Kansas Class 8-Man I Football State Championship Preview:

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When we kick-off the 8-Man I Kansas High School State Championships at 11:00 AM Saturday morning at Kiowa County High School in Greensburg, it will be a battle between two football programs looking to be crowned state champions for the first time. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While the Lincoln Leopards (11-1) and the Timberwolves of South Central (11-0) will be looking for their first state title, the two communities that make-up South Central have seen prior state success. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both Protection (1978 under head coach Skip Baird and 1983 under head coach Bill Lowe) and Coldwater (1985, 1994 and 1995 under head coach Carlos Amaro). The two communities consolidated in 1999 and South Central has seen some very good years but this season they are hoping to finally to be able to break through under Head Coach Brett Westrup. Westrup is in his fourth season where he has a overall record of 35-10. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Timberwolves were state runners-up in 8-Man II in 2023 when they lost to Axtell 50-0 and last season they lost to eventual state champions in Hoxie 42-28 in the semifinals. This season they defeated Hill City in the semifinals 40-32 and punched their ticket to Greensburg. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall offensively the Timberwolves have racked up a staggering 4,015 total offensive yards and 71 touchdowns. Their balanced attack has seen them rush for 2,473 yards (224.8 per game) and 44 scores on the ground and passed for 1,542 yards (140.2 per game), 27 touchdowns through the air and only 4 interceptions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Statistically on offense, junior Easton Huck (5-foot-10, 155-pounds) has led the way and has had 122 carries for 1,263 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns and through the air he has passed for 59 of 84 for 1,076 yards and an additional 22 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other major contributors have been junior [player_tooltip player_id='1113259' first='Coda' last='Lindsay'] (5-foot-10, 205-pounds) has had 84 carries for 761 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns and junior Colt Yoder (6-foot-0, 155-pounds) who has had 33 carries for 264 yards and 5 scores. Huck has not been the only one to sling around the pigskin but so has Yoder who has thrown for 466 yards on 22 of 28 passing and 5 additional touchdowns. <br> <br>Receiving wise senior tight end [player_tooltip player_id='1115507' first='Jack' last='Herd'] (6-foot-4, 205-pounds) has had 35 catches for 631 yards and 14 touchdowns, senior Tyler Pauly (6-foot-1, 205-pounds) has had 17 receptions for 424 yards and 5 touchdowns and lastly junior Parker Price (5-foot-10, 165-pounds) has registered 23 catches for 357 yards and 7 scores. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the defensive side of the ball, the Timberwolves have seen [player_tooltip player_id='1115507' first='Jack' last='Herd'] rack up a staggering 131 tackles (39 solo), 12 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 2 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other defenders who have put up quality numbers are Colt Yoder has had 79 tackles (15 solo), 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 4 fumble recoveries and 1 interception, junior Jack Willems (6-foot-0, 215-pounds) has had 57 tackles (15 solo), 10 tackles for loss and 3 sacks, Parker Price has had 51 tackles (15 solo), 2 tackles for loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 interception, [player_tooltip player_id='1113259' first='Coda' last='Lindsay'] who has had 49 tackles (14 solo), 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery, Easton Huck has had 47 tackles (8 solo) and 2 interceptions, junior Dakota Thornsberry (6-foot-1, 190-pounds) had had 43 tackles (11 solo), 8 tackles for loss and 5 sacks and lastly Tyler Pauly has had 36 tackles (10 solo), 7 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 interception. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for Lincoln, they really have not seen much success historically and their magical run under Head Coach Colby Hamel has been a blessing to the Lincoln community. Hamel comes into the state title game with a career record of 31-16 in his 5 seasons as head coach in Kansas. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season the Leopards showed a lot of promise with a young roster by winning 6 games and falling in a heartbreaker to Little River in the playoffs 42-40. Learning from that playoff experience, Lincoln vowed to get back to the playoffs and make some noise. Even with week eight set back to Clifton-Clyde 48-44, they have put up some big time numbers as they rolled through the playoffs. In the semifinals they beat rival Sylvan-Lucas for the second time this season (62-36 and 48-28). It was the ballgame against Ell-Saline the week before that caught people's attention when they went on the road and defeated the Cardinals 46-44. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While the line is senior laden with seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1566706' first='Brody' last='Shearer']<a href="https://prepredzone.com/player/brody-shearer/"></a> (6-foot-0, 275-pounds) and Easton Good (6-foot-5, 255-pounds) leading the way, the skills positions are dominated by juniors. Overall the Leopards have a very balanced attack with 4,886 total yards (444.2 per game). They have rushed for 2,702 yards (245.6 per game) and 49 touchdowns on the ground and passed for 2,184 yards (198.5 per game), 31 touchdowns through the air and only 4 interceptions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When it comes to running the ball it starts with junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1113297' first='Jeremiah' last='Miller'] (6-foot-1, 200-pounds) who has rushed for, 1,442 yards on 163 carries and 30 touchdowns. He has also passed for 2,058 yards on 116 of 190 passing and 28 touchdowns through the air with only 3 interceptions on the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other major contributors are junior [player_tooltip player_id='1604524' first='Benjamin' last='Bell'] (6-foot-1, 190-pounds) who has had 48 carries for 503 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns but also has had 43 catches for 783 yards and 7 additional scores, senior Kolton Meyer (5-foot-10, 175-pounds) has provided 45 carries for 404 yards rushing and 6 scores while junior [player_tooltip player_id='1113161' first='Xavier' last='Miller'] (6-foot-1, 185-pounds) has pitched in 14 carries for 206 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns to go with his 61 catches for 1,155 yards and 15 more touchdowns. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensively the Leopards are led by [player_tooltip player_id='1604524' first='Benjamin' last='Bell'] with 100 tackles, [player_tooltip player_id='1113297' first='Jeremiah' last='Miller'] 90 tackles and Austin Ahring 90 tackles on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In conclusion, the story of this game will Lincoln be able to continue their magic with their balanced attack offensively or will it finally be the Timberwolves year after knocking on the door the last few seasons? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->