For the first time in five years, the Columbus Wildcat football team will play a postseason game Friday when they travel to Wapello to battle the Indians. Columbus qualified for the first round of the playoffs with an overall record of 2-5. Their wins this season came over Louisa-Muscatine and Highland. They have dropped three straight contests coming into Friday including losses to Wapello, Iowa City Regina and North Cedar. In their last game against the Knights, they were beaten 44-26. On the year, the Wildcats are led by Jeff Hoback at 17 of 37 through the air for 282 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. His favorite target in the passing game is Tucker Bright with 10 catches for 250 yards and three scores. On the ground it’s Will Schwab who leads the team and district six with 125 carries for 747 yards and 10 touchdowns. Bright is the leading tackler for the Wildcats and second in the district with 43 stops.

Wapello comes into the matchup with an overall record of 3-3 after a 52-28 loss to Lisbon on Friday. In that contest, the Indians were led by Tade Parson through the air at 19 of 27 for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Caden Thomas who went over 100 yards receiving at 103 on seven catches. For the season, Parsons leads the Indians under center at 68 of 106 for 996 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Leading pass catcher for the Indians is Jake Gustison with 21 catches for 245 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground Gustison is also the leader with 78 carries for 631 yards and eight touchdowns. Keaton McConahay and Rhett Smith lead the Wapello defense with 28 tackles each. This week, Columbus head coach Dave Lekwa talked about the challenge of facing the Indians. “It’s got to start with us. That’s not where you want to be in a playoff week. You want to be feeling good and focusing on your opponent. Coaching staff down to your kids. We have to get ourselves into a positive mindset and be ready to battle. We’re ready to take on any adversity that might come our way this week. We’re excited for the opportunity. We are fortunate that everyone gets in the playoffs this year. We’ll let the chips fall where they may Friday night.”

These two teams met in week five with the Indians scoring a 49-7 win. Wapello stormed out of the gate to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter in that game. Parsons was seven of nine through the air for 167 yards and two scores. Jake Gustison had three touchdowns. Columbus was held to just 76 total yards and turned the ball over three times. The winner of Friday’s game advances to the next round of the playoffs to meet No. 2 Iowa City Regina. Action starts at 7p.m. Friday in Wapello.