First-round postseason football at a glance

All first-round playoff games will be played Friday, Oct. 21 with 7 p.m. kickoffs.

Class 1A

Cascade (5-3)

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Dike-New Hartford (6-2)

History: No previous meetings.

Cascade stat leaders: Will Hosch, 89-147 passing, 1,060 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INT; Jack Menster, 975 rushing yards, 11 TD; Cass Hoffmann, 28 rec, 323 yards, 4 TD; Ty Frasher 50 tackles, 10 for loss, 2 INT.

Notes: Dike-New Hartford’s leading rusher, Jerek Hall, is not expected to return this season after a foot injury against Aplington-Parkersburg. Micah Walston is expected to receive the lions’ share of carries going forward, running for 214 yards and four touchdowns against Central Springs on Friday. … Cascade played in Class 1A District 4 with Waterloo Columbus, falling to the Sailors 42-14 – D-NH defeated Columbus by the same score in Week 1.

Class A

Belle Plaine (4-4)

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Grundy Center (8-0)

History: Grundy Center has won its last five meetings with the Plainsmen, including four wins in a span between 2018-2020 that included a postseason victory at Belle Plaine in 2019.

Belle Plaine stat leaders: Ty Alcott, 209 rush, 1,118 yads, 17 TD; Connor Timm, 113 rush, 706 yards, 9 TD; Chase Wickwire, 50.5 tackles, 7 for loss.

Notes: The Plainsmen played in District 6 this year, with losses to Ogden and Lynnville-Sully. Belle Plaine also lost to North Tama in Week 1, 34-6 - the Spartans beat North Tama 42-0 last Friday. … Grundy Center currently has the No. 1 ranked defense in Class A, allowing an average of just 5.4 points per game to opponents.

8-Player

New London (6-3)

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Gladbrook-Reinbeck (7-1)

History: New London knocked Gladbrook-Reinbeck out of the playoffs in 2018 in a 60-12 romp in Gladbrook. The Tigers went on to win the 8-Player Championship that season, defeating Rockford 55-14.

New London stat leaders: Dom Lopez, 82 rush, 529 yards, 11 TD, 62-104 passing, 891 yards, 15 TD, 2 INT; Boden Pickle, 84 rush, 749 yards, 11 TD; Trent Wilkerson 60.5 tackles, 15 for loss.

Notes: New London’s only district loss came to undefeated WACO, 43-14, on Sept. 23. … G-R’s offense and defense rank in the top 10 among 8-player teams, outscoring opponents by an average of 44 points per game this season. Since moving to 8-player in 2018, the Rebels have yet to win a traditional first-round playoff game - G-R won two “pod” playoff games in the COVID-altered 2020 season.