Lenox faces a stretch of four games against four Eight-Man District 8 playoff contenders.
That gauntlet kicks off 7 p.m. Friday when the ninth-ranked Tigers host East Mills (4-1, 2-1).
“To us, this is the meat of our schedule,” Lenox head coach Allen Dukes said. “We have East Mills, Fremont-Mills, Stanton and CAM. Those are the four teams that it came down to last year and it looks like it’s the same way this year. We still have to look at it one game at a time. East Mills is a very good football team. We just have to take care of business.”
East Mills is coming off a 24-22 loss to second-ranked Fremont-Mills last week, in which the Knights scored a touchdown and winning 2-point conversion in the final seconds of the game.
East Mills senior Josh Hopkins finished with 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in the loss, while Ben Christensen passed for 86 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground.
Hopkins has 755 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns for the season, averaging 7.3 yards per carry and 151 rushing yards per game.
“We know that we have to slow him down,” Dukes said. “You’re not going to stop him. We just have to contain him. We’re going to have to make either Christensen or (Luke) Stortenbecker pick up some of the slack.”
One of the biggest keys for Lenox to be able to slow down Hopkins will be getting strong games out of defensive ends Spencer Brown and Sam Donaldson.
Brown is the second-leading tackler on the team with 23 tackles and 10 solo sacks. Brown’s size at 6-8, 240 pounds, makes him a matchup problem for opposing teams. After recording six solo sacks in the season opener against East Union, Brown has consistently faced double teams and been chipped by running backs.
“We know what they like to do and our defensive ends have to step up and have a big game,” Dukes said. “We can’t have anybody get outside. We have to make sure we maintain our control on the outside edge to allow our linebackers to make plays. Spencer had that big game with East Union and since then people have doubled him and run a back at him to chip on him.
“He has to really fight through a lot of things. By them doing that to him, then it’s going to allow Sam and Leevi Marshall to wreak havoc in the backfield, chase things down from behind. Our ends have to plug everything up.”
Passing attack
Though East Mills relies heavily on the 5-5, 176-pound Hopkins in the run game, the Wolverines are also plenty capable of taking advantage of a strong passing game.
Christensen has completed 60.4 percent of his passes this year for 507 yards and eight touchdowns compared to just two interceptions.
Miguel Sanchez has 217 yards and three receiving touchdowns on eight catches, while Hopkins has 11 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
“Our defensive backs have to be awake,” Dukes said. “On film, it looks like they’re going to run, run, run and then get you to bite and they’ll throw a play action at you. Your defensive backs are coming up and their receivers are standing behind you wide open. This week we’ve worked on making sure our defensive backs stay with receivers and make reads.”
On the other side, Lenox hopes to use its ground game to set up its passing attack. The Tigers will need to move East Mills’ 255-pound nose guard and make sure someone is blocking Hopkins on every play.
Hopkins leads East Mills with 41 total tackles, including seven solo tackles for loss, from his linebacker position.
“We can’t allow him to run free, because he’s going to cause a lot of problems,” Dukes said. “We have to run the ball to open our passing game, but if we have to throw the ball consistently, we have five kids we can throw the ball to and we’re not afraid to throw it to anyone.”
Lenox quarterback Carson Cline has also completed 60.4 percent of his passes this year, throwing for 574 yards with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Taking care of the ball has been a strength for Lenox so far this year and will be a big key in Friday’s game, along with limiting penalties.
“Carson has to play very well. He’s done a really nice job all year controlling our offense, time management, making his progressions, hitting the open receiver,” Dukes said. “We just have to play the best football game we’ve played all year on Friday night.”
In Eight-Man District 7, East Union (3-2 overall) finishes up its non-district schedule by traveling to Charter Oak-Ute (1-2).
Murray, 3-3 overall and 2-1 in District 7, faces a big opportunity when it travels to Coon Rapids-Bayard on Friday.
The Crusaders are 3-2 overall, but 2-0 in District 7 play. A win over Coon Rapids-Bayard would vault Murray into contention for a top-two finish in District 7 and a home playoff game.
Playoff implications
For two area teams, the playoffs essentially begin Friday.
In Class A District 8, Nodaway Valley must win its next three games going into the season finale against Bedford. The Wolverines could receive a huge boost from the Mount Ayr team that beat the Wolverines 61-0 last week.
A Mount Ayr win over rival Bedford in the 82nd meeting between the two teams Friday in Bedford could set up a potential one-game playoff for the final playoff spot in District 8 if the Wolverines can win the next three games.
Nodaway Valley’s playoffs start 7 p.m. Friday at home against Clarinda Academy, which enters the game at 0-5 overall and 0-3 in district play. Nodaway Valley is 1-4 and 0-3.
Mount Ayr enters its game against Bedford at 3-2 overall and 3-0 in District 8 play, while Bedford is 3-2 overall, but 1-2 in district play.
The Raiders have outscored their last three opponents by a combined score of 165-0.
Southwest Valley, at 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Class 1A District 8 play, hosts Central Decatur (2-3, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.
While a third loss wouldn’t eliminate either team from playoff contention, it would put either team’s back against the wall.
Central Decatur is coming off back-to-back losses after opening the season 2-1. Southwest Valley, meanwhile, has lost four in a row after opening the season with a win.