PHOENIX TOPPLE AVON; TRAPPERS LOSE
If it wasn’t already obvious, the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy football team just gave notice that it is the team to beat in all of 9-man football.
The Phoenix — No. 1 in Class 9AA and the top-seeded team — didn’t just defeat Class 9B No. 1 Avon Friday night, Oct. 17.
They obliterated the 7-0 Pirates, posting a 58-8 win in a game that ended by the mercy rule in the fourth quarter, sending a dangerous Avon team into the playoffs with a 7-1 mark.
The win gives FMFA the Great Plains Conference championship for the second year in a row.
FMFA enters the playoffs 8-0 and as the No. 1 seed, meaning it will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Phoenix will host No. 16 Garretson (3-5) in the first round of the postseason Thursday, Oct. 23, with the winner facing the winner of No. 8 Britton-Hecla vs. No. 9 Kimball-White Lake the following week.
Meanwhile, Scotland/Menno (4-4) couldn’t hang with Alcester-Hudson (6-2) in the Great Plain Conference regular-season finale on Friday, falling to the Class 9A No. 4 Cubs 64-16 Friday night, Oct. 17.
The Trappers enter the Class 9AA playoffs as the No. 12 seed and will travel to No. 5 Hill City to take on the Rangers (7-1) in Thursday’s playoff opener. The winner will face the winner of No. 7 vs. No. 10 Hanson the following week.
