The Festus Tigers are primed for the playoffs after a big win over St. Charles West last Friday. The Varsity Football squad will take on the Sikeston Bulldogs in round one of the Class 4 District 1 playoffs. Because of the seeding, the Tigers will host the game and hopefully use their home field advantage wisely.
The 5-4 Tigers blew out the Warriors last week 49-7 behind big games from QB Cole Rickermann, WR Arhmad Branch and RB Landen Bradshaw. Rickermann was 8-of-10 for 202 yards and three TDS, hooking up with Branch for two of them and feeding him 115 yards through the air. On the ground, Bradshaw was a beast, ripping off 190 yards and a pair of scores on just 12 carries. It was one of the most decisive wins of the season, and a much needed one.
The Tigers have had an up-and-down 2021 campaign, losing four close games by a touchdown or less on their last possession, but to their credit, their wins have pretty much all come in convincing fashion. The good news is the Tigers get to wipe the slate clean and start fresh in the playoff bracket. After going 2-3 in their district matchups they earned the three seed and will try and dispatch a troubled and struggling Sikeston squad.
The Bulldogs were 3-6 in the regular season, but went 0-4 in the SE Missouri North division and will have a tremendous uphill battle on Friday night against these Tigers. They have won just one of their last seven contests and have been outscored 250-122. Sixty-two of those points came in one game against the lowly Charleston Bluejays, who are just 1-8 on the season.
The Tigers found a nice mix last week with the running game and the passing game working in tandem. They will likely have to do the same again this week to have a similar result against Sikeston as they did with St. Charles West.
The game will be in Festus on Friday, October 29th. Put your game face on Tiger fans. The playoffs are here and kickoff is at 7pm.
Good luck Tigers!
