PRESSURE COOKER
Make or break week for Messengerland teams
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Nine Messenger-area teams look to make the most of a postseason appearance and extend their season on Friday.
The variety of participants vary, as Emmetsburg is in its 43rd trip all-time while North Union will make its first journey as a consolidated school.
South Central Calhoun has been in existence as a consolidated program for 12 years, and has qualified each and every time.
Newell-Fonda will make its 19th playoff appearance overall, and 11th in the past 12 campaigns.
Greene County (7-1), Newell-Fonda (7-1) and West Bend-Mallard (6-2) all earned home games for the playoff opener. The Rams were district champions, while the Mustangs and Wolverines finished as runner-ups.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (5-3), Eagle Grove (3-5), East Sac County (2-6), Emmetsburg (4-4), South Central Calhoun (4-4) and North Union (5-3) all hit the road.
Sixth-ranked Humboldt (7-1, 3-1), which has locked up a district runner-up spot in Class 3A, and Webster City (5-3 overall, 3-1 in Class 4A, District 1) wrap up their respective regular seasons with playoff appearances coming next Friday.
CLASS 2A
Union LaPorte City (2-6) at No. 6 Greene County (7-1)
The Rams enter the postseason winners of their last five games. This is the fifth straight trip and eighth overall for the program.
In the first-ever meeting with the Knights, quarterback Gabe Ebersole enters with 1,037 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. He has rushed for four TDs.
The Rams are led on the ground by Patrick Daugherty (790 yards), who has eight touchdowns.
Cody Allen is the defensive leader for Greene County with 47 tackles.
The Knights are led by Joren Fisher, who has 603 rushing yards and seven TDs.
Clarion-Goldfield/Dows (5-3)
at No. 7 Osage (6-2)
The Cowboys earned their first appearance since 2014 this fall. It's the sixth overall trip, dating back to the Clarion-Goldfield days.
The Green Devils have won four of the last six meetings with the Cowboys. Winning 34-0 in 2017.
The Cowboys are led by Preston Gardner on the ground and through the air. Gardner has run for 963 yards and nine touchdowns, while throwing for five.
Nevan Foss has reached paydirt 11 times and has 678 yards.
Osage is led by quarterback Max Knudsen, who has 1,281 yards passing and 18 scores. Landon Rends has nine rushing touchdowns.
CLASS 1A
Eagle Grove (3-5) at No. 6 Aplington-Parkersburg (7-1)
After finishing fourth in their district, the Eagles will have a tough task when they head to Ed Thomas Field to face the sixth-ranked Falcons.
This will be the second straight trip and seventh overall for Eagle Grove.
The Eagles, who are fifth in Class 1A in rushing (2,308), are led by Cayden Schultz on the ground with 538 yards and five scores. Orlando Hernandez has 377 yards and six touchdowns.
Trenton Sorensen (396), Drake Canavan (288) and Tate Richardson (208) are the other Eagle leaders. Richardson has six touchdowns.
For The Falcons, Gavin Thomas has 924 through the air and 11 scores and one on the ground. Aidan Junker has rushed for 763 and 14 touchdowns.
East Sac County (2-6) at No. 4 West Sioux (7-1)
The Raiders needed a win to get in and they did just that, but fourth-ranked West Sioux is their reward.
The Falcons, who were state runner-ups a year ago, have won five straight.
Dylan Wiggins has thrown for 1,287 yards and 20 touchdowns to go along with three rushing scores. Carter Bultman has 13 rushing TDs.
The Raiders, who lost their first six games, won their final two to advance. East Sac County has rushed for 742 yards.
Karter Ludwig has 74.5 tackles to lead the Raider defense.
Emmetsburg (4-4) vs. No. 5 Carroll Kuemper (7-1) at Buena Vista University
The E-Hawks, who are one of only three teams with 40-plus playoff appearances, are making their third straight trip and 43rd overall. Only Dowling (45) has more. Harlan is next in line with 41.
Emmetsburg will travel to face fifth-ranked Carroll Kuemper, which is coming off its first loss of the year against third-ranked Underwood.
The E-Hawks, who beat the Knights in their last meeting in 2020, have run for 2,297 yards -- fifth-best in Class 1A.
Cade Shirk has been the groundhog, carrying the ball 158 times (second most in 1A). He has 980 yards and 10 trips to the endzone.
Quarterback Ryan Brennan has run for 572 and seven scores. Carson Baak (five) and Jace Nelson-Brown (four) are TD leaders.
Kuemper quarterback DJ Vonnahme has thrown for 1,112 yards and 18 touchdowns (third most in 1A).
Vonnahme is tied in 1A with 26 overall TDs, rushing for six. Taye Vonnahme has nine touchdowns.
Receiver Trevor Rial and Benjamin Gerken are the leading receivers with seven and six touchdowns, respectively.
South Central Calhoun (4-4) at Hull Western Christian (6-2)
The Titans finished on a winning note with a 56-12 rout of Belmond-Klemme to get in.
The Titans have featured a balanced attack this season, throwing for 1,437 yards and rushing for 1,087.
Junior Gavin Batta has thrown for 1,283 yards and 12 TDs, while rushing for two scores. Dominik Kistler (379) and Brock Nattress (271) are the leading rushers with five and eight touchdowns, respectively.
Junior Keegan Soard has 27 catches and 664 yards with nine TDs, which is second best in 1A.
Kaden VanRegenmorter has thrown for 1,340 yards and 13 scores with three rushing touchdowns for the Wolfpack.
Tyler Mantel has rushed for 729 with nine end zone trips. Ashtin Van't Hul and Karsten Moret have four TD catches each.
CLASS A
North Union (5-3) at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn (6-2)
For the first time as a consolidated school, North Union enters the playoffs. As North Kossuth, they had four playoff appearances.
Sentral Fenton qualified five times, winning state titles in 2002 and 2003.
The Warriors have had a strong season on the ground, rushing for 1,447 yards. Bryer Prochniak has run for 873 yards and 14 touchdowns. Quarterback Carter Morphew has 15 combined scores -- eight through the air and seven on the ground.
Preston Guerdet has four receiving TDs.
HMS is third as a team in Class A with 3,044 yards. Kooper Ebel has been the groundhog, rushing for second-best in A with 1,731 yards and second best 22 TDs.
Travis Kamradt has run for 983 and 13 scores.
EIGHT-PLAYER
Harris-Lake Park (6-2) at No. 8 Newell-Fonda (7-1)
Newell-Fonda has been a playoff veteran, reaching the postseason 11 of the last 12 years and three straight times. The Mustangs have 19 overall appearances.
Mason Dicks has been a dual threat for Newell-Fonda, throwing for 1,071 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has rushed for eight scores. Ryan Greenfield has seven rushing scores and eight more through the air.
The Wolves have thrown for 21 touchdowns, with 15 coming from Tyce Gunderson. The Wolves senior has 19 rushing touchdowns.
Caleb Hemphill and Lucas Ahrenstorff have eight and seven receiving touchdowns, respectively.
Clarksville (5-3) at West Bend-Mallard (6-2)
The Wolverines ended their playoff drought, qualifying for the first time since 2015 and 21st overall.
West Bend-Mallard was the runner-up in eight-player district 2 and won their last three games of the season.
The Wolverines rushed for 2,167 yards, led by senior Max Fehr, who has 1,003 yards on the ground and sixth-best 23 touchdowns in eight-player. Fehr also threw for five touchdowns.
Landon Montag has 746 yards rushing and 10 scores.
Clarksville is paced by a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in MaKade Bloker (1068) and Xonnor Tesone (1,044). They have 14 and 18 touchdowns, respectively. Eli Schmidt has 16 scores on the ground.
CLASS 4A
Denison-Schleswig (4-4, 2-2) at Webster City (5-3, 3-1)
The Lynx have won four of their last five games and at least locked up district runner-up honors. They have qualified for three straight playoffs and will make their 24th straight trip.
Webster City is sitting in the 13th position of the RPI rankings.
Jaxon Cherry has been a man among boys in the backfield, running for 1,501 yards (best in 4A) and a 4A-high 25 touchdowns. He is also first in all-purpose yards (1,748).
The Lynx have run for 2,902 yards as a squad. CJ Hisler (599), Ty McKinney (413) and Cael Nixon (206) are their leaders.
McKinney has reached the end zone six times and has thrown for six touchdowns.
Jaxson Hildebrand has rushed for 678 for the Monarchs and seven touchdowns. Luke Wiebers has thrown for five touchdowns and 868 yards.
CLASS 3A
No. 6 Humboldt (7-1, 3-1) at Algona (4-4, 1-3)
Humboldt, which was knocked from the top spot in 3A after a 16-8 loss to Nevada last Friday, is currently sixth in the rankings.
The Wildcats, who are fourth in RPI, will make their 16th state appearance overall next week.
Humboldt has won eight of the last 13 meetings with the rival Bulldogs and two in a row, prevailing 35-26 a year ago.
Lance Coon's 955 yards on the ground is third in Class 3A, and his 12 touchdowns is 12th best. Coon's 146 carries is eighth-most.
Will Orness, who took over at quarterback a few weeks ago, has run for 449 yards and four scores. Orness has 404 on the ground and three TDs.
Trever Beach (232) and Corey Dettmann (218) are the leading receivers for the Wildcats with two touchdowns each.
Beach, who handles the kicking duties, is 20 or 22 on PATs and is perfect on six field goal attempts with a long of 42.
For the Bulldogs, Alex Manske has thrown for 1,554 yards and 14 touchdowns and has run for 379 and six scores. Lamon Ulfers has 446 yards and seven touchdowns.
Algona's Porter Reffer has four touchdown catches.