Both Winona Christian and Carroll Academy will play in the first round of the MAIS Class 3A playoffs this week.
The Stars finished with an 8-2 record and were the No. 8 seed and will host Indianola on Friday night in first round action. The winner will face top-seeded Riverfield in the second round.
Indianola is 3-7 on the season with wins over Benton (20-0), Central Holmes (28-14) and West Memphis (42-24). They have losses to North Delta (43-14), Lee (49-7), Marshall (35-7), Kirk (34-6), Washington (41-34) and Canton (38-28). The Stars beat the Colonels 40-7 on Sept. 13.
“I think they have gotten a lot better as the season has went along,” WCS coach Ashley Kuhn said. “They brought up their ninth grade quarterback and he manages the game well. They were able to move the old quarterback to running back and it makes them a lot better on offense. But they are well coached and have gotten a lot better. I know we beat them early in the season and that’s what you hate about playing somebody in the playoffs you have already beaten. And with our quarterback banged up, we are not as dynamic on offense. For most of the season, we haven’t had an injury and now we’ve gotten banged up the last two weeks.”
Meanwhile, Carroll finished as the No. 10 seed despite a 1-8 record and will face North Delta in first-round action on Friday. North Delta beat Carroll 35-6 just two weeks ago. North Delta is 6-4 on the season and also has wins over Indianola (43-13), Benton (47-14), Strayhorn (35-7), Lee (20-7) and West Memphis (42-8). They have losses to Magnolia Heights (56-20), Marshall (28-0), Winona (42-21) and Kirk (35-6).
“I still like our chances against them,” Carroll coach Bo Milton said. “I think they played one of their best games and we played one of our worst. Let’s get that to the middle and see what happens. We have Cohen Blaylock back this week and he didn’t play that game. Maybe we can get a break. It’s hard to explain but we are better than a 1-8 football team. My only explanation is nothing has gone our way.”
