Quarterfinal playoff picks

Unity (10-1) at. St. Joseph-Ogden (9-2), 7 p.m. Saturday.

Last meeting: St. Joseph-Ogden def. Unity, 21-17 (Nov. 4, 2006).

Well, it's taken four years to get to this point, but the Unity vs. SJ-O rivalry will finally be rekindled Saturday night in St. Joseph. The 10-1 Rockets are coming to town to face the 9-2 Spartans, and both communities couldn't be more excited.

Admittedly, I've had a hard time making a decision on this game. I've seen both teams multiple times this year, and I know what each team's strengths and weaknesses are. I know the Spartans are the smaller team, and I know the Rockets have more team speed. I know SJ-O coach Dick Duval is going to ask his offensive line to control the game for Jake Bock. Unity coach Scott Hamilton is going to lean on his defensive line to neutralize Bock's tackle-breaking abilities and keep the Spartans in third and long. Unity will also try to spread the ball around to four players (Michael Lafenhagen, Seth Gooch, Taylor Black and Micah Johnson) to move downfield, meaning the SJ-O defense needs to maintain its assignments on every play to keep the Rockets from springing long scoring runs.

According to their record and their seed, Unity is the favorite in this game. I think that's fair. The Rockets have traversed an awfully tough schedule to get to this point, and I would argue their two wins over St. Teresa are the best wins either team has this season. Unity played for the state title last year, and a lot of those Rockets have returned to anchor this team. The Rockets have won 26 of 28 games.

SJ-O can win this game, but the Spartans will need to catch a few breaks. St. Teresa used a pair of special teams plays to stay with Unity in the first half last week and pulled ahead in the third quarter with a defensive stop. I think the Spartans will need to follow a similar script Saturday. SJ-O will need to take advantage of toss up plays, be solid on special teams and try to keep its offense on the field as much as possible. When the Spartans are on defense, they need to keep Unity from third-and-short and fourth-and-short situations where Hamilton can rely on his line to pick up easy first downs. 

No matter how this goes down, I think it will be close. Unity is 2-1 against the Spartans in their last three playoff games, but the Rockets have only outscored SJ-O 56-55 in those games. Rivalry games are close, and I expect this one to be just that. Good luck to both teams.

Unity 28, St. Joseph-Ogden 21.