File photo by Ari Selvey Cedar Mountain’s Cooper Freitag runs through a tackle during a Nine-Man South District, West Subdistrict football game against Madelia on Sept. 1 at Cedar Mountain Football Field.

COTTONWOOD — The top-seeded Red Rock Central Falcons and the third-seeded Cedar Mountain Cougars will be battling on Friday to see who gets a chance at the state tournament.

RRC took the trip last season, Cedar Mountain will be trying to make it for the first time in school history.

The two teams met earlier in the year, with the Cougars coming away with a 28-8 win over the Falcons, but much has changed for both teams since that matchup from over a month ago.

At the time, Cedar Mountain was deploying star player Cooper Freitag at the quarterback position, but have since moved him to the runningback spot.

“When you look at their team, you have to take into account where Cooper Freitag is,” RRC head coach Isaac Jenniges said. “He’s a really good offensive weapon for them. His ability to line up in multiple different spots, you have to be prepared for that. He’s a big, physical guy when he has the ball in his hands, breakaway speed when he gets in the open field. He’s got that combination of speed and power at this level of football, the nine-man level that is very effective because of his versatility, he can do so many things.”

Carson Schiller has taken over passing duties for the Cougars, surrounded by a cast of dangerous weapons on the outside.

“Last go around, Blake Steffl kind of killed us in the middle of the field,” Jenniges said. “We have to be more prepared for that. When they made the change at quarterback, Carson Schiller does a good job of accurately getting the ball into his playmakers’ hands, Blake Steffl and Brandon Pendleton on the outside. They’ve got quality guys that can beat you down the field and underneath. It’s one of those situations where, from our defensive perspective, you’ve got to pick your poison and figure out who you’re going to try to contain and hope you do a good enough job in that to give yourself a chance.”

RRC, meanwhile, will be helped by the presence of tailback Carter Therkilsen, who was out with injury in their first matchup.

“The first time we played in week five, Therkilsen didn’t play,” Cedar Mountain head coach Dwane Jemmings said. “So we didn’t get to see him. He’ll be playing on Friday night, and the goal is to shut down the running game, make them pass. The running game is what they’re strong at. Therkilsen’s one of the better backs in southern Minnesota, so if we can stop the run, that can help us.

“Therkilsen, just looking at him, he’s a strong and physical runningback, he’s fast, he’s got vision. You watch him there and he doesn’t go down on one tackle, so they’ve got him. They’ve got a couple other players, number 71 [Blake] Paplow’s a good lineman, so you know we’ll have our work cut out with him. The quarterback [Isaac Simonson] is a four-year starter, so he’s got the experience. They have some players out there, and we just need to do our job, comes down to tackling and blocking. If we do that, we should put ourselves in a good position to win the ballgame.”

Jenniges said one adjustment that RRC was going to make from their previous loss was to bring more physicality to the matchup.

“I think more than anything we need to be ready for the physicality,” Jenniges said. “I don’t think we did as good of a job of being physical as we’re capable of in our first meeting, and they took advantage of that. Our guys need to be a little bit more prepared for that then we were the first go around.”

Jemmings said that his team’s balance in running and passing talent helps the Cougars open things up offensively.

“Our horse is Cooper Freitag,” Jemmings said. “We like to get him going. If we get him going then that opens up our passing game. I think we have some of the best receivers around in Brandon Pendleton, Blake Steffl and Lane Guggisberg. But also if they want to stop the run, we’ll pass, and that will open up the running for Cooper, so it’s just a matter of what works for us, but I’m confident in what we’re doing offensively.”

That offense has produced an average of 29.1 points per game for the Cougars. The Falcons, meanwhile, have averaged 24.8 points per game, not including a forfeit from Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

Both coaches mentioned turnovers as being a key part of who would come away with the victory this time.

“I think at this time of year, if you look at the games, for example, from Saturday, Cathedral turned it over five times,” Jenniges said. “Cedar Mountain got the ball in some very good spots on the field. And with the conditions, the sloppy field, the cold, you give anybody a short field this time of year, they’re here for a reason. You have to avoid those. The turnover game will be crucial. Last time there were a few turnovers.”

Jemmings agreed that turnovers would be a huge part of the game, but mentioned defense and fundamentals as well.

“Hopefully we can get them three and out,” he said. “Try to stop them, but like I said, Therkilsen’s back, he’s a heck of player, so it’s going to come down, I’ve been saying it all year, to tackling and blocking. We do our job with tackling and blocking, and turnovers.”