St. Paul’s Wolves play host to the John Ehret Patriots at 7 tonight in the bi-district round of the football state playoffs at Hunter Stadium.

St. Paul’s (8-2, 5-2), the No. 12 seed, goes against Ehret, the No. 21 seed. Ehret (6-3) lost to West Jefferson 24-19 last week.

SPS defeated Fontainebleau 14-6 in the regular season finale last week to earn a second-place tie with Northshore as they finished one game behind District 6-5A champ Mandeville. The Wolves’ second-place finish ended a three-year run as the district champs.

St. Paul'€™s senior defensive back Greg Blasiar (35) and sophomore lineman Mickey Johnson (99) prepare to put the clamp on Fontainebleau runner Clay Fritscher in last week'€™s final district game played at Hunter Stadium. St. Paul'€™s, the No. 12 seed, hosts the John Ehret Patriots tonight in the bi-district round of the state playoffs. (File Photo by Mike McCall)

“When you get to the playoffs, there are no easy games. Ehret presents us with a tough challenge. They have real good talent at the skill positions,” SPS coach Ken Sears said.

St. Paul’s defense has played consistent football throughout the season, led by senior middle linebacker Jordan Bodenheimer, who has registered 79 tackles, including 58 solo stops. He has five tackles for losses with three sacks and has caused a fumble.

Bodenheimer recorded 12 tackles last week, including eight solo stops with two tackles for losses.

Senior defensive back Greg Blasiar is next with 76.5 tackles, including 62 individual stops. He has one interception with four broken up passes and two caused fumbles.

Senior defensive end Houston Bates leads the Wolves with 12 sacks and 15 tackles for losses. He has recorded 59.5 tackles with three caused fumbles of which two were returned by teammates for touchdowns.

Last week, Bates delivered four individual tackles, two assists and one sack and also caused a fumble.

Senior linebacker Tyler Adams was in on nine tackles last week.

Adams also intercepted a pass at the St. Paul’s 23-yard line with 1:11 to play to secure the victory. Junior defensive back Jeff Gahn contributed six tackles, including two plays for a loss.

Senior defensive back Beau Trist leads SPS with three interceptions and has 10 broken up passes.