Tonight at 7, the Otis-Bison High School football team will travel to Claflin to challenge Central Plains.
The Cougars are coming off of a 58-14 rout of St. John, while Central Plains blanked Word of Life, 56-0.
Both teams’ victories were earned on the ground.
The Eight-Man Division-II state runner-up was led by Dylan Wissman, who rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He added another two touchdown receptions from quarterback Trevor Keller.
Piper Patrick also found the end zone on a 3-yard run as well.
The Oilers were led by Benn Kirmer, who rushed for 173 yards on six carries and three touchdowns.
Nick Schepmann added 73 yards and two touchdowns.
“We have just got to get a lot of guys to the football,” Otis-Bison head coach Travis Starr said. “We need to work on fundamental tackling. You can’t miss any tackles against these guys. You got to get as many guys as you can to try to limit the running lanes that they have.”
In a game with two powerful running offenses, it may be who can take to the air that takes control of the game.
Cougars quarterback Trevor Keller started a little shaky last Friday night, throwing a pair of interceptions early in the game against the Tigers.
However, he was able to settle down and finish the game 8 for 13 for 176 yards and three touchdowns.
“I think he’s been looking pretty good in practice,” Starr said. “In practice, you got a little more time to throw it. I think we were trying to sit back and rush some throws, and things were coming out a little bit wobbly. We weren’t reading the field as well as he’s capable of.
“In the second half of the game, he was doing real well. He’ll be fine. I don’t have any worries with Trevor Keller.”
The Oilers didn’t have to throw the ball to beat Word of Life.
Central Plains quarterbacks Skyler Turner and Bryce Steiner each attempted one pass and neither were completed.
 
Medicine Lodge (1-0)
at Hoisington (0-1)
Hoisington looks to come back after an overtime loss to open its season, 22-21, as the Cardinals host Medicine Lodge tonight at 7.
The Cardinals found success moving to the spread offense with quarterback Derrick Kaiser throwing for 103 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Hagan Hanzlick led Hoisington with 94 rushing yards, and Eric Hellerud ran for 81 yards on seven carries for an average of 11.57 per carry.
Medicine Lodge won its first game against Wichita Independent 46-7.
The Cardinals will have to stop Sheldon Hart, who rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Bryan Hellman added 96 yards and three touchdowns.
Ellinwood (0-1) at Larned (0-1)
Larned hosted LaCrosse to opens its season, losing 57-14.
Tonight at 7, the Indians host Mid-Central Activities Association foe Ellinwood.
Larned will take another stab at trying to get its triple option working on offense after being held to 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The Indians were led by Chad Wallace, a senior running back who is traveling from Pawnee Heights in Rozel to play for Larned. He rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Jamil Shoemaker also scored for the Indians.
The Eagles lost their season opener on the road in Hays against Thomas More Prep-Marian, 24-6.

Word of Life (0-1)
at Macksville (1-0)
Macksville was able to hold on for an opening-season 34-32 win over Victoria.
This week, the Mustangs will host Word of Life (Wichita), which lost to Central Plains 56-0.
Macksville blew away Victoria’s defense with the air attack led by quarterback Seth Filbert, who threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns.
Filbert also led the team in rushing with 35 yards and a touchdown.
Word of Life reached only 100 yards of total offense against Central Plains.
Macksville might look to run the ball more against the Fire defense that gave up 296 rushing yards to the Oilers.

St. John (0-1) at Fowler (0-1)
St. John opened its season on the road against Otis-Bison last Friday, losing 58-14.
Tonight, the Tigers are continuing their road series against another Eight-Man Division-II team that made the state tournament last season, Fowler.
In fact, the Goldbugs were eliminated by Otis-Bison last year in the playoffs.
This year, Fowler opened its season on the road at Kinsley. The Goldbugs lost 30-12.
The Tigers will look to tailback Pat Prescott to right the ship after leading St. John with 106 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Cougars.
 
Burrton (0-1) at Stafford (0-1)
After a rough 50-12 loss to Pratt-Skyline in Week 1, Stafford will be hosting Burrton tonight at 7.
The Trojans strength in their first game was their ground game, led by Tristin Paulsen, who rushed for a team-leading 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Ethan Johnson 46 yards as the Trojans combined for 204 rushing yards against Skyline.
The Trojans will need to step up their aerial game.
Quarterback Gus Stueve completed only 1 of 8 attempts for a 12.5 completion percentage. That one pass was for seven yards.
Stueve also threw an interception.
Burrton lost on the road to Fairfield 46-6 to open its season.