West Muskingum Ready for Any Challenge in Division V Football Bracket

ZANESVILLE, OH

West Muskingum is back in the football playoffs for the third straight year, and in Division V, they have a tough test right out of the gate in the first round, when Africentric comes to town on Friday. But the Tornadoes are ready for this golden opportunity in round one.

Another year and another playoff appearance for Nate Brownrigg and the Tornadoes of West Muskingum. Coming in as the 7-seed in region 19 of Division V, West M will play at home in the first round once again.

“This is a cool opportunity for our kids. You know, this is the second year in a row we’ve hosted a playoff game. So it kind of pays off, the work you put it in the offseason, throughout the regular season, and a reward to get to host a game like this” said head coach Nate Brownrigg. “And to me, I think the biggest thing is another opportunity for our kids to play, especially for seniors to play at home.”

Fresh off a third straight season with at least seven wins, the Tornadoes now face an unfamiliar opponent when Africentric takes a trip from Columbus, providing a unique challenge for the Tornadoes.

Brownrigg added,“to me, that’s one of the fun things about the playoffs. You know, I love prepping against somebody brand new, for, you know, a new opponent. And, in this case, definitely knew nothing about them coming in until it was set that we were playing them. But they’re extremely athletic. They’re big, they’re fast, the guys that they have are much different than a lot of players we see in our league.”

And while it may be an out of conference foe, the Tornadoes remain confident with a point to prove, heading into the first round.

“Here we are hosting another one in Week 11, and we got to play with that chip on our shoulder to come in and make it farther than anyone has before. From here on out, it doesn’t matter who we play or where we play, they’re going to be a good team and it’s going to be a fight” said senior quarterback Jake Anton. “And we all just got to be able to have that…play with that chip on our shoulder and be able to come in here and no matter who’s in front of us, execute and do what we need to do.”

Senior running back Carter Winland said, “we’ve made the playoffs the last three years. It was almost one of the things you got to be like, we’re in the playoffs now. That’s time to focus on playoffs and winning the next game. We’ve won the last two. I think we can do it again. We play hard, physical and I don’t think these guys will like that.”

The Tornadoes will take the field with a chance to show off their playoff prowess once more when they face Africentric this Friday at 7 p.m.