Otis High School’s football team snapped a three-game skid with a win in its regular-season finale, setting them up for the 6-man postseason.
The Bulldogs cruised to a 74-42 win at highly-ranked Eads last Saturday, finishing the regular season with a 7-3 record. They had lost three straight to three of the top four teams in 6-man prior to last Saturday.
Otis is the fifth seed in the 16-team playoff field, which begins this weekend. The Bulldogs will host 12th-seed Fleming, which has a short trip from the north. Eads ended up as the sixth seed, on the opposite side of the bracket from No. 1 Idalia, but still has second-seed Stratton and third-seed Cheyenne Wells on its side.
Fleming travels to Otis with a 4-6 record. The Wildcats concluded the regular season with a 30-26 loss to seventh-seed Caliche. They won three games in September, but only one of their last five, including losses to Cheyenne Wells, Peetz, Idalia and Caliche.
The score-by-quarters was not available for last Saturday’s Otis win at Eads. However, the offense obviously regained its form with 74 points. The Bulldogs had 699 total yards.
Senior quarterback Austin Hornung apparently is fully back from an early-season injury, completing 18 of 23 pass attempts for 427 yards and seven touchdowns. Mitchell Stivers had three catches for 150 yards and three touchdowns, Gracen Bechtle four catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns, Emiliano Varela six for 86 yards, Grady Bechtle one for 31 yards, Gavin Price a 14-yard TD reception, Cambric Klinzmann a 12-yard TD catch, and Blake Stivers two catches for 11 yards.
The Bulldogs also racked up 272 yards on the ground. M. Stivers ran for 233 yards and three touchdowns, B. Stivers two for 34 yards and a score, and Klinzmann one for five yards. M. Stivers had 383 total yards and six touchdowns.
M. Stivers also had an interception, along with Varela. Gracen Bechtle was in on 10 total tackles, Price nine, M. Stivers eight, Hornung six, Grady Bechtle five, Malakye Reese four, B. Stivers four, Varela three, Klinzmann three, Travis Wood two, Aiden Horinek two, and Austin Sauer one.
Arickaree heads north
The Arickaree football team has qualified for the 6-man playoffs again, but has a tall order in the first round.
The Bison, 5-5, qualified as the 13th-seed and travels to fourth-seed Peetz on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Arickaree had a bye last week heading into the playoffs. The Bison ended the regular season with three straight wins. Their five losses have come against five of the top-six teams in 6-man, including at Peetz on September 26.
Peetz is 9-0, including wins over seventh-seed Caliche and fifth-seed Otis. The Buffaloes also had a bye last week after concluding the regular season on October 25 with a home win over Otis. The winner of Friday’s game will meet the winner of the Otis-Fleming game next week in the quarterfinals.