Class 6 football quarterfinals find CBC meeting De Smet; Lafayette hosting Eureka

Two rematches highlight the Class 6 district finals or state quarterfinals Friday (Nov. 9).

The Suburban West Conference rematch features the Eureka Wildcats (9-2) going to meet the undefeated Lafayette Lancers (11-0). The Metro Catholic Conference rematch finds the De Smet Spartans (8-3) traveling to face the undefeated CBC Cadets (11-0).

Both games will have 7 p.m. kickoffs.

During the regular season, the Cadets thumped De Smet 49-12 in Week 7. That result means little now, CBC coach Scott Pingel said. The teams have evolved since then.

“You know playing someone twice a year is tough,” Pingel said. “I know that we both are different teams this time around.  Playing someone five weeks later is like playing a new opponent or at least that is how we are approaching it.”

It was not the best game of the season for his Spartans, De Smet coach Pat Mahoney noted

“They played very well and we played poorly. They made some things happen and we allowed some things to happen,” Mahoney said. “That is the way most games go, but you cannot beat a good team and make mistakes.”

Are those mistakes fixable? Mahoney said he hopes so.

“We focused on our mistakes and hopefully correct them,” Mahoney said.

It was CBC’s night in the first game.

“We played pretty well that night and had a few breaks go our way,” Pingel said. “Jonathan Parker played extremely well that night.”

Parker, a senior running back, scored four touchdowns for the Cadets. He found the end zone on runs of 36 and 9 yards besides catching a 76-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Creath. Parker also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 125 yards rushing.”

Pingel has gone back and looked at much game film of the Spartans. He said De Smet has got

“We have seen parts of the game that looks the same but for the most part we have looked at what they have done since Week 7, which has been pretty impressive.”

De Smet will be fired up, “without a doubt,” Pingel said about the rematch.

Mahoney agreed.

“We should be very amped,” Mahoney said. “It is what you work for all year.”

For the Spartans to reach the semifinals in their bid to play in the championship game at the Edward Jones Done, they must “score when the opportunities are there and make them earn their points,” Mahoney said.

“They are a great team,” Mahoney said about CBC. “We will have to play our best and get some breaks.”

For his part, Pingel said his Cadets must play well on defense.

“We have to be able to slow down their run game and athletic QB and try to sneak in a few TDs on offense and special teams.” Pingel said.

CBC finished second in the state last year. There is no chance the Cadets are overlooking De Smet.

“No, it is easy to stay focused playing a team like De Smet,” Pingel said. “We have been at home for quite a while and we love playing in front of our crowd.”

In the other quarterfinal, Eureka will try to reverse the outcome of the season opener. The Wildcats lost 35-14 at Lafayette.

“From the first game, we could not get out of our own way especially in turnovers,” Eureka coach Farrell Shelton said. “We gave them two series inside our 30-yard line by fumbling, so we never gave ourselves a chance. Lafayette is the class of the conference as I said before the season began and you cannot give the more or favorable opportunities.”

The Wildcats lost their second game but are undefeated since then. Shelton said that’s a result of protecting the football.

“Our season has gone well once we realized how important turnovers are in high school football and over the last five games we are on the plus side of turnovers,” Shelton said.

Still, Shelton said he realizes it will be a battle Friday night to advance to the semifinals.

“For us to be successful on Friday, we will have to win the turnover battle, field position through special teams and not give up big plays on defense,” Shelton said.