The Hoisington High School football team sits in the of the Class 3A District 13 standings.
The Cardinals are tied at 1-1 with  Ellsworth, their opponent tonight in Hoisington at 7.
That leaves Hoisington with two options: win and keep playing or lose and go home.
“This is our playoffs,” Hoisington head coach Jason Ingram said. “Our playoffs start a week earlier than other teams. We have to carry out everything that we need to do. We have to go in guns ablazing.”
The Cardinals (5-3 overall, 1-1 district) lean heavily on Junior running back Hagan Hanzlick, who has rushed for 1,294 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Hoisington is 5-0 when Hanzlick rushes for more than 100 yards. They are 0-3 when he doesn’t.
“We plan to give Hagan the ball,” Ingram said. “He’s always a big part of our offense, but we are planning on giving the ball a little more to Chance Demel. He’s a very fast running back to counter Hagan’s power.”
Demel carried the ball four times for 23 yards last week in the loss to Sterling.
Quarterback Derrick Kaiser has completed 45 of 120 passes for 611 yards and eight touchdowns. He has also thrown 10 interceptions.
Defensively, the Cardinals will focus on Ellsworth’s (5-3, 1-1) quarterback and running back.
“They use their running back and quarterback as a 1-2 punch,” Ingram said. “They pound their quarterback up the middle. He’s very strong and quick. Their running back is a very fast back. I think he’ll probably win the 100-yard dash in 3A (track and field in the spring).”
 
Eight-Man Division-I District 8
Central Plains (7-1, 5-0)
at Solomon (4-4, 3-2)
Benn Kirmer leads Central Plains with 1,242 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns this season. He has two receiving touchdowns.
Kirmer will be leading his team into the postseason as the Oilers have already secured the district championship for a state playoff berth.
The Oilers will close their regular season against Solomon.
Solomon’s leading rusher is Daniel Durant, who has 776 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Little River sits in second place in the district standings.
 
Eight-Man D-I District 5
Macksville (8-0, 5-0)
at Pratt Skyline (6-2, 3-2)
Macksville quarterback Seth Filbert has completed 115 of 173 passes for 1,807 and 23 touchdowns.
Adam Oak remains the Mustangs leading rusher and receiver with 651 yards and nine scores on the ground and 1,014 yards and 13 TDs through the air.
Pratt Skyline is in fourth place in the district standings.
Brennan Stotts is the Thunderbirds’ leading rusher with 124 carries for 921 yards and
13 touchdowns.

 Non-district
Otis-Bison (7-1, 4-0)
vs. Frankfort (6-1, 3-1 District 1) in Salina
Otis-Bison sits in first place in its Eight-Man D-II District 5 with no way for Chase, which is second in the standings, to overtake them.
The Cougars will rely on a pair of running backs against Frankfort, which is  in second place in the Eight-Man District 1 standings behind Baileyville B&B.
Patrick Piper leads Otis-Bison with 667 yards and 12 touchdowns. Right behind him, Dylan Wissman has rushed for 638 yards and 12 scores.
Frankfort has a pair of solid running backs as well.
Calahan Brown leads with 521 rushing yards and eight TDs, and Lucas Adams has 518 yards and seven scores.
 
Eight-Man D-I District 5
Kiowa County (3-5, 2-3)
at St. John (5-3, 3-2)
St. John was bumped out of playoff contention after last week’s 60-40 loss to Macksville.
This week, St. John head coach Nick Garcia said that his team will be “playing for pride.” 
Tigers running back  Patrick Prescott rushed for 100 yards against Macksville, leaving him less than 20 yards from breaking 1,000 yards on the season.
Kiowa County is on a three-game losing streak and is fifth in the district standings.

2A District 6
Ellinwood (1-7, 0-3)
at Inman (2-6, 1-2)
Ellinwood is in fifth place in its district, and Inman sits third.
Neither team can overtake LaCrosse and Plainville, which are both 3-0 in the district and face each other to decide which will be the district champion.
The Eagles are coming off of a 55-14 loss to LaCrosse, and Inman is on a two-game winning streak.
Ellinwood averages 15.75 points per game, while allowing an average of 36.63 points.
 
Eight-Man D-II District 5
Chase (5-2, 2-1)
at Stafford (2-5, 1-2)
Stafford is in fourth place in its district standings, and out of the playoffs.
The Trojans lean on running back Tristin Paulsen, who has rushed for 700 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Ethan Johnson has added 464 yards and 11 TDs.
Chase averages 58.43 points per game while allowing 39.71.

4A District 14
Larned (0-8, 0-2)
at Holcomb (6-2 , 1-1)
Larned is out of contention for a playoff berth, but Holcomb could force a three-way tie in the district with a win over Larned, along with a Ulysses loss to Hugoton.
However, that leaves Ulysses (7-1) in the driver’s seat.
Quarterback Tyler LaSalle leads the Longhorns with 784 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He has also completed 67 of 139 passes for 944 yard and 13 TDs. He has also thrown 12 interceptions.
Chad Wallace leads the Indians with 621 yards and eight scores. Easton Palmer has completed 65 of 151 passes for 894 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has struggled with turnovers, throwing 14 interceptions.