Wynot football team has big task ahead

Wynot (2-4, 1-2) at Bloomfield (6-0, 3-0), 7 p.m. Friday

Last week: Wynot lost at Hartington-Newcastle, 40-20; Bloomfield beat Randolph, 40-18.

Outlook: Head coach Steve Heimes as a strong sense of optimism heading into this weekend’s contest against the undefeated Bees.

“We have a little size up front even if we aren’t over fast and we actually match up better with that than we do with other teams,” Heimes said. “If we don’t turn over the ball, we can play with them. If we do turn over the ball, the game could be one-sided.”

The Bees are a smash mouth team of vintage quality and absconds from punting every chance they get. 

It’s worked as they lead the district and are playing for a top seed in the playoffs. 

“You better stop them four downs in a row,” Heimes said.

Wynot are hoping to keep their playoff drive alive. Last week’s loss at Hartington-Newcastle may have caused a bit of a blip in those plans.

“I am more worried about getting better every week,” Heimes said. “We need to get better at stopping the turnovers. The last few games they’ve killed us. When you have a -2, -3, -4 against teams with similar talent, you aren’t going to win games.

“As far as playoffs go, if we get in or not, it’s going to be interesting. One win probably gets us in, two wins for sure. We are at risk. We are on the borderline.”

Against the Wildcats, Wynot kept things interesting throughout until the turnovers helped their rivals slowly pull away.

The Blue Devils trailed only 12-6 at halftime.

“We are still working and getting better and that mental toughness and strength is a big aspect,” Heimes said. “It will be really interesting to see where we end up.”