A-J faces top seeded Greenville in first playoff round Saturday

The Anna-Jonesboro  Community High School football team will face a big challenge Saturday when it travels to Greenville to play the Comets in the first round of the Illinois High School Association 2012 Class 3A playoffs.

"They've scored a ton of points this season," A-J football coach Brett Detering said. "They average 41 points a game."

The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. and will be aired on WIBH radio in Anna. The game also can be heard online by visiting www.annanews.com.

The Comets are 8-1 after winning their final regular season game against Vandalia.

The Wildcats are 6-3 after losing their final two regular season games.

"We certainly had our opportunities to have a better seed," Detering said. A-J is the No. 8 seed in its playofff bracket and Greenville is the No. 1 seed.

The Comets have outscored their opponents by an average of 41-13 this season.

Sophomore Tyler Hutchinson, 6-5, 190 pounds, is the quarterback.

He has passed for 1,921 yards this season and has scored 21 touchdowns. Junior Daulton Young, 5-9, 170 pounds is his main target. Young is the team's top receiver with 563 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Senior Cameron Walter, 5-9, 200 pounds, leads Greenville's backfield. He rushed for 1,505 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season.

"They've got a quarterback who can really throw it and they've got a good running back," Detering said.

The Comets averaged 420 yards a game of total offense this season.

The offensive line is built around seniors Michael Hill, 6-4, 240 pounds, and Kerry Patrich, 6-2, 240 pounds, and and junior Will Funderburk, 5-10, 240 pounds.

The top defensive players are senior Brandon Duncan, 6-0, 200 pounds; junior Cale Hartnagel, 5-11, 165 pounds; Patrich and junior Derrick Dunn, 5-9, 190 pounds.

The Comets' defense allowed 288 yards per game this season and had four games where they allowed less than 130 rushing or less.

"They are a solid team," said Vandalia coach John Stout, who's team finished 7-2 after losing 28-12 to Greenville last Friday. "They are well coached."

"They seem to be solid across the board," Detering said. "It will be a challenge for us."