The second season for Manitowoc Lutheran and Reedsville starts the way the regular season ended, playing one another. This time The Panthers will have home-field advantage when the Big East Conference rivals meet in a WIAA Division Six, Level One playoff game. The Lancers are riding a four-game winning streak, including a 14 to 7 victory over The Panthers last week at Lancer Circle. Head Coach Ryan Hulse says his team is playing some of their best ball of the season.
“I’m proud of the way they’ve battled this year,” Hulse described. “Their goal is to get to state, and we feel great as we prepare for the journey to get to Madison.”
It’s been a “streaky season” for Reedsville as they finished the regular season with a record of 5 and 4. Head Coach Sam Shafer says his team is thankful to continue playing.
Shafer explained, “I’m glad to get another opportunity to redeem ourselves from last week. We’re grateful to get seeded where we are after our rollercoaster season and playing at home, we hope will be a huge advantage.”
Seehafer Sports asked Coach Hulse about meeting The Panthers in consecutive weeks.
“I don’t think we necessarily played a clean game, but we found a way to win, and that’s what it takes in the playoffs,” he explained. “It was 14 to 7, not a lot of scoring but that game certainly prepared us for this game and hopefully more to come.”
Both Head Coaches feel their defenses have been overlooked by the pundits and agree that ball control plus limiting turnovers will be key factors in moving on. Coach Shafer on other intangibles it’ll take for the Panthers to advance.
“I thought we played a solid game last week, but still made too many mistakes for our liking,” he said. “We need to play near perfect football, keep the game out of the referee’s hands, play downhill smashmouth football and make them throw it, where our athletes on the back end can take care of business.”
Coverage of tonight’s game begins at 6:40 p.m. on 980 and 97.1 WCUB and cubradio.com.
