Wartburg and Coe start playoffs Saturday

Iowa Conference co-champions Coe and Wartburg open the division-three national playoffs at home tomorrow afternoon. Coe takes on Wisconsin-LaCrosse. The Kohawks defense has been outstanding, especially on third-down where opponents are only converting 33-percent of their opportunities this season.Coe coach Eric Raeburn says his defense will be challenged by an explosive LaCrosse offense.Wartburg plays host to Midwest Conference champion Lake Forest. The Wartburg defense will need to contend with the Lake Forest passing attack but Knights coach Rick Willis says they cannot ignore the ground game. He says they have to keep them from establishing the run and force them to be one-dimensional.On offense, Wartburg has been balanced all season and Willis says that is their goal again.