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Friday night marks the true beginning of the 2015 high school football season, as all seven Creston News Advertiser area teams are in action.
Murray started its season last week with a 48-0 romp of Melcher-Dallas. This week, it’s time for everyone else to kick off the season.
East Union co-head coach James Hardy and Lenox head coach Allen Dukes both expect Friday’s 7 p.m. opening game in Afton to be a physical contest.
“It’s going to be one of those knockdown, drag out fights, I believe,” Dukes said. “I really think the coaching staff over there has got those kids doing the right things. They’re hitting the weight room really well. They are bigger, stronger and faster than what they have been in the past. It’s a game that could go either direction. Just depends on who plays the hardest, I guess.”
Lenox won last year’s contest 36-32 after squandering a 36-14 halftime lead in a game that featured a weather delay in the first half.
The game was eventually called with 5:23 remaining on the clock because of weather concerns.
It’s not lost on Dukes that East Union had the momentum when the game was called.
“They’re going to be fired up and ready to play this game, simply on the reason last year the game was called in the fourth quarter with 5 minutes to go and they had all the momentum,” Dukes said. “We know we got lucky.”
Hardy and co-coach Craig Ditzler have been working to keep their team focused on Friday’s game, however, and not on what happened last fall.
“I think they look at it as another opportunity to play a fundamentally sound team and have an opportunity to prove what they can do and see what kind of growth and progress we’ve made during the offseason,” Hardy said. “I think we’ve kept our kids focused on that. We need to be very physical.”
Lenox will be without standout end and defensive lineman Spencer Brown, as he recovers from offseason knee surgery.
Dukes said the key for his team will be doing what it does well.
“And we need to hopefully take some of the things they do well away from them,” he said. “Whether we can or not, I don’t know.”
“They’re a team that’s going to look to exploit any weaknesses on your squad,” Hardy said about Lenox. “They’re going to give us a good challenge. We’re going to have to come out fundamentally prepared and ready to counter anything they do.”
The game was moved to Afton from Lenox because of construction being done on the Lenox track and football field.
Dukes said he is hopeful the construction will be done and the field will be ready to play on in time for Lenox’s first home game on Sept. 18 against Sidney for homecoming.
“We’re going to be road warriors here these first three weeks,” Dukes said. “Hopefully we can get everything accomplished and done so we can play here in three weeks.”
Semifinalist showdown
Mount Ayr has its own fight on its hands Friday, when the Raiders kick off the 2015 season at 7 p.m. against Albia.
This game features two teams coming off state semifinal appearances in the UNI-Dome last November.
Mount Ayr lost to eventual Class A champion Logan-Magnolia in last year’s semifinals, while Albia lost to Class 2A runner-up Sioux Center in the semifinals.
Albia, which is ranked No. 1 on the Des Moines Register’s preseason Class 2A rankings, returns 15 starters, including nine on defense. The Blue Demons also return Class 2A’s leading rusher a year ago, Carter Isley.
Mount Ayr lost last year’s encounter, the first ever meeting between the two schools, 39-8.
But, it was an important game for the Raiders.
“Just like a year ago, we know what we’re getting into with Albia,” Mount Ayr co-head coach Delwyn Showalter said. “I thought a year ago, that game really set us on our course for the year. We competed with them and I think our guys came out of that game with some confidence, but also came out of that game understanding what they had to do to compete at that level.”
Showalter knows that if the Raiders are going to make another remarkable run in the postseason this year, this is the type of game they need to play.
“They’re going to be a difficult test. But it’s the kind of challenge we need,” Showalter said. “We needed that a year ago and I think we need that challenge this year. If we want to compete against the caliber of teams that compete in the Dome, then that’s the kind of challenge we need.”
Mount Ayr’s Class A District 8 rival Nodaway Valley also opens the season against a team that made a deep run in the playoffs last year.
The Wolverines travel to Central Decatur for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Cardinals, who made it to the Class 1A quarterfinals a year ago, where they lost to eventual state champion Iowa City Regina.
Central Decatur is playing its home games at Graceland University in Lamoni this year.
Southwest Valley, which plays in Class 1A District 8 with Central Decatur, opens the season on the road Friday at Clarinda Academy.
Murray, which opened its season last week with a 48-0 win over Melcher-Dallas, will look to avenge last year’s 34-0 loss to Mormon Trail.
The Mustangs host the Saints 7 p.m. Friday.