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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – After qualifying but missing out on the playoffs the past two seasons, the Spencer/Marshfield Columbus Catholic football team is happy to be back in the postseason. However, the Rockets aren’t about to be content with just reaching the playoffs, they want to do some damage.
Spencer/Columbus (4-5) will play at WIAA Division 4 Level 1 game at Nekoosa (8-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in its first playoff game since 2006.
The Rockets qualified the past two seasons with 4-4 records in the Cloverbelt Conference, but were not selected by the WIAA. Spencer/Columbus again finished 4-4 this season but were invited to the party and want to make the most of it.
“We feel very confident right now,” said first-year coach Jason Gorst. “We’re playing really good football. We took a couple of steps back against Colby (a 35-0 loss last Friday), a real good football team, but we certainly didn’t play our best football. Nekoosa is a very, very good team and we feel that if we play our best, we should be able to play with them.”
Nekoosa won the South Central Conference with a perfect 5-0 record and its only blemish came on Sept. 9 when it lost a 50-34 shootout to undefeated Lancaster.
The Rockets know that they have a tough task ahead, but are ready for the challenge.
“It was exciting,” senior quarterback/safety Jordan Buss said of learning about the playoff berth. “It was nerve-racking, but it felt really good that we got in and to match up against Nekoosa. They look pretty fast and run their offense really well. It looks like they’re very well disciplined and well-coached.”
All five of the Rockets’ losses have come against teams that are in the WIAA playoffs. After a 1-4 start that saw Spencer/Columbus lose by two points to Osseo-Fairchild and four points to Stanley-Boyd, the Rockets won three in a row before being shutout by conference champion Colby.
In order to compete with a high-quality team such as Nekoosa, the Rockets need to take care of the ball.
“We can’t have the turnovers,” Gorst said. “That’s what really hurt us against some of the better teams this year. We can’t hurt ourselves that way, and we’re going to have to be very physical.”
The Rockets will rely on a ground game that has been clicking as of late. Running backs Charlie Mayeux and Wyatt Phillips, along with Buss, have provided Spencer/Columbus with an offensive attack that emphasizes ball control.
“We need to sustain some more drives,” Buss said. “We had some lulls on offense at times, mostly because of our mistakes, and from the other team. We’re planning on playing the way we have been, trying to execute our playbook. We feel pretty prepared having played good teams all year.”