No. 1-ranked Spartans will take advantage of bye week

Exira-EHK has run the gauntlet, will open playoffs next week at home with No. 1 seed

By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Oct. 25, 2013

EXIRA – With the regular season already behind them, and it’s hard to find fault or weakness in anything Exira-EHK has done so far.

The Spartans, ranked No. 1 in the state by most media outlets including the Associated Press, closed out the schedule last week at Ar-We-Va with a tidy 56-6 victory over the Rockets. Exira-EHK now heads into a bye week with a jumpstart on the playoffs.

“I really like where we are at,” Exira-EHK head coach Tom Petersen said this week. “When I look at how we played last week at Ar-We-Va, and the week before that against Southwest Valley…I feel like our team is playing its best football of the year, on both sides of the ball.

“We are right where we want to be heading into the playoffs.”

Exira-EHK rolled up an 8-0 record and repeated as District 7 champions in compelling fashion. Residing in what might be the most competitive district in 8-Man Football, the Spartans dominated the field, dispatching ranked teams Glidden-Ralston (47-7) and Coon Rapids-Bayard (49-12) in what were supposed to be stiff challenges. Moreover, the Spartans stepped out of the district and hammered Southwest Valley (68-13), who appears to be on its way towards locking up District 8.

Practices have been short and intense for the Spartans, who will spend the time afforded them working on fundamentals and communication, not to mention adding new wrinkles to the playbook. 

Also, coach Petersen is looking to the practice sessions as an opportunity to polish up the passing attack as quarterback Drew Peppers works back to becoming completely healthy after being somewhat limited previously with a sore shoulder.

“We have not done a lot of pass routes in practice,” coach Petersen says. “But Drew is back to 100 percent, and we’ve spent the last five or six days giving him a lot of reps. And, you can tell it’s paying off, just in the little amount of time he’s been given.”

Furthermore, the Spartans will revisit their attempt earlier in the season of speeding things up offensively. In August, Exira-EHK had envisioned an offense that could run plays a mere four seconds after the ball was set. Injuries and other circumstances have forced the Spartans to table those plans, but now, Exira-EHK is back at full strength, and is ready to plug-in the hurry-up offense again.

“We’re going to utilize it a little more,” coach Petersen says of the no-huddle. 

“We haven’t been able to try it really since Week 1 because our personnel hasn’t allowed us to do it. It’s something different, and a change every once in a while is a good thing. It’s refreshing to do something different.”

Forced to do with what it had that was healthy, the Spartans certainly have found success so far.

Drew Peppers leads the team with 1,360 yards and 27 touchdowns on 154 carries, and the return of senior Trey Sander has been a big plus. Sander is averaging 10.2 yards-per-carry with 653 yards and 11 TDs while running the ball, not to mention his efforts through the air (seven catches for 72 yards and 2 TDs) and on special teams, where he’s returned four punts for scores.

Plug Nick Peppers and Tate Simpson into that offense, amongst others, and the Spartans have choices.

“We’ve got more than one weapon,” coach Petersen says. “We’ve got better receivers on the outside than we’ve had in year’s past, not to mention that we have three skill position players back there who can turn things in at any time. And that feeds into everything else.”

Coach Petersen says he will spend the rare Friday night off scouting the game in Anita between CAM and Sidney, who are battling for a third seed in District 8. The loser of that game will travel to Exira to face the Spartans in the playoff opener on Oct. 30 in a match-up of No. 1 and No. 4 seeds.

“It’s a good opportunity because you can only get so much off film, you don’t get a realistic feel for the speed of the game,” coach Petersen says. 

“And, I am not going to lie, it’s going to be nice to have a Friday night off to go watch somebody else rather than be so stressed out.”