have made multiple trips to the playoffs. In 2004, they were the state runner-up in Class 2A, losing to Waterloo Columbus.

Gilbert made the playoffs last season, but lost in the first round to Kuemper Catholic, 42-6.

Quarterback Jared Gescheider leads the offensive attack for Gilbert. The junior is a dual threat as he has passed for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns this season, while rushing for 872 yards and 16 touchdowns.

If that isn’t enough, Red Oak will need to contend with Zach Becker, who has 843 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.

Red Oak can also bring their running game to the match-up. Brock Isaacson leads the charge as he has 1,007 yards this season, the only 1,000-yard rusher in 2A-District 8.

Red Oak can also hand the ball off to Evan Mellott, as well as Hayden VanMeter and even quarterback Ryan Leininger can go.

The other first round match-ups in Red Oak’s part of the bracket will feature Greene County against North Polk, Kuemper Catholic against Nevada and West Marshall versus Clarinda. The winner of Red Oak-Gilbert plays the winner of Greene County-North Polk on Monday night.

Southwest Valley

The Timberwolves of Southwest Valley enter the postseason as district champions for 8-man District 8.

Southwest Valley (7-2 overall, 6-1 district) will play host to Boyer Valley (6-3 overall, 4-3 district) for the first round.

This is the first postseason appearance for the shared pairing of Villisca and Corning. Both teams had made the playoffs in recent years though. Villisca was in the substate playoff round in 2008, while Corning was there as recent as 2011. Villisca also made playoff appearances in 1982 and 1989. Villisca has a 2-3 postseason record, while Corning is 0-3 in the postseason, under the Iowa High School Athletic Association sanctioned playoff records.

Boyer Valley meanwhile has made the postseason in recent years with current head coach Jay Petersen. The Bulldogs last postseason appearance was 2011. However, they also made postseason trips in 2008 and 2010.

Southwest Valley clinched the district title after holding a tiebreaker points advantage over both Fremont-Mills and Sidney.

Boyer Valley meanwhile clinched the fourth seed when they defeated West Harrison, last Friday.

Quarterback Cody Thoreson will be the player to watch for Boyer Valley. Thoreson has 1,204 yards passing and 16 touchdowns this season.

Southwest Valley’s Zach Barton and the running game will play a key role. Barton has 1,015 yards rushing this season.

The Timberwolves have the third best rushing attack in 8-man, recording 2,855 yards rushing and scoring 44 touchdowns (second most in 8-man District 8) this season.

The other first round games will feature Sidney at Glidden-Ralston, Coon Rapids-Bayard at Fremont-Mills and CAM at Exira-EHK.

East Mills

The Wolverines (7-2 overall, 5-2 district) will be the other home team Wednesday night when they host Woodward-Granger (6-3 overall, 5-2 district) in the Class A state playoffs.

This is the first playoff appearance for East Mills, after they missed out in 2012. Prior to missing in 2012, East Mills had made four straight playoff appearances.

In 2011, East Mills made it as far as the quarterfinals, but lost to Fremont-Mills, the eventual state champions.

Woodward-Granger meanwhile is making their sixth straight playoff appearance. They’ve made the playoffs every year since 2008.

Marshall Nieland is the player to watch for Woodward-Granger. Nieland leads the team in rushing with 1,366 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Colby Jennings is the player to watch for East Mills. Jennings leads the team with 1,055 yards and 15 touchdowns.

The other Class A football playoff match-ups around the area include Riverside at Audubon, Guthrie Center at A-H-S-T and Westwood at Madrid.

All games start at 7 p.m. Go to IAHSAA.org to see all the playoff brackets.

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

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