The Junction City Blue Jays and Derby Panthers meet in the Sectionals round of the Class 6A football playoffs Friday night at Al Simpler Stadium.

Derby checks in with a 9-1 record, and a first-round playoff win over Topeka High.

Blue Jay coach Randall Zimmerman noticed one strong trait of the Panthers. “You know the thing that really stands out when you watch Derby on film is how hard those kids play, how sound they are, how disciplined they are. They’re a very disciplined team. You’re not going to find them out of position, you’re not going to trick them a lot with different things up front so we’ve just got to be very, very sound.  We’ve got to have our hands inside, we’ve got to run our feet, we’ve got to play hard.”

Derby quarterback Brady Rust has rushed for 1,352 yards and has thrown for 1,232 yards this season. He has rushed for 25 touchdowns and thrown for 17 more.

Junction City is 10-0, and owns a first round playoff win over Hutchinson.

The winner of the game Friday night will advance to the substate ( semifinal ) round of the Class 6A playoffs next week.  The other Sectionals playoff games Friday night include Lawrence Free State at Wichita Northwest, Shawnee Mission at Olathe North, and Overland Park – Blue Valley at Lawrence High.

Tickets for the game at Al Simpler Stadium at $6 for adults, and $5 for students ( K-12 ).