RAPID CITY - The Sturgis Scoopers and Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles meet tonight in the first round of the Class 11AA football playoffs in what looks like a perfect recipe for a low-scoring affair.

It will also be the first playoff game hosted by the Scoopers since 1995 as ninth-seeded Aberdeen (5-4 overall) makes the long road trip west to take on No. 8 Sturgis (5-4) at 6 p.m. at Woodle Field.

"We know that they've improved throughout the season," Sturgis head coach Rod Richardson said of the Golden Eagles. "They're a really good team right now."

The Scoopers have averaged just over 10 points per game this season on offense, while their defense has kept them in many of their games. Aberdeen will be coming west without starting quarterback Jared Hannigan, forcing junior Isaiah Barse into his first start of the season.

"The defense has been the strength and backbone of our team," Richardson said of a unit that has given up 20.2 points per game this season. When you consider that Sturgis gave up 134 points to the top three teams in the Greater Dakota Conference - 37 to Sioux Falls Washington, 49 to Sioux Falls Lincoln and 48 to Sioux Falls O'Gorman - the Scoopers have to like their chances against an Aberdeen Central team that has averaged 17.8 points per game this season.

The Golden Eagles will probably have to rely a little more heavily on the running of Evan Nolte with the loss of Hannigan, who threw four touchdown passes in a 31-14 win over Watertown in Aberdeen's season finale last week before injuring his foot. Nolte, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior, also handles the placekicking duties for the Golden Eagles. He booted a 44-yard field goal against the Arrows.

The young Scoopers will have to find a way to keep from getting too wrapped up in the pressure of hosting the town's first playoff game in 13 years.

"Everybody is pretty excited about it, and as a team we put that out there as a goal really early," Richardson said. "The team is happy that we've reached that goal, but we've got to move on from that."

Richardson doesn't feel his team will have too much trouble with getting caught up in the hoopla of playing in front of a raucous home crowd.

"We've struggled at times during the season," Richardson said of his young team. "But our team has been really good at keeping our focus and not worrying about things that we can't control. We're just going to go out there and play a football game to the best of our ability."

The biggest key for the Scoopers could be how well a young offensive line - the Scoopers start four sophomores and a junior - plays in the pressure-packed situation of an elimination game.

"Our offense has started to come around," Richardson said. "We've started four sophomores and a junior all year on the offensive line and it's just taken them a little while to come together. Finding a group that works well together has been a difficult task, but they're starting to play better."

The Scoopers have relied heavily on the receiving of Seth Mulvehill to move the ball throughout the year, but running back Clint Wilson came out with a strong game last week against arch-rival Spearfish to give Sturgis another offensive option. Wilson ended the game with 101 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries as the Scoopers came back from a late 10-point deficit to beat the Spartans 20-17. Wilson's 16-yard TD scamper late in the fourth quarter won the game for Sturgis.