PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Two high-powered offenses battle in conference clash

HILLS — Together the teams average nearly 100 points per game.

But when Hills-Beaver Creek and Edgerton/Ellsworth take the field tonight in a Southern Confederacy football game, the two teams are only worried about one thing:

Scoring one more point than the other team.

“We’ve had some good fortune and have been able to make some big plays,” said E/E head coach Andrew Fleischman, whose team is averaging 56.4 points per game this season. “We definitely anticipate a much lower scoring game. We just hope that we keep it close and we hope to have a chance to win at the end. As far as scoring goes, our philosophy is that we need to score as many points as it takes to win and hold them to as few points as it takes to win. That means we have to score a bunch or not score very many, we can’t worry about that. We just have to try to do our best. We just hope to be in the game in the fourth quarter.”

On the other side, H-BC head coach Rex Metzger, whose team averages 40.6 points per game, hopes to keep it a low-scoring game.

“Hopefully we can contain them and I hope it doesn’t get to be a shootout,” Metzger said. “Hopefully defensively we can do some things to kind of slow them down a little bit.”

But how can you slow down one of the top scoring offenses in the state?

“They can spread you out and throw it or they can pound the ball. We’re hoping to contain them somewhat,” Metzger said. “The thing about them is that they do so many things well on offense, it’s hard to pick one area that we can stop them in. Obviously, they can run the ball and now they have the threat of passing, so defensively, you kind of pick your poison with them.”

The Flying Dutchmen enter tonight’s game with a perfect 5-0 record and a No. 4 ranking in the state. The Patriots (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season last week in a one-point game against second-ranked Nicollet.

“That was definitely a good game for us to play in all four quarters and play a good, physical team like Nicollet,” Metzger said. “We kind of got banged up a little bit, so we’re just hoping we can go in healthy against Edgerton. It was definitely good to play a team like that. I thought we matched up pretty well with them and hopefully that prepares us and makes us better for this game.”

Fleischman thinks that loss will make H-BC even more ready for the Dutchmen.

“We anticipate that they are going to come out hungry and will be flying around the football and ready to play,” the coach said. “They have a good team and I’m sure they have a lot of confidence after playing Nicollet so tough. They do a lot of things very, very well and we anticipate having our hands full.”

In other Southern Confederacy Conference action, Nicollet (5-0), fresh off its one-point victory against H-BC, will take its No. 2 ranking on the road against Westbrook-Walnut Grove (4-1).

Third-ranked Luverne (5-0, 4-0) travels to Worthington (1-4, 0-3) as the Trojans look for two wins in a row in a Southwest Conference game.

Redwood Valley (2-3, 0-3), will shoot for its first conference victory against Pipestone Area (1-4, 1-3), while West Central (S.D.) travels to 10th-ranked Jackson County Central (4-1) as the Huskies take a break from SWC play.

Marshall (4-1, 2-1) will face Windom (4-1, 2-1) in a game that will be played in Lamberton.

In Southern Minnesota Conference action, Red Rock Central (3-2) travels to Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (2-3), while Southwestern United (0-5) travels to third-ranked Springfield (5-0). Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin (2-3) will look to get back on the winning track as Sleepy Eye (1-4) visits the Wolverines.

Murray County Central (0-5) travels to MACCRAY (3-2) as the Rebels search for their first victory of this season. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (0-5) travels to Fulda (3-2), while Tracy-Milroy-Balaton travels to Lakeview in a battle of 4-1 teams. Adrian (5-1) was scheduled to play Renville County West and will receive a forfeit victory.

In Iowa, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (3-3, 2-2) will try to recover from last week’s heart-breaking overtime loss at No. 8-ranked Western Christian (5-1, 3-1) in a Class 2A District 1 game.

No. 10-ranked Sheldon (5-1, 3-1) hosts Unity Christian (3-3, 2-2) in another District 1 game.

Sibley-Ocheyedan (5-1, 3-1) hosts second-ranked Emmetsburg (6-0, 4-0) in a Class 1A, District 2 game.

In 8-player action, Harris-Lake Park (2-4, 1-3) hosts seventh-ranked Graettinger-Terril (5-1, 3-1) in a District 2 game.

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