CMS hopes to play spoiler vs. Magnet
Cutter Morning Star will not advance to the Class 2A playoffs but can spoil a dream season for Magnet Cove.
A loss tonight at Eagle Field would drop Magnet Cove (5-4,
5-1) to third in Class 2A-5 and deprive the Panthers of a share of the conference title.
Against all odds, CMS (2-6,
1-5) comes off a 24-14 win over struggling Bigelow.
“We finished the England game with 12 kids,” said CMS coach T.C. Shamel. “We’ve been battling that numbers issue all year. We pounded Bismarck there, and then once we got into conference with Hector, it kind of got away from us a bit. It’s Senior Night, the last home game. Hopefully we can ride some of that hopefully for a while.”
Quarterback Michael Kimpton accounted for 329 yards against Bielow with 134 (eight of 15) through the air and 195
(21) carries on the ground. Matthew Cook and Matthew Tims combined for 82 yards.
The Eagles have struggled since losing Dakota Lepitre to a concussion in Week 4 at Hector. After starting the season with 17 athletes, Shamel expects to dress out 15 tonight.
“It’s just been fighting these numbers,” he said. “One of our better defensive guys has been out the whole second half the year with a concussion… We’re down to dressing 15. We’re just battling that. We’re glad to be able to finish the season, and hopefully we can ride some of that momentum into this week.”
Magnet Cove, playing at home, lost a first-place showdown to Conway Christian, 38-31.
“We played a heck of a game Friday night,” said first-year head coach Caleb Carmikle. “Up to that point, we had experienced a lot of highs. We kind of sent a statement to a lot of people that it wasn’t a fluke why we were winning because Conway Christian is a very good football team. They’re probably the best team in the conference. We went toe-to-toe with them for four quarters.”
Despite the loss, Carmikle is optimistic about playing CMS.
“Any time you lose a game like that, you worry as a coach about how the kids are going to respond,” he said. “I told them on Friday night after the game that I wanted them to hurt all weekend and really remember how that felt. I worried that they were going to come back and feel a little pouty and what not, but they were locked in and focused. We’ve got a great group of seniors. They’re not going to let that one loss be the end of the season. We’ve still got everything that we want to play for ahead of us.”
Magnet Cove’s James Butler, a former Eagle, will not be on the field.
“He’s not going to play against us for disciplinary reasons,” Shamel said, “but he’ll probably be ready to go for playoffs. He’s one of their 1,000-yard rushers.”
Shamel hopes his team, with nine seniors, can finish with a win and carry that into next season.
“We’re trying to ride some momentum into next season,” he said. “We’ve got nine seniors who will be playing their last game. I hate it for them because they did rally the troops last week and got a big win, which we desperately needed. It’s just been fighting these numbers.”