Card to Watch - Playoff Preview

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By Charlie Sorrells

Web Prep Writer

FAIRMONT – “Wipe the slate clean – the second season is here,” Fairmont mentor Mat Mahoney said in reference to the three Section 3AAA football quarterfinals that kick off at 7 PM Tuesday night. “It doesn’t matter what happened during the regular season – throw it out the window.

“If you just show up hoping to rest of your laurels, that’s a mindset that will end your season early.”

Mahoney’s Cardinals (4-4) hit the road for a second consecutive year after receiving the No. 5 sectional seed again in the QRF ratings and face the No. 4-seeded Belle Plaine Tigers (5-3) in a rematch from Week 6.

Quarterback Jensen Livesay emerged as a double-edged offensive threat in piling up 186 passing yards and two touchdowns to complement 52 more yards on the ground and a third score in guiding Fairmont to a 27-7 triumph over Belle Plaine on Oct. 9 on the Tigers’ home turf. Running back Keyon Schutz topped the Cardinals’ potent ground game with 112 yards and one TD, while receivers Brayden Williamson and Travohn Harvey each garnered scoring spirals to round out the dominant win.

“Offensively, we had a good balanced attack of throwing the ball and running the ball against Belle Plaine, while defensively, we made sure-handed tackles and limited their big plays.”

Linebacker Aaron Becker amassed three quarterback sacks and another half-dozen hurried passes to engineer a Fairmont defense that limited Belle Plaine junior quarterback Reed Creighton – a South Dakota State and North Dakota State football recruit – to 131 passing yards and one score.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Creighton, however, ended the regular season with another stellar pocket performance in powering Belle Plaine to a 28-13 victory over Albert Lea on Oct. 20. Creighton completed 19 of 27 throws for 275 yards and three TDs, running back Boden Siegle generated 73 yards and one score on 17 carries, while Caden Koepp pocketed eight catches for 167 yards and two scores.

Knotted at 7-all at halftime, Creighton went to work through the airwaves by zipping 34-yard TD spirals to Evan Cahalan and Koepp in the third quarter to build a 21-7 advantage. The Creighton-to-Koepp connection dialed long distance for a 77-yard pass play and key insurance score in the fourth frame last week.

“Belle Plaine has gotten more creative in ways to get the football to Koepp during the last two weeks, so our defense will definitely have to keep their eyes on him,” said Mahoney. “(Landon) Wadsley was the receiver who hurt us last game, and (Evan) Cahalan does a nice job finding openings in the secondary, too.”

The hard-hitting linebacking trio of Owen Terfehr, Caiden Utesch and Mason Bicknase top the Cardinals’ tackling charts with 40, 35 and 31 stops, respectively, and will look to have their hands full of Tigers’ jerseys when the section quarterfinal kicks off at 7 PM Tuesday night in Belle Plaine.

The linebacking trio of Luke Schultz, Waylon Wolf and Siegle also pace Belle Plaine’s defensive effort by hitting their home field with team-leading tackling numbers of 58, 52 and 44, respectively.

In other Section 3AAA quarterfinal play Tuesday night, No. 2-seeded Waseca (7-1) plays host to No. 7-seeded Albert Lea and No. 3-seeded Luverne (7-1) plays host to No. 6-seeded Worthington. No. 1-seeded Tri-City United (7-1) has an opening-round bye.

“It’s playoff time and anything can happen,” said Mahoney.

FAIRMONT STARTERS

OFFENSE

QB: #14 Jensen Livesay, 6-4, 205, Senior

RB: #30 Keyon Schutz, 5-11, 190, Junior

WR: #7 Brayden Williamson, 5-9, 155, Senior

WR: #5 Mason Bicknase, 6-2, 185, Junior

LT: #51 Vincent Schultz, 6-4, 175, Senior

LG: #59 Craig Schultze, 6-1, 255, Junior

C: #55 Reed Johnson, 6-5, 200, Senior

RG: #69 Luther Malo, 6-2, 240, Junior

RT: #70 Max Nielsen, 6-3, 275, Senior

TE: #81 Preston Geerdes, 6-4, 210, Junior

WR: #1 Travohn Harvey, 6-3, 145, Senior

DEFENSE

DE: #51 V. Schultz

DT: #69 Malo

NG: #74 Ethan Farnum, 6-2, 350, Senior

DE: #55 R. Johnson

OLB: #5 Bicknase

MLB: #31 Aaron Becker, 6-3, 220, Sophomore

OLB: #19 Caiden Utesch, 5-11, 175, Senior

CB: #7 Williamson

CB: #1 Harvey

SS: #6 Owen Terfehr, 6-2, 180, Senior

FS: #10 Landon Traetow, 6-0, 155, Senior

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BELLE PLAINE STARTERS

OFFENSE

QB: #12 Reed Creighton, 6-3, 185, Junior

RB: #7 Boden Siegle, 6-0, 190, Junior

SE: #17 Landon Wadsley, 6-4, 205, Junior

SE: #8 Caden Koepp, 5-9, 155, Senior

LT: #65 Aaron Johnston, 6-3, 225, Junior

LG: #74 Vincent Schaal, 5-10, 170, Junior

C: #60 Mason Bungarden, 6-1, 210, Senior

RG: #54 Zack Schultz, 5-10, 190, Senior

RT: #71 Will Posthumus, 6-4, 220, Junior

SE: #5 Evan Cahalan, 5-9, 160, Junior

SE: #6 Caleb Smith, 6-1, 150, Junior

DEFENSE

DE: #60 Bungarden

DT: #1 Teegan Cieluch, 6-3, 205, Senior

DT: #55 Logan Schultz, 5-11, 200, Sophomore

DE: #71 Posthumus

OLB: #7 Siegle

MLB: #11 Waylon Wolf, 5-10, 170, Junior

OLB: #59 Luke Schultz, 5-7, 155, Senior

CB: #3 Iker Calderon, 5-9, 165, Senior

CB: #22 Andrew Schulz, 6-0, 160, Sophomore

S: #14 Chaz Iovino, 5-9, 180, Senior

S: #5 Cahalan.