Whippets Fall In C-1 Playoffs To St. Paul, 19-14

The Minden Whippets football team came into the first round of the Class C-1 state football playoffs with a 6 win and 2 loss season and were expecting to move deep into the playoffs for the first time in a long while.
Minden entered the C-1 playoffs as the third-seeded team in the west division and hosted the 14th-seeded St. Paul Wildcats at Kuper Field on Thursday night.
St. Paul scored first and then used a late touchdown drive to pull out an upset victory, 19-14, over the Whippets. Minden ends a very successful 2010 season with a mark of 6 wins and 3 losses.
St. Paul  (5-4) advances to the second round of the C-1 bracket and will face the 11th-seeded and upset-minded Boone Central Cardinals (6-3) in Albion on Wednesday, Nov. 3. The St. Paul/Boone Central winner will face either Ord or Pierce in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Turnovers had not been a problem for the Whippets in the first seven games of the season but against Grand Island Central Catholic in the regular season finale and again in the opening round of the playoffs, the turnover came into play.
On the Whippets opening drive quarter Derek Kissinger was intercepted on the third play of the game, giving St. Paul the ball at the 37-yard line in Minden territory. ST. Paul capitalized taking advantage of a Minden penalty of running into the kick on a field goal attempt. The penalty gave St. Paul an opportunity to score on a three-yard touchdown run and point-after kick to take an early lead, 7-0, over the Dawgs.

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