As Polson gears up for a State A quarterfinal football game today, several things stand out about opponent Billings Central.

Mainly, Kade Boyd and his 10.5 yards per carry out of Billings Central’s Wing-T offense.

Add Class A’s top rusher to quarterback Adam Balkenbush, set them up against the all-world statistics of Polson QB Jarrett Wilson, and you have a marquee matchup.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. in Polson, and isn’t the only game of area interest. The Eureka Lions host Big Timber in a Class B quarterfinal, while Bigfork travels to Townsend for another. Both games are at 1 p.m.

Billings Central at Polson

Boyd has piled up 1,234 yards for the Rams, whose losses came to unbeaten Laurel and 7-1 Lewistown.

“He’s a wing guy,” Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann said. “They run kind of a hybrid between what Libby does and what Whitefish does. With Whitefish, they want to throw the ball more because of (Fynn) Ridgeway. But I see similarities there.”

Wilson, the 9-0 Pirates’ junior QB, has 41 touchdown passes and no interceptions this season, and he’s responsible for another five TDs on the ground. Colton Graham, Xavier Fisher, Robert Perez and Alex Muzquiz all have put up big receiving numbers in this offense.

It’s a clash of styles: Clay Oven has another 740 rushing yards for the Rams. But Glinsmann is also wary of what Balkenbush can do throwing to AJ Ulrichs and others.

“They’re big thing is they’re going to lull you to sleep a little, and maybe throw 10 times a game,” he said. “But those 10 throws are going to be deep balls that can result in big plays.

“It should be a good game. Hopefully the weather stays off and it's a beautiful fall day in November.”

Big Timber at Eureka

Eureka’s regular forays into the playoffs, including state titles in 2016 and 2019, have put the Lions (8-2) in contact with a wide cross-section of Class B teams.

The 4-6 Big Timber Herders are a new opponent.

“I know they play in a tough conference as well,” said Eureka coach Trevor Utter. “They’re very battle-tested. Their losses came to really good teams, in Boulder and Townsend. They got a huge win last week, which did us a favor and gave us another home game.”

Dual-threat quarterback Connor Giesecke, a 176-pound senior, triggers the Big Timber offense. His main target is Kuirt Gulling, and Utter is impressed with junior lineman Ty Cowell (256 pounds) and Rory Lannen (289).

“They have some big linemen that are pretty physical and a quarterback that is just outstanding,” Utter said.

Lions QB Caleb Utter has run for more yards (897) than he’s thrown (757), and has been part of 20 touchdowns, 11 on the ground. Remington Little has another 541 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground; Danny Dunn is a dangerous tight end with 20 catches for 340 yards.

Bigfork at Townsend

Bigfork’s reward for winning at Glasgow last week is a slightly short trip into Broadwater County.

“That’s the life of being a three-seed,” said Vikings’ coach Jim Benn.

Back in Week of 2020 Bigfork went to Townsend and won 57-20. A lot of turf has been chewed up since then.

“We obviously did some good things against last time,” Benns said. “But they are a very-well coached team, and very athletic.”

Standing out is receiver Gavin Vandencare, who is a solid 6-foot-3 and runs an 11.2-second 100.

“So that makes him a problem,” Benn said. “They threw for 200-some yards against us last year. They run a spread attack and they know how to throw the ball.”

Dawson Sweat is the Bulldogs’ tailback and Trey Hoveland is the QB.

Patrick Wallen has thrown for 994 yards and 15 TDs for the (7-2) Vikings, meanwhile, with just three interceptions. That has balanced out a running attack led by Levi Taylor (794 yards, 10.3 a carry), George Bucklin (543, 8.9 per carry) and Joseph Farrier (353, 8.0 a carry).

Taylor and Bucklin each have nine touchdowns; Receivers Nick Walker and Isak Epperly have combined for nine TD catches.

“We’ve thrown the ball significantly more than last year,” Benn said. “I feel really good about what we can do throwing, and we do it enough that people have to play honestly against us.”