Playoffs start Thursday in 4A District 7

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Technically, the Kansas high school football playoffs don’t start until Tuesday.

But for the four teams in Class 4A’s District 7, the playoffs start a little early.

The Girard Trojans, Chanute Blue Comets, Independence Bulldogs and the Parsons Vikings all enter Thursday’s final district game with 1-1 records.

So quite simply, win and you’re in, or lose and you’re out.

“It’s basically a playoff game in Week 9,” said Chanute’s Don Simmons, who’s in his 27th year as a head coach. “I can’t remember a district coming out like this in the final week before. This is a very competitive district. All four are good teams and, obviously, all four are capable of beating each other. It ought to be a fun Thursday night.”

It is the only district in the state that enters Week 9 in this situation.

The district comes down to two games with Girard (5-3, 1-1) traveling to Chanute (5-3, 1-1) and Independence (5-3, 1-1) traveling to Parsons (6-2, 1-1).

The game’s two winners advance to the playoffs. Points can be thrown out the window. The district winner and runner-up will be determined by head to head matchups.

If Chanute beats Girard and Independence beats Parsons, then Chanute will be the district champ and Independence will be the runner-up. If Chanute wins and Parsons wins, then Parsons will be the district champ. If Girard and Independence win, then the Bulldogs will take the district. If Girard and Parsons are victorious, the Trojans will win the district.

At this point, however, the teams can’t be concerned about what’s happening in the other game. It’s all about winning and advancing.

“Everyone’s still alive,” Girard coach Leon Miller said. “This is a very competitive district. We went in with the thought that something like this could happen. Basically, we told the players that they’re in the playoffs.”

Miller, a longtime head coach with stops at Frontenac, Parsons and Girard, said he also can’t remember being in a district where all four teams were 1-1 heading into the final week. However, he said the situation does remind him of the days when only one team advanced to the playoffs and Frontenac and Colgan battled in the final week every year.

“I can’t recall something exactly like this year,” Miller said. “But so many of those years against Colgan, the winner went to the playoffs and the loser went home. So, in those respects, it’s the same.”

The frustrating part for Miller’s Trojans is that it didn’t have to be that way.

Girard held a 20-14 halftime lead on Independence last week before falling 28-27 in overtime. The Trojans scored first in the overtime, but then allowed an Independence touchdown and two-point conversion. If Girard had won, the Trojans would be in the driver’s seat to win the district.

“It was a good ballgame,” Miller said. “Both teams played hard. We left some opportunities out there. There were more points to be had. So we’re obviously disappointed, but we understand that we’re still alive.

“We practiced (Sunday) and had a great practice. They’re still upbeat and still very confident.”

The Trojans will be facing a Chanute team that many considered the favorite entering district play. However, Parsons handed the Blue Comets a 34-13 loss last week.

Chanute will try to rebound and play the same type of football it did a week earlier when it beat Independence 18-14.

“We’re going to have to eliminate turnovers,” Simmons said. “We’re probably minus-7 for the season.”

However, Chanute’s offense has progressed throughout the season after All-State running back Jared McComb announced he was moving to Texas just days before the start of practice.

The Blue Comets had to change their offensive identity and have relied a lot on quarterback Brock Gilmore, who has passed for about 1,300 yards. Chanute running back Blake Kisner, who rushed for more than 200 yards against Parsons, was No. 6 on the depth chart before McComb left.

“It’s been fun,” Simmons said. “We’ve got a lot of people involved. We have three or four receivers with a lot of yards. We’re much more balanced.”

The Trojans like to pound the football, but they will keep teams off balance with the play-action pass. Running back Matt Perez rushed for 124 yards last week, while quarterback Brayden Johnson passed for 133.

“(Perez) is a good back,” Simmons said. “He’s pretty fast and has good balance. A good example is a play on film where he’s hit, spins out of it. Then another guy hits him, he spins again and goes like 60 yards for a score.

“We also have to watch Girard’s play-action pass. They’ve had some big plays off of that.”

The equally important district game of Independence and Parsons pits two teams coming off big wins this past Friday.

Independence’s come-from-behind win against Girard kept the Bulldogs in the playoff hunt. Actually, the Bulldogs were one play away from their playoff hopes most likely coming to a close. After Girard took a 27-20 lead in overtime, Independence scored on an 8-yard pass from Dalton Shaffer to Easton Julian. Trailing by one, the Bulldogs elected to go for two and basically put the game and their season down to one play.

Independence capitalized on the two-point conversion, but a penalty moved the Bulldogs back to the 8-yard-line.

Not fazed, Independence went for two again.

This time, the Bulldogs ran the same play to the other side and Shaffer hit Demonta Clark for the win.

“The philosophy was you go for the tie at home and the win on the road,” Independence coach Carl Boldra said. “We were going for two regardless. The kicking game already had one blocked. I prefer to put it in the quarterback’s hands. It shows the true character of our kids.”

But Independence knows it has another big challenge against Parsons.

“They’re big, they’re fast and they’re athletic,” Boldra said.

“You watch them on film, and they have down linemen who can run guys down. They may be the fastest team in the state.”

Parsons coach David Pitts said the difference between the Vikings’ loss to Girard and their win against Chanute was their speed.

“Last week against Girard, I may have pushed them too hard in practice this late in the season,” Pitts said. “They were a little tired and played flat. Against Chanute, I backed off and it showed. They had their legs underneath them.”

In a short week, both teams will try to make sure their players are well rested before Thursday.

“Everybody in this district is pretty evenly matched,” Pitts said. “This week is playoff time for us.”