Bison start district play with trip to Hastings

McCook (5-1) at Hastings (4-2)
Friday, Oct. 7 Kickoff 7 p.m.
At Lloyd Wilson Field, Hastings

If you asked Bison head coach Jeff Gross, he'd say the next three weeks are his favorite of the season.

McCook starts up district play this week, as does the rest of Class B. For Gross, Friday's game at Hastings High begins the Bison's quest for another district championship.

"When you get to this part of the year, good teams get better," he said. "We call it 'working through the grind,' and it's supposed to be an exciting time. It's the best time of the year."

"Our goals year-in and year-out are to win our district and set ourselves up in a position to make a run in the playoffs," he continued.

The Bison's first challenge in the B-7 District is a road trip to Lloyd Wilson Field to take on the Hastings Tigers. In recent years, Hastings has not made a serious run for the district title, but the Tigers sit at 4-2 heading into this contest.

Hastings presents a contrast in offensive style to what Scottsbluff ran last week. The Tigers like to spread the field and throw the ball, much different than the "shoebox" formations and running game that the Bearcats featured.

"Hastings spreads you out from sideline-to-sideline and all the way to the back of the endzone," Gross said. "That's a change, but our kids have really jumped on that opportunity. I've liked the way we're practiced this week."

Regardless of what the Tigers will run, the focus for McCook remains the same: eliminate the run and don't give up big plays.

"Our philosophy always remains the same," Gross said. "If we can stick to that motto this week, and force Hastings to have to throw the football, then it will make it easier to defend their passing game."

Zach Schlager (1), Dunncan Rogers (22) and Cade Cappel (33) will be part of a strong McCook offense aiming to keep Hastings off the field. Photo by Steve Towery/McCook Gazette.

One other remedy to Hastings' offense will be the Bison ground game. Keeping the Tiger offense off the field will limit the chances Hastings has to stay in the game.

McCook is averaging nearly 330 yards per contest, with 268 coming on the ground. Having sustained drives and wearing the Tiger defense out, like McCook has done in most of their games this season, can be a difference on Friday night.

The Bison don't have one standout in the rushing statistics, but they do have a trio of backs with over 350 rushing yards this season. Zach Schlager leads the way with 458 yards and three touchdowns, while Dunncan Rogers is close behind with 443 yards and six scores. Cade Cappel has found paydirt four times along with rushing for 356 yards.

On the injury front, Gross expects Ben Bradley to make his return this Friday. Bradley's ability to play in space at linebacker will be a welcomed addition against Hastings' spread attack.

"Ben is really, really good in space, so it's important that he's on the field," Gross noted. "You can't take away the experience he brings."

Hastings High

The Tigers have already made a noticeable turnaround under second-year head coach Charlie Shoemaker. At 4-2, Hastings has already eclipsed its win total from last season, when the Tigers went 3-6. It's certainly attainable for the Tigers to flip that record to 6-3 this season.

"The kids knew about our expectations last season, but we got started late in the offseason and our conditioning levels were where we wanted them," Shoemaker said. "This year, we've had a full offseason together and it's showed."

The Tigers' two losses have been close to the end. On opening night, Hastings had three turnovers in the red zone, including two inside the ten yard line, in a 21-13 loss at Scottsbluff. At Sidney, the Tigers lost a 14-0 lead and couldn't stop the Red Raiders' momentum in a 35-28 loss.

"That Sidney loss is one that I think we all want back," Shoemaker said. "But we've used it as a learning experience."

The Tigers feature a balanced passing attack, led by senior quarterback Vinny Schmidt. Schmidt has completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,142 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, while throwing just four interceptions. He's added an additional 188 yards on the ground.

Schmidt's top targets are Adler Cade (26 receptions for 382 yards and four touchdowns) and Connor Laux (14 receptions for 275 yards and two touchdowns). Tate Pfiefer is the leading rusher for Hastings, with 421 yards and two touchdowns.

Final Thoughts

With Holdrege and Lexington both 1-5 entering their own B-7 game, McCook and Hastings know that whoever wins this game will be in the driver's seat to a district title. Gross is aware of that.

Still, the message doesn't change. One game at a time, and let the results speak for themselves.

"Each one of our next three games is the de-facto district championship."

Projected Lineups

McCook Bison

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

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Hastings Tigers

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

McCook head coach Jeff Gross

"I've liked the way we've practiced. McCook's built around defense, and our defense has had such a great week of practice"

"For us, our focus this week has been making sure we're getting better at something."

"You're either getting better or you're getting worse. Work hard to get better. That's been our mojo this week. Even though we've played really good football these first six weeks, there's still stuff we can get better at."

"The importance of district games in football get lost, because people think 'making it to state' means making the state finals. This week, our softball team's gonna go compete in the district tournament, our golf team won their district tournament. That's what we're in right now. So we need to treat this like the most important time of the season."