Mount Enterprise + Frost Enter 1A D-II Region III Semifinal on Matching Five-Game Win Streaks

Class A Division II Region III
Semifinal

Mount Enterprise Wildcats (9-3)
vs.
Frost Polar Bears (11-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday
Lion Stadium, Teague

Coaches
Mount Enterprise: Scott Holzhauer
Frost: Eric Blenden

Road To Regionals

Mount Enterprise

• Bi-district: def. Lovelady, 40-7
• Area: def. Maud, 46-28

Frost

• Bi-district: def. Detroit, 28-14
• Area: def. Chilton, 16-12

Next week: Winner plays Tenaha (7-4) or Bremond (9-3) in the 1A Division II Region III final.

Playmakers

Mount Enterprise

• FB/LB Hunter Ammons, Sr. (330 rushing yards, 6 TDs last week vs. Maud)
• ATH Josh Leadon, Jr.
• OL/DL Colton Byler, Sr.
• LB Shane Stanley, Jr.
• ATH Zach Moore, Sr.
• DE Chance Young, Sr.
• OL Dakota Porter, Sr.

Frost

• RB Danial Steels (19 carries, 96 yards, 1 TD, 2 two-pointers last week vs. Chilton)
• RB Robert Worley (8 carries, 66 yards last week vs. Chilton)
• QB Jacob Stroder (3 of 5, 69 yards, 17 rushing yards last week vs. Chilton)
• ATH Woody Woods (14-yard TD catch last week vs. Chilton)
• OL Colton McGill
• WR Josh Riojas
• WR Cody Campbell

Just the facts

• Mount Enterprise averages 36.6 points per game and allows 21.9.
• Frost averages 35.8 points per game and yields 14.8.
• After losing back-to-back games Oct. 5 and Oct. 19, Mount Enterprise has won five consecutive games.
• Mount Enterprise has beaten those five opponents by 30.0 points per game.
• Frost dropped a 44-27 decision to Hubbard on Oct. 12, but has won five consecutive games since then.
• Frost beat the first four opponents of its winning streak by an average of 29.0 points before the four-point win against Chilton this past week.
• Frost has advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1989.
• If Mount Enterprise played Tenaha in the next round, the game would be the teams' fourth meeting since the beginning of the 2011 season.

Key matchup: Frost's defensive front vs. Mount Enterprise's running game. It's no secret what Mount Enterprise likes to do: run the football. Over and over. When you do that well, that's OK, and the Wildcats have certainly done that well during Hunter Ammons' tenure. Ammons had 330-yard, six-touchdown performance to fuel last week's 18-point victory against Maud. Frost must prepare for a ton of Ammons. If the Polar Bears' defensive performance in last week's four-point win against Chilton is any indication, Mount Enterprise could have a stiff test Friday in Teague. Frost held Chilton to fewer than 190 total yards, including 173 yards on 30 rushing attempts. If the Polar Bears can get that kind of bend-don't-break performance from their rush defense, they should be in good shape against the mostly one-dimensional Wildcats.

Don't be surprised if: Frost forces another team into a low-scoring game. Frost held an offensively capable Chilton team averaging 31.3 points per game to 12 points. With Mount Enterprise relying so much on one player (Ammons) for its scoring production, Frost can virtually sell out to stop the run. Of course, a lot of other teams have tried to do that and Mount Enterprise has run the ball successfully anyway. That's why the Wildcats are a nine-win team. It also speaks well of their offensive line. While Frost and Mount Enterprise have shown the ability to score a lot of points, the numbers suggest that this contest should be more low scoring than most playoff games involving teams of this caliber.