Greenwood hosts Muhlenberg County tonight at 7 p.m. in the first round of the KHSAA Class 6A state playoffs.

On paper, at least, the top-seeded Gators seem destined for the second round. But don’t say that too loudly.

“If they hear that - they’re not hearing that from me,” GHS coach Mark Nelson said. “There’s a fine line between No. 1 and No. 4. We squeaked by a couple games and we were really fortunate to get some big plays at some opportune times.

“I look back at the Central Hardin game (a 45-33 Greenwood victory), we turned the ball over eight times and still won that game. We feel very fortunate, and at this point in time, if you’re overlooking opponents, then you’re gonna get beat.”

Greenwood (7-3) will try not to “overlook” the visitors from Greenville, who are in their first season as a program after the consolidation of the former Muhlenberg North and Muhlenberg South high schools. The Mustangs (3-7) enter on a two-game winning streak.

“They’re very, very skillful,” Nelson said. “They have a good tailback, a good fullback - their quarterback (Aaron Johnson) is an outstanding athlete. He’s probably one of the better athletes coming from that district. He’s very scary because he keeps it, he can run and he’s very fast.”

Muhlenberg County’s option offense has put up 18 points a game.

“We have to play the good, solid technique defense and read your keys,” Nelson added. “If you don’t read your keys then they’re gonna hurt you with either the fullback, tailback or quarterback. We’ve seen offenses like this this year, and we’ve proved that if we don’t read our keys, we’ll get beat. It’ll be one of things tonight where we’ll have to be on our toes every play.”

For the third straight season, the Gators enter the postseason coming off a loss. This time, rival Warren Central was the culprit, handing GHS a 22-21 setback in overtime last week.

“We got our first goal - win the conference at 4-0 and we got that goal,” Nelson said. “Playing at home throughout the playoffs is a big plus for our program and our school because our kids can come out and see it and be a part of it. But more than anything, our kids have worked hard. From the end of last year when we got beat by (duPont Manual in the second round of the state playoffs) to right to this point - they’ve worked hard and they deserve to be here.”

“We’ve had good practices (this week). We’re banged up from the Warren Central game and we may have new faces in there at key positions.”

A Greenwood win would bring the Nelson County-Graves County winner to The Swamp next week. MCHS, with a win, would continue to play on the road at either of those schools.