No. 6 Prairie Central gets playoff practice in Week 7
FAIRBURY — Officially, the playoffs begin the weekend of Oct. 28-29. For Prairie Central, the approach is having a playoff game in Week 7, which is this week.
The Hawks will be on the road to take on Aledo (Mercer County) Friday to face a 5-1 Golden Eagles team that is used to making the postseason. Unbeaten Prairie Central moved up a spot in the AP Class 3A rankings this week to No. 6. Mercer County is receiving votes in Class 2A.
“We're preparing for this like a playoff game,” PC head coach Andrew Quain said. “One, to get used to the idea of a long road trip against an unknown opponent but also we're thinking of playoff seeding, as well.”
Another thing about facing a team in the playoffs is what little the teams may know of each other.
“They definitely look like a solid football team,” PC head coach Andrew Quain said of the Eagles. “Obviously, there's a lot of unknowns when you don't have any common opponents and not a team you see regularly.
“We're trying to prepare for everything. It will definitely be a good test for us, for sure.”
Quain said Mercer County, which is a consolidation of the former Aledo and Joy (Westmer) high schools, looks to have good size and a number of good athletes. Quain said he figures the Eagles have good speed based on track times, which is the only comparison the staff could make at this time.
Mercer County's one loss is to Knoxville and the Eagles will still have Stark County and Kewanee (Wethersfield) on the schedule after this week. The combined record of Mercer County's final three opponents right now is 15-3.
As for Prairie Central, Quain said that he likes his team's focus and is seeing improvement each week. He added that the Hawks are playing off each other and are playing good football.
“You definitely like that as a coach,” Quain said.
Keys to this week for the Hawks will be dealing with the unknown. Quain said he doesn't know how well Mercer County can defend the run, so the Hawks have been practicing against a number of different alignments this week.
Communication is something that will also be important. Quain said that not only communication between the players on the field, but also communication among the coaches with each other and the players.
Quain's old standby for winning will be not turning the ball over and being more physical than the Eagles.
Although Prairie Central is unbeaten, and this week's game will have no bearing on the conference standings, the Hawks are still playing for playoff positioning, so a win is important.
Also, it should help build momentum for a Week 8 matchup with Monticello on the Sages' home field.
EPG (4-2) vs. Heyworth (2-4)
EL PASO — Head coach Tanner Benedict can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Although the Titans lost to state-ranked Ridgeview-Lexington and Eureka in the last two weeks, EPG is still in a position to reach the playoffs with wins in the next two weeks.
It starts Friday at Heyworth.
The Hornets are coming off a forfeit win over Fisher after suffering four straight lopsided losses.
How full the arsenal will be is in question for the Titans, but Dax Gentes has been emerging as a solid running back to help lead the EPG attack.
A win for the Titans will give them five victories that will qualify EPG for playoff consideration. Couple a win over Heyworth and a win over Tremont in Week 8 and El Paso-Gridley will be guaranteed a postseason berth.
Dwight-GSW (1-5) at Watseka (1-5)
DWIGHT —Dwight-GSW might have lost to Clifton (Central) last week but it was a solid effort the Trojans gave as the offense has continued to show great improvement. DTHS-GSW has scored 96 points in its last three games.
The Trojans will be looking to score more this week — if they play. Watseka is the opponent and the Warriors are coming off a forfeit loss due to injuries. As of deadline, it was not known if there would still be a game.
If so, look for Dwight to be ready to continue its upswing behind Austin Burkhardt and Connor Telford.
In the games Watseka has played, only Georgetown-Ridge Farm in Week 1 scored fewer than 50 points. That was a 45-18 win for the Warriors.
That 45 points against the Buffaloes is the only time Watseka has scored more than 12 points in a game this season.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Area football preview featuring Prairie Central, El Paso-Gridley
