State Championship Preview: Division 8

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Division 8 was one of the most interesting brackets from the moment it was released, and it produced a ton of great matchups. That being said, it also produced a rematch from last season, which saw Ottawa Lake Whiteford down Ubly for the D8 crown by a score of 26-20. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This season, Ubly may be coming in as the favorite. They've been knocking on the door for quite a few years now, and it's feeling like it's finally their year. They've run through the playoffs, scoring 162 while only giving up 48. They've been as decisive as it gets, and with the way this team is playing I think it's pretty likely they finally hoist the Wooden Mitten! They run a ground heavy attack with Evan Peruski who is an all around stud athlete who does the majority of his damage on the ground, though he can throw the ball when asked to. At RB, they cycle through a variety of guys that regularly eclipse 100 yards in a game, including Canden Peruski who had 200 yards in the last round. Also toting the rock will be Seth Maurer and Luke Volmering who had 2 touchdowns a piece in their last game. On special teams, Brett Mueller is a P/K who has an absolute cannon of a leg. He just hit a 54 yard FG in their semi-final game, which is just absurd at the Division 8 level, or just high school in general. It's going to be a tough test for this Ubly team who hasn't been tested much at all yet.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the other side, Ottawa Lake Whiteford comes in with the experience and pedigree to get it done. They've also been an extremely dominant team, scoring a whopping 172 points this postseason, while giving up just 26 points. They have a ground dominant attack as well, and a super stout defense that has held their opponent to under 10 points 9 out of 13 games. They are facing a familiar Ubly team that they were able to best last season, but a game that came right down to the wire. For the 'Cats, they'll be relying on Jake Lott to get a ton of work on the ground. He's a TD machine who, as most do in this division, also plays defense. He's a strong tackler who gets to his spot quickly. Jake Lott is another great OLW player, who can absolutely bring the thunder on tackles. Though they prefer to work on the ground, they can throw the ball as well, as Kolby Masserant actually broke the school receptions record in the last round. Overall, they're going to be able to match the intensity and skill of Ubly, making for a fantastic game! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->