Brookings and Sioux Falls Washington, both with 3-2 marks on the season, square off at 8 p.m. on Friday at Howard Wood Field.
Season records aren’t the only thing that these two have in common – both are near the top of the standings in seed points in their respective classes.
The Bobcats are tied for second with Harrisburg in Class 11AA with 41.400 seed points, while the Warriors are third in 11AAA with 42.000 points.
That’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Washington’s two losses came at the hands of undefeated Roosevelt (29-0) and O’Gorman (42-33) in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. Those two squads – both 5-0 – square off Friday at Howard Wood in the 5 p.m. contest.
Brookings lost last week to 11AA’s top-seeded 4-1 Governors, 28-0, and 28-14 to Mitchell, 2-3 on the season and sixth in seed points.
The Warriors, who average 30.2 points offensively while giving up 21.4, are coming off a 41-10 stomping of Stevens in Rapid City. Two weeks ago, they beat the Kernels, 49-12, at home.
The Bobcats, who have put up 23.2 points per game and give up an average of 18.6 points an outing, are coming off a disappointing Homecoming loss.
“They’ve improved every week, so they’re a team to be reckoned with,” said BHS head coach Lee Schmidt of Washington. “They have a dangerous weapon in Tupak (Kpeayeh – a 5-9, 185-lb. senior running back) and they’re using him a lot this year out of the backfield. They have a veteran quarterback, but I think they are a little younger in some of the other positions – receiver and up front in the offensive line – but they are still a good team; still have good speed.
“They moved the ball against Roosevelt; they just couldn’t get into the end zone.
“They will be a tough challenge – I don’t know how much more physical they are going to be – or if they are – than Pierre. Pierre was a physical team and that was a good challenge for us – if we hadn’t made so many mistakes, and moved the ball on offense a little bit, we could have made that game a little bit different, too. We watched film and you could see a lot of reasons why Pierre was successful – but also, Pierre was more physical. We counted 212 (rushing) yards (for the Governors) after first contact – we have to tackle better and be more physical at the point of attack.”
