Essentially, a play-in game will be taking place Thursday night in Goodland as Thomas More Prep – Marian will take on the Cowboys for a chance to make the playoffs.
The Monarchs (5-3) put themselves in a position to make the postseason for the first time since 2002 when they defeated Norton 20-19 last Friday. The victory marked an end to seven straight district game defeats. TMP now sits at 1-1 in Class 3A, District 15. Goodland is also 1-1, setting up the scenario of whoever wins Thursday’s game will make it to the playoffs as the District 15 runner-up. Phillipsburg is 2-0 and has already defeated both schools.
The Herd may have put together their best defensive effort last week against Norton. TMP forced 5 turnovers against the Blue Jays without their leading tackler, senior Austin Werth who tore his ACL and MCL two weeks ago.
Goodland made the playoffs last year as the district runner-up, and hold a 4-4 record so far this fall. The Cowboys saw a three-game winning streak come to an end last week as they lost to Phillipsburg 35-21. Senior quarterback Reed Bellamy’s numbers are down a bit from last year, but Goodland has used the rushing attack more this year. Sophomore Dax Ruhs has rushed for 523 yards this year and is coming off a 116-yard effort last week.
Stat Watch:
While senior Nick Hammeke owns just about every passing record at Thomas More Prep – Marian, fellow senior Jacob Fouts is closing in on a few receiving records.
– Fouts, who has 39 receptions on the season, needs just five more catches to claim the most receptions in a season.
– Fouts only needs 38 more receiving yards to own the career receiving yards record at TMP set by Tracey Hoffman in the late 1980’s with 951 yards.
– Fouts already has the school record for career receptions with 72.
Keep in mind, Shane Zimmerman is close behind Fouts in all these categories and Zimmerman is only a junior this year.
If you’re traveling out to the game in Goodland this Thursday night, it will start up at 6:00 Mountain Time. For those listening here in the Hays area, it’s the same start as usual. The Fort Hays Auto Sales Pregame Show will begin at 6:30PM with kickoff at 7:00 on KAYS (1400-AM) or listen online right here at Hayspost.com.
WATCH: