The Ethel football team lost out in its game with Pisgah last week and in McAdams’ game with Coffeeville.The Tigers were defeated by Pisgah 54-34 in a game added to the schedule to fill a void.McAdams' 6-0 loss to Coffeeville resulted in Ethel having to go on the road in the opening round of the 1A payoffs Nov. 13.Only four schools in Region 3-1A played football this year. Ethel was 2-1, with victories over McAdams 23-30 and Coffeeville 41-17 and a loss to Simmons 36-9. Simmons and Coffeeville were also 2-1 because Coffeeville received a forfeit against Simmons, which first opted out of fall sports, then opted back in. Ethel rescheduled Simmons, but Coffeeville refused to do so and received the forfeit. Simmons is the region's top seed. Coffeeville is second and Ethel third because Coffeeville defeated McAdams by six points and Ethel defeated the Bulldogs by three.The result is that Coffeeville gets a home game to open the payoffs, but Ethel has to go to Sebastopol, the second place team in 4-1A.Sebastopol is 7-2, including a 40-6 victory over McAdams. Ethel coach Adam Smith viewed some game film of Sebastopol. “They're a good little ball team. They are really athletic. They are going to try to get outside of you. We're going to have to play really hard and really well.”The Pisgah game was close until the fourth quarter when the Dragons pulled away with two touchdowns. It was a matter of numbers as Pisgah, a 2A school, was able to wear Ethel down.“They had about 50 guys and we had about 22,” Smith said. “After guys got banged up, we were trying to play with about 18. We were swing for swing with them until the fourth quarter. Then we just gave out.”Mike Miller had a big night for Ethel, with nine carries for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Anton Clark ran 15 times for 91 yards and one TD and Johns McBride scored on an interception return.Pisgah had 456 yards on the ground, led by Delion Evans, with 13 carries for 163 yards and two TDs.Smith said it was a physical game. “We kind of beat each other up a little bit.”Ethel is off this week. The Tigers came out of the Pisgah game with some minor injuries and Smith hopes that the rest will help. “We're going to try to get them well so when the playoffs start we will be 100 per cent ready to go.”
