For Friday HSF plays from Iowa and CA...
*Start Time Alert..... (11 am Eastern)...
1. Gladbrook - Reinbeck -4 over St Ansgar.... 2 units..... Also,.... 2 units on the Under 45...both at (-120)...*Im subscribing to the old coaching adage, "Offense Wins Games, Defense Wins Championships".. What we have here is the #1 ranked Defense going against the #3 ranked offense in all of Iowa Prep 11 man big schools. Gladbrook-Reinbeck Rebels are a Defensive behemoth. They haven't allowed more than 14 points in a game this season. In 9 of 11 wins it held the opposition to 7 or fewer points. They lead Class A in interceptions with 17 and have 17 fumble recovery. Rebels have won 21 straight games and they are the defending Class A state champions. This is the 3rd season in a row that G-R has reached the state semi - finals. On total D Rebs allow 5.27 point per game.
On the flop side you have St Ansgar Saints who is the only team to score more than 500 points in Class A. They average 45.6 points per game. Saints have scored 40 or more in 8 of 11 games. They love to run the ball as they have ran it 484 times this season. They average 7.1 yards per carry w/52 Tds. They usually rush it 44 times a game. Their D isn't too bad either holding opponents to 12 ppg. While Saints run the ball 82% of the time they have hefted the ball with 110 pass attempts w/3 ints. St Ansgar will run at you with RB Parker Hendrickson (1,166 yards, 8.2 ypc, w/15 TDs) & Dayton Smith (1,081 yards, 6.8 ypc, w/19 TD s)
Defending champ Rebels only give up 5.3 ppg. QB Hunter Lott has been incredibly efficient hitting 70 of 109 passes (64.2% for 1,438 yards w/17 TDs with jus 2 picks). The guys that keep the scores down are D Linemen Rhett Barnes and Mason Skougard that terrorize offenses with 14 sacks between them. They have helped to contribute forcing 34 turnovers and the DBs in the backfield have 17 picks on the year. The offense makes opposition pay off of turnovers.
I consulted with Hawkeye here and he likes Gladbrook-Reinbeck and I have to agree. The Defenses should help the clock to run too, so I bought some Under also.. Gl.
Start Time 2 pm Eastern
2. St Albert +2' over Bishop Garrigan...1 unit...Also, 1 unit on the Under 37 between these two.. *Going against Hawkeye here. These two teams are almost identical on paper. Both are undefeated, St Albert Falcons average offensively 37.6 ppg while B-G Golden Bears average 36.9. On D Falcons hold at 9 ppg while Bears 7.5. Both teams run the ball out of the Power I. Both want to play the game in a phone booth.
Last time Garrigan reached the State Semi - Finals was 2005. B-G has made the playoffs 13 straight years but usually get bounced fairly early. A lesson in futility. In 2005 when they made the state semis they beat St Albert to move on to the championship. In last week's game the Garrigan D didn't allow a first down in the 3rd quarter,as they turned an 8-0 deficit into a 12-8 lead. Garrigan doesn't throw often but when it does they throw to Senior Joel Vaske (28 catches for 554 yards w/6 TDs, a 19.8 ypr) Out of the backfield is TB Gibson Behr (1,318 yards, w/18 TDs) so he will have to be accounted for. QB Brad Capesius has thrown for 860 yards with half of the passes going to the TE Vaske.
St Albert has had a couple of tight games this season and in the playoffs, however, they have played some teams with last year's playoff experience. This team is young as it will return the top 4 RBs, Top 2 WRs, and top signal caller. St Albert does have a trump card, that would be special teams play with Kicker Rodrigo Barrajas has kicked 39 of 41 X-points and has booted 7 of 9 field goals with a long of 46 yards. He also kicks it in the end zone deep prohibiting any attempt to run it out. QB Luke Water has thrown 10 TDs and has 9 more on the ground. They will call his number to exploit open lanes and option.
Definitely a Defensive game one would think. I picked St Albert because last week Bishop-Garrigan won on a last second goal line stand. The Win is being talked about as the greatest game B-G has ever played. It was a tremendously emotional game as several of the players were seen actually crying after the W. In addition, Bishop didn't play a ranked opponent this season until last weeks 12-8 game against #5. High school kids may still be nursing the hangover do I give my lean to St Albert and the Under.
