Let the playoff games begin

There is something special about playoff football and with that in mind, it's going to be a special weekend of high school football along the Hi-Line.

Thanks to outstanding regular seasons, the Chinook Sugarbeeters, Chester/J-I Hawks and Box Elder Bears will all have home playoff games this weekend and all enter the postseason with realistic hopes of competing for a state championship.

All three teams will begin their state title quests on Saturday at 1 p.m. Chinook will host Culbertson-Bainville, the Hawks will take on Broadus and Jordan will travel to Box Elder.

The Beeters and the Hawks, who finished first and second in the Northern C, will be fighting it out in the 8-Man state playoffs, while the Bears, who are making their first playoff appearance in two decades, will be taking part in the Class C Six-Man playoffs.

Of the three teams, only one has recent playoff experience and that is Chinook, which was the 8-Man runner up a season ago after losing in the state championship game to Wibaux. That experience should bode well for the Beeters this weekend, as they look to win their 12th consecutive game at Hoon Field and fourth straight in the postseason dating back to last season.

"Our kids really like playing at home," Chinook head coach Scott Friede said. "In the playoffs everything is magnified. It seems like one bad play is the end of the world and I think our kids understand how to deal with that. They know you just have to keep playing. But they also know what it's like to play in these types of games and I think that's why were are much more relaxed this year than we were last year."

The Beeters (8-0) rode a dominant defense to an undefeated regular season and over the course of the season they allowed an average of just more than eight points per game. Yet, Chinook is far from one-sided and boasts an offense that scored 59 points per game and racked up more than 400 yards per outing.

The Beeters have one of the better quarterbacks in 8-Man football in Ian McIntosh, who helped guide Chinook to the championship game a season ago and a second straight Northern C title this year. The senior is a threat with both his arm and his legs as he tossed 15 touchdown passes, while also rushing for 309 yards and seven touchdowns.

Yet as important as McIntosh has been, the dynamic rushing duo of Tate Niederegger (840 rush yards, 14 TD's) and Derek Bell (342 rush yards and nine TD's), has been the key to Chinook's dominant offense this season and will continue to be Saturday against Culbertson-Bainville.

"The weather is getting more unpredictable," Friede said. "So being able to come out and run the football is going to be important. Our offensive line has done a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage all season long and that's something we hope will continue."

The Cowboys, who are the fourth-place team from the Eastern C, started the season 4-2 but lost their final two games to finish the season 4-4.

"They have a good quarterback and some talented receivers," Friede said. "So it's going to be important for us to slow them down and keep them in check."

While Chinook is doing battle against Culbertson-Bainville, C/J-I will be hosting Broadus (5-3), a team that made it to the 8-Man quarterfinals a season ago. One thing that the Hawks have going for them is that they possess quite possibly the best individual player in the state in 8-Man football in Justin May. The senior running back, who is soon to be a three-time All-State selection, had another stellar campaign in 2015, finishing with 891 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.

May is also an elite pass-catcher and hauled in 26 receptions for 248 yards and three scores to go along with an astounding six punt or kick return touchdowns this season. C/J-I also boasts a talented quarterback in Brandon Richter, who threw for 1,233 yards and 19 touchdowns, as well as a pair of talented tight ends in Corey Ricther and Troy Harmon.

"The thing about playoff football is that you need to win the turnover battle, and that will be a big key for us," C/J-I head coach Jim Vinson said. "The kids are really excited about playing this game and we should have a great atmosphere."

Broadus, the third-place team from the Eastern C, comes into the game with an offense that scores 44 points per game and a respectable 5-3 record. Yet, its defense allowed more than 30 points per game, which doesn't bode well against a C/J-I offense that averaged 60 points a game and a defense that surrendered just 20.

"Broadus is a solid football team," Vinson said, "but I think playing in the Northern C has really prepared us for the playoffs and given us a lot of confidence that we can compete against anybody."

Box Elder, which went 7-1 this season and was one point away from winning the Six-Man North last week, will host its first home playoff game in decades and will be heavily favored against Jordan (6-2), the third-place team from the East.

Throughout the season, the Bears have dominated the competition thanks to an offense that scored more than 55 points per game and scored less than 50 just twice.

Led by All-State signal caller Brandon The Boy, Box Elder has built a dynamic passing game that features receivers Jerrod Four Colors and Shane Ketchum. The Bears also run it as well as anyone in Six-Man football behind the running of Ketchum, The Boy and Bodis Duran.

However, the Bears have a championship-caliber defense as well, and despite a difficult schedule, Box Elder allowed just more than 16 points per game. Yet the Bears defense will be challenged by a Jordan club that has won back-to-back games coming into the playoffs and scored more than 57 points per game during the regular season.

Regardless of what happens it will be a historic day in Box Elder Saturday when Jordan and the Bears meet to open the Six-Man playoffs. Chinook and C/J-I will open their respective playoff runs against Culbertson-Bainville and Broadus respectively. All games will kick off at 1 p.m.