The Stafford County Showdown between the Macksville High School and St. John-Hudson football teams kicks off on Friday night at 7 in St. John.
The Mustangs have averaged 36.6 points per game, thanks largely to the efforts of quarterback Tanner Tranbarger.
“He is our leader, but Tanner is throwing it to people,” Macksville head coach Jeff Kuckelman said. “Simon Miller has been very productive as a receiver for us.
“Tanner has been running the ball a lot, but we haven’t gotten Jordan Welch loose yet. He got hurt a little bit in the second game, and I think he played hurt last week, so we need to get him healthy, and then we should be able to move the ball around more.”
Tranbarger has completed 37 of 55 passes for 407 yards and six touchdowns. He has thrown a pair of interceptions.
The senior is also Macksville’s leading rusher with 344 yards and seven scores.
Simon Miller is the Mustangs’ leading receiver with 282 yards and six TDs.
Macksville (0-3) has struggled on defense, allowing 59.3 points per game.
“That was something that we talked about going into the season,” Kuckelman said. “If we were going to win games, we were going to have to play well on defense. I think the main thing is we have to be more physical. We’ve got to start pushing people around.”
St. John-Hudson (1-2) will look to get its offense back on track.
After a 64-44 win over Otis-Bison to open the season, the Tigers have not been able to score more than one TD per game.
Jump-starting St. John’s offense will start with getting running back Schuyler Brown back on track. He rushed for 202 yards and five scores against the Cougars, but has only managed 93 yards and one TD in St. John’s last two games.
Quarterback Preston Miller, who has completed 15 of 44 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns, will be a receiver on Friday for the Tigers.
“We’ve made some changes this week to our offense,” St. John head coach Chris Story said. “We’ve moving our quarterback to receiver and we’re basically going to have two guys switching in at quarterback. We think this should give us a boost.
“Brown is ready. He’s revved up, and he’ll still be a big part of what we do.”

Victoria (3-0)
at Central Plains (3-0)
Central Plains has been cruising this season, getting solid performances from its defense and quarterback Braedan Crites.
Crites has completed 24 of 44 passes for 808 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Layne Bieberle and Michael Lamatsch have been head-to-head as the most productive receiver for the Oilers.
Bieberle has a team-leading 158 yards and three TDs.
Lamatsch is right behind him with 156 yards, but he caught his first and only TD last Friday in a 54-8 win over St. John.
Victoria averages 51.3 points per game, while allowing only 17.3.
 
South Barber (1-2)
at Stafford (2-1)
Stafford has won its last two games behind the Trojans’ combination at running back — Tristin Paulsen and Ethan Johnson.
Paulsen has a team-leading 437 yards and five touchdowns.
Johnson has six scores with 343 yards.
South Barber has a potent offense that has amassed 1,295 yards and an average of 44 points per game.

Pratt-Skyline (1-2)
at Otis-Bison (0-3)
Otis-Bison has struggled to put up points after losing its season opener 64-44 against St. John.
Central Plains shut down the Cougars in Week 2, and Otis-Bison only managed six points against Hoxie.
Quarterback Kole Urban accounts for all of Otis-Bison’s touchdowns — four rushing, one passing and two kick returns.
Dejay Vaugh was on the receiving end of Urban’s aerial score.
Dustin Weber leads Pratt-Skyline, rushing for 487 yards and five touchdowns.
Quarterback Cole Patterson has rushed for six TDs.

Ellis (1-2)
at Larned (3-0)
Quarterback Easton Palmer has rushed for 286 yards and five touchdowns to lead Larned through the first three weeks.
The senior has completed 22 of 34 passes for 535 yards and six touchdowns.
Before last week’s 36-16 win over Ellinwood, Ellis had only scored one TD.
Senior Landon Younger leads Ellis with 399 yards and six scores.

Hoisington (0-2)
at Ellinwood (0-3)
Ellinwood started to get things moving on offense last Friday against Ellis, but still suffered a 36-16 setback.
Wide receiver Tanner Swank has two of the Eagles’ three touchdowns this season. He has 197 yards.
Hoisington is heading into the Mid-Central Activities Association game after two weeks of practice, having been idle last Friday.
The Cardinals are coming off a 35-7 loss against Great Bend in the season opener and a 34-18 loss at home against La Crosse in Week 2.
Avery Urban, a two-way starter, leads Hoisington’s offense and defense, recording 134 rushing yards and two TDs at halfback and 19 tackles at middle linebacker.