Volleyball went pretty much as expected yesterday. Three of the top four seeds in the Mid-Continent League tournament–#1 Smith Center, #3 Plainville and #4 Stockton–each went 2-0. The fourth 2-0 team after yesterday is #5 seed TMP-Marian, which ousted #2 seed Ellis in yesterday’s only three-set match.

It’s a day off from volleyball because football is taking center stage. I’m on my way to LaCrosse. where Smith Center faces the host Leopards. It is not a district game, but the Redmen will be aiming to get back on track after last week’s one-point loss at Ell-Saline. LaCrosse is 5-1, with its lone loss coming in week four to Southeast of Saline.

Smith Center won two playoff games over LaCrosse in a three-year stretch several years ago. The Redmen won 46-0 at home in 2006, then two years later came to LaCrosse and won 32-14. Both games were in the Class 2-1A quaterfinals, and in both years, Smith Center went on to win state championships. The latter game was featured prominently in Joe Drape’s book Our Boys, the book about the Redmen’s 2008 season.

I originally was going to stay home and do Russell’s game vs. Norton, but I don’t care for homecoming. Not at all. I’ll gladly make the 53-mile drive instead.