Carson City travels to Ubly for D8 quarterfinal
It’s their furthest playoff foray in over two decades, dating back to a different time and millennium.
The last time Carson City- Crystal football put together a quarterfinal playoff run was way back in 1999, some 21 seasons ago. Since then the Eagles have had their share of ups and downs, winning a few conference titles and advancing to the MHSAA playoffs seven times, yet never getting past the district-final second round.
In 2020 it’s been a different story though, a great story too.
As it stands Carson City- Crystal plays in a Division 8 quarterfinal against host Ubly on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m., from Ubly High School. Carson City comes into the contest with a record of 6-2 while the host Bearcats sit at 7-2. The winner advances to the D8 semifinal round next week where it will take on the winner of the Iron Mountain (8-1) versus Johannesburg-Lewiston (9- 0).
Neither the Eagles nor Bearcats have played a game since mid-november because of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet when it did last play Carson City had one of the bigger statement wins in the state.
As it was the unranked Eagles crushed Fowler 21-2 on November 13, besting a team that had been ranked for most of the season. The win caught a lot of attention too and deservedly so.
Now, on Saturday, the Eagles want to duplicate that with another road win.
On paper Ubly should be the favorite though as it went to the D8 semifinals last year and plays host to the game. Offensively the Bearcats aren’t too difficult to figure out as they want to run the ball nearly all the time outta the Fullhouse-wing T. Stopping senior running back Carson Heleski is the primary concern for Tim Swore and company as he’s rushed for 832 yards on 110 carries and has 17 TDS.
Moreover, Ubly also has a couple other backs who could create problems, yet Heleski atop the list of who to watch for.
If Ubly can put together long, time-consuming drives, that shortens the game it would deem well for the hosts because that’s exactly what they want to do.
On the other side of the equation is the Carson City offense, a spread offense that likes to pass and run and score quickly.
Leading the charge is junior quarterback Zane Forist, a 6-foot- 4 and 252-pound signal- calling match-up nightmare. For the season Forist has completed 61-of-114 passes for 907 yards and 14 TDS. He’s also run 97 times for 433 yards and has led the Eagles to 2,878 yards of offense.
Senior running back Kyler Stone has been equally good as he’s carried it 105 times for 965 yards and 13 TDS. He also had over 300-yards receiving.
For the Eagles to be successful they need to stop the Ubly running game and play good assignment football.
For the season Carson City averages 38 points per game while allowing 16. Ubly averages 34 points per game while allowing 11.