Eudora High will play a state football playoff game tonight at home. Its only obstacle is the top-ranked Class 4A team in Kansas.

“They’re number one in the state for a reason,” Eudora coach Gregg Webb said of Topeka Hayden. “They put a quality kid at every position.”

Hayden (11-0) will make its way to Eudora for a 7 p.m. kickoff after soundly defeating Tonganoxie, 27-14, in regional play.

Eudora (8-3) comes into the game after beating Coffeyville, 35-8, last week, but tonight the competition will be tougher — and bigger. The Wildcats boast a lineup chock full of big, tall players like Nick Stringer, a 6-foot-7, 270-pound defensive lineman/tight end.

“Obviously, we’re not going to try to line up and knock that kid over,” Webb joked.

Hayden’s run defense may force Eudora to throw the ball more than usual, but the Cardinals will try to run it. Against Coffeyville, the EHS tandem of Luke Abel and Brendan Jackson racked up a combined 244 yards.

“There so good defensively … we’re going to have to try to mix things up,” Webb said. “But we’re not going to abandon everything we do.”

One positive for the Cardinals is their health. Webb said throughout the season at least 10 players had been banged up, but tonight only one starter — senior left tackle/defensive end Phil Lister — is listed as questionable.

The Cardinals may be the underdogs, but their season still is going.

6Sports video: Eudora to face top-ranked Hayden

“It’s fun to be still playing football at this time of the year,” Webb said. “When most of the teams in the state have checked it in it’s always a good thing.”

“We had hopes that we could make it this far. I felt like we were getting better. … We have had high expectations for this team. We had a couple of stumbles, but really felt like we’d be playing at this time.”