Published: November 21, 2008 09:45 am         

Pirates to begin playoff quest tonight

By Tommy Wells
sports@mineralwellsindex.com

Perrin-Whitt head coach Brad Hutton thinks his team is in the perfect position heading into its area playoff showdown with the Lindsay Knights.

They have no playoff history and, therefore, shouldn’t be under any pressure. They can, he feels, relax and enjoy the ride.

“There isn’t any pressure on us to do anything,” said Hutton, who leads the Pirates into the first playoff appearance in 20 years tonight, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Saginaw High School field. “How could we feel pressure when you are only the fourth team in 48 years to make the playoffs? Our goal was to make the playoffs. We did that, so now we can just relax and play.

“The pressure is on them,” he said. “We just want to enjoy the surroundings. Take in everything and go out and play like we have all year.”

Perrin-Whitt heads into the contest sporting an 8-2 record. The team earned a bye in the first round after finishing second in the District 15-A race.

Staring the Pirates right in the face might be their biggest – literally – challenge of the year. Lindsay may well be the biggest team Perrin-Whitt has faced this season.

“They’re big,” said Hutton. “From what I’ve seen they have great size and a little quickness to go with it. We expect them to be very physical.”

Lindsay, coming off a 28-0 win over Celeste last week, is led up front by a massive offensive line. The Knights average better than 260 pounds across the front, including Neil Ott, a guard that checks in at 6-foot-4 and 365 pounds.

The Knights, 7-4 overall, employ a tight offensive set that will try and use its size to wear down the Pirates via a running attack.

“I don’t think it’s a secret what they want to do,” said Hutton. “They’re going to try and run over us.”

“They don’t score a lot of points. They just nickel and dime you while wearing you down.”

Hutton said the Pirates would try and take advantage of Lindsay’s size with its speed.

“We’ve been in this type of situation all year,” he said. “We’re confident we’ll be able to play with them. We’re not afraid of them.”

“I anticipate it will be a knock-down, drag-out fight,” he added.