Devils are a traveling band

For the first time in Noxon High School history, the Red Devil football team is going back-to-back.

As in back to the Class C 6-Man playoffs for the second straight time.

Coach Bart Haflich and his dangerous Red Devils downed the Valley Christian Eagles 54-16 in Alberton Friday to clinch the Western C's fourth and final playoff spot. Now 5-3, with all three of those losses to other playoff qualifiers, the Devils will travel to Highwood Saturday to take on the 8-1 Geraldine-Highwood Rivals at 1 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs.

In their last year as a co-op, Geraldine-Highwood is looking to leave the 6-Man ranks with a bang this season and have been ranked No. 1 or 2 most of the season and have a trophy case full of State C championship trophies from that program's rich history.

"Geraldine-Highwood and Wibaux are generally considered the best teams in the state this season," Haflich said, "and starting out with Geraldine-Highwood doesn't bother us. If you are going to be the best, you have to beat the best, so why not start out with them?

"You don't see No. 4 seeds putting up much resistance usually," he said, "but I do think the Western C is a little tougher this year than we normally are. We will go up there, play our game, and see what that gets us."

The Devils have been relying on a potent offense much of the season, and did again in Alberton last week. But they played some defense against Valley, too.

"We played better defense last week," Haflich offered, "and it paid off. It was a really good team win for us against Valley."

The Devils left little doubt as to who the best team was in Alberton, racing out to an 18-0 lead after one quarter and building that advantage up to 42-8 by halftime.

As usual this season, Levi Brubaker did much of the heavy lifting for the Devils, scoring three touchdowns, one on a 60-yard kickoff return, another on a 25-yard pass from Edison VanVleet and the other on a one-yard run. Brubaker also converted six two-point, after-touchdown kicks for Noxon.

Edison VanVleet also scored on a 52-yard run and threw a 27-yard scoring pass to Jeriko Smith.

Smith also caught a 12-yard scoring strike from Wyatt Lackner and Cade VanVleet scored the Devils' other touchdown on a 19-yard run. Noxon's defense registered a safety against Valley for another two points.

Tyler Bell scored both of Valley's touchdowns in the game. The Eagles complete play with a 4-4 record in Western C play and 4-5 overall.