PHOENIX HOSTING OCT. 20 PLAYOFF GAME

Playing in the first year of a football cooperative, not only has Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy qualified for the postseason, the Phoenix are hosting a game.

F/M/FA will entertain Florence-Henry next Thursday night, Oct. 20 in the first round of the 9AA playoffs, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. The Phoenix are the No. 7 seed and take a 6-2 record into the postseason while the No. 10 Falcons are 4-4.

Class 9AA playoff bracket

The Oct. 20 playoff game comes less than a week after the Phoenix defeated Florence-Henry 36-14 in the final game of the regular season Friday night, Oct. 14. Freshman quarterback Riley Tschetter played despite a fractured collarbone and threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Maddox Kihne caught 10 passes for 135 of those yards and three touchdowns, threw for another touchdown and ran for 70 yards on nine carries. Karter Weber and Evan Scharberg also caught touchdown passes for the Phoenix.

The F/M/FA defense held Florence/Henry to just 148 total yards. Rocky Ammann led that effort with five solo tackles while Tate Sorensen and Jackson Donlan each had a quarterback sack.

Trappers miss playoffs

The Menno/Scotland football team, meanwhile, just missed the postseason. Jim River finished the season 4-4 and ended up tied for 18th in seed points in the Class 11B standings — 0.375 points behind No. 16 Lead-Deadwood, which claimed the final spot in the playoffs.

Class 11B playoff bracket