Neighboring rivals will square off in a 6-man football Washington County Showdown, Friday night.
The Otis Bulldogs will make the relatively short trip south to take on the newly-rechristened Arickaree Bison for a game with major playoff implications.
The Bulldogs and the Bison are 5-1, 3-1 in A-6 League 2, entering the league game. Otis suffered its loss to Stratton last Friday, 64-20, while Arickaree’s league loss was a close one to Genoa-Hugo. Arickaree earned a forfeit win last week, getting an extra week to prepare for Friday’s big game.
Otis is ranked No. 3 in the 6-man Top 10, while Arickaree is No. 4 (CHSAANow.com poll). The Bulldogs are No. 3 in the Rating Percentage Index, and the Bison No. 8.
Arickaree still has Stratton to play after Friday’s game, while Otis will finish the regular season with a forfeit win against Flagler, which had to cancel the rest of its season.
Both are assured playoff berths, but Friday’s winner will enhance their postseason seeding.
Otis fell into the loss column for the first time last Friday, as Stratton came to town to hand the Bulldogs a 64-20 defeat. The Eagles jumped out to a 32-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Otis put up two touchdowns in the second quarter, and one more in the fourth.
The Bulldogs’ normally-vaunted offense was held to 163 total yards, 93 passing and 76 rushing. Tayte Smith ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and Peyton Wells five yards, but the rest of the team was held to negative yardage.
Smith completed seven of 11 passes for 67 yards, Erick Thorn two of four for 24 yards, and one Carter Wells one completion for two yards. P. Wells had two catches for 26 yards, Smith and Thorn both tywo for 17 yards, Charlie Kendrick two for nine yards, Taylor Ringlein one for 15, and Sawyer Packer one for nine.
Defensively, Smith was in on eight total tackles, Kendrick four, P. Wells four, Bohden Klinzmann three, Ringlein three, Mitchell Stivers two, Thorn two, and Austin Hornung, Packer and Jacob Perry one each.
