Southwestern tries to stay in football playoff contention

Sep 18, 2015 1:30 PM

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Southwestern is 1-2 going into a matchup tonight at Gillespie and needs a win to keep in playoff contention.

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Piasa Birds’ coach Aaron Fricke said Gillespie runs almost an identical offense to Litchfield, who they faced last week.

“The mix in some passing,” Fricke said of Gillespie. The weather is predicted to be rainy, so I expect a battle of the ground game. We need to get a win this week to keep our hopes up for the playoffs. The last few games of our schedule are our toughest, so we can’t afford to lose this week. We have don’t have any injuries thankfully.”

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Southwestern lost 15-14 last week to Litchfield and Fricke said his team fought hard and had a chance to win.

“I can’t ask for more than that,” he said. “I am very proud of the way they handled the adversity of the game. We have to be mentally sharp. We had a couple sloppy practices last week and I feel like it translated into the game where we committed four turnovers and too many penalties. The conference is so even this year that every game will feel like a playoff atmosphere. We can’t overlook anyone.”

Fricke said the key is to keep his team focused and “I think these close games will go in our favor

Clay Robinson has been he leader for the Piasa Birds on offense at quarterback and continues to improve despite only being a sophomore.

Scott Kasting has seven catches for 192 yards and four touchdowns at his receiver position, Josh Manns has snared six catches. Ryan Paslay has 38 carries for 285 yards on the ground. Tanner Whipps leads the team in tackles with 14, followed by Braden Whipps with 12 tackles.

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