First Glance: Class D-1 Pairings
CLASS D-1
West Bracket
No. 16 Amherst (2-6) at No. 1 Palmer (8-0). Palmer is not only the No. 1 seed in the west, it also has the benefit of a Week 9 bye. That could be a big deal for teams like Palmer, Lourdes Central Catholic (D-1) and Osceola (D-2). Amherst lost to nothing but playoff teams, including unbeatens Perkins County and Elm Creek.
No. 9 Alma (6-2) at No. 8 Hemingford (6-2). Like most 8 v. 9 pairings, this should be fun. Alma has lost only to 8-0 Elm Creek and 7-1 Medicine Valley, while Hemingford lost to unbeaten Perkins County and 7-1 South Loup. Could be my favorite D-1 first-rounder.
No. 12 West Holt (5-3) at No. 5 Dundy County-Stratton (5-3). Unless it’s this one. West Holt gets extra style points for that awesome motorcycle entrance (I know, it’s a road game, but still) and anybody within a hundred miles of Benkelman needs to make time to watch Dundy’s Phalen Sanford. He’s worth the drive. Make that 200 miles.
No. 13 Sutherland (3-5) at No. 4 CWCE (8-0). Defending Class D-1 runner-up Chambers/Wheeler Central takes on some help from the boys from Ewing and complete another perfect regular season. Biggest win so far, the 24-point victory over Burwell. Sutherland has lost four of its last four, but all are to teams seeded among the top eight in the west.
No. 14 Cambridge (4-4) at No. 3 Elm Creek (8-0). Historic powerhouse Cambridge reaches the playoffs in its first year of eight-man football. Elm Creek looked mighty mighty last night in a 66-46 win over previously unbeaten South Loup. Like, hanging around good.
No. 11 Kenesaw (5-3) at No. 6 Medicine Valley (7-1). Med Valley suffered a 40-point loss to Dundy, but also beat four playoff teams. Kenesaw couldn’t tackle Austin Stuhr last night, losing to Heartland 52-34, but you could grow old writing a list of teams that couldn’t do that. Feels like a high scoring game to me.
No. 10 Burwell (6-2) at South Loup (7-1). Tough, tough first round matchup, as both these teams are good enough to be still be playing in another round or two. South Loup has overcome a string of injuries to claim its sixth playoff berth in seven years. Burwell is the defending D-1 state runner-up and has won four in a row, the two losses to unbeatens Palmer and CWCE.
No. 15 Bertrand (2-6) at No. 2 Perkins County (8-0). Bertrand has lost six of its last seven, but five of those are to playoff teams, including unbeaten Elm Creek and 7-1s South Loup and Med Valley. OK, so Perkins County won its opener against Cambridge by “only” 10 points, but the Plainsmen went on to be Colorado’s No. 1-ranked eight-man team, Sedgewick County, and the other six games by a combined 291 points. So there.
East Bracket
No. 16 Clearwater/Orchard (2-6) at No. 1 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (8-0). GACC basically toyed with its opponents, the exception being a six-point win over No. 3 seed Lourdes Central Catholic. Clearwater/Orchard will be out to replicate last year’s midnight playoff run that resulted in a trip to the semifinals.
No. 9 Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family (4-4) at No. 8 Pender (4-4). Two losses to unbeatens Palmer and ineligible Neligh-Oakdale toughened the Pendragons, while H/LHF beat three playoff teams.
No. 12 High Plains Community (3-5) at No. 5 East Butler (4-4). Fate has not been kind to High Plains, which was ranked No. 2 when it lost its star QB Thomas Young; five straight losses ensued, including a 36-26 decision two weeks ago. All four East Butler wins were against playoff teams or would-be playoff teams, as ineligible Nebraska Christian is in that number.
No. 13 Nebraska Lutheran (3-5) at No. 4 Heartland (7-1). Nebraska Lutheran won three of its last four to get in, including a 52-32 win over High Plains in Week 9. Heartland has won seven in a row, never scoring less than 52 points in a game.
No. 14 Clarkson/Leigh (3-5) at No. 3 Lourdes Central Catholic (6-2). Lourdes knows how to win in the playoffs - they ARE the defending state basketball champs - and lost only to GACC and D-2 power Falls City Sacred Heart, both of them games Lourdes could have won. Clarkson/Leigh has lost four of its last five, including a 58-34 decision to Howells-Dodge on Friday night.
No. 11 Johnson-Brock (5-3) at No. 6 Howells-Dodge (6-2). Speaking of Howells-Dodge, the Jaguars sort of fell through the cracks but with six regular season wins - including four in a row entering the postseason - and a district title, you take notice. J-B has yet to beat a team with a winning record but did defeat three playoff teams.
No. 10 Hartington-Newcastle (5-3) at No. 7 Tri County (5-3). After a three-game losing streak to top ten ranked teams Tri County has won three in a row entering the playoffs. Hartington-Newcastle was upset by Plainview last night, 50-44, but features junior superstar running back Cole Schmidt. Tri County counters with senior superstar Colby Ensz...that alone would be worth the price of admission.
No. 15 Diller-Odell (3-5) at No. 2 Creighton (7-1). Seems a lifetime ago Creighton lost by 28 points on Opening Night, but since then the Bulldogs have looked like the Bulldogs usually look, which is pretty powerful. Diller-Odell has lost four of five, and all five of those losses were to playoff teams.