For Mount Ayr and any other football team, the start of a new season brings with it a whole host of questions.
Friday’s season opener can begin to provide coaches and teams answers to those pressing questions.
Mount Ayr will look to see if its found the right answers to many of its questions when it takes on Nodaway Valley in the opener for both teams.
Kickoff in the battle for ‘The Rock” begins at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.
Coming off a 10-3 season and a run to the semifinals of the Class A playoffs, Mount Ayr has plenty of question marks. A number of new starters will be taking to the field on both sides of the ball.
“It’s always a lot of fun to go into a new season,” said Mount Ayr co-coach Delwyn Showalter. “You’re never quite sure what you’re goign to have. There’s a lot of unknowns. There’s a lot of excitement.”
Mount Ayr started to answer some of those questions in camp. But how those players respond under the shine of the Friday night lights will tell how far they’ve come.
“The last two years, we’ve gone into the season for the most part knowing who 90 percent of the people were going to be,” Showalter said. “We were trying to figure out backups and third string people. This year, we know a couple of positions and the rest are unknowns. There’s a lot of unknowns.”
Nodaway Valley has its own set of questions it will look to have answered on opening night.
Wolverines coach Steve Shantz noted the team had bright moments in fall camp, and some not so bright ones either.
“Some days we looked really good and other days we would take a step backward,” Shantz said. “It’s hard to judge. We did OK at our scrimmage. We did some good things and we did some bad things. We learned a lot. Hopefully some of that inexperience will get better.”
Opening with a rival adds to the excitement of opening night.
“It’s really such a big game,” Shantz said. “It’s two storied programs. There’s not many trophy games here in the state. Coach Showlater, coach Lambert and I came up with the battle for ‘The Rock.’ We’ll see what happens.”
The two teams have a storied rivalry. Mouny Ayr got the better of Nodaway Valley last year, taking a 61-0 decision.
“It’s always a fun game,” Showalter said. “We have a great relationship with coach Shantz and the people up there. It goes back a long time to Mount Ayr and Greenfield, now Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley. It’s one of those games that gets you excited. You know you’re going to get their best shot.”
East Union opens at home
East Union opens the season at home against Essex.
For the Eagles, a summer of hard work and preparation comes to fruition.
Co-coach James Hardy noted camp has been solid.
“We have had a good summer of lifting and camp and now practice has been going really well,” Hardy said. “We have got in a lot of really good reps on offense and defense and we continue to need to practice our specialty teams play as we get closer to our first game of the season.”
Seeing a team wearing another jersey is a welcome sight for the Eagles.
“The players are looking forward to getting the season underway and playing against someone other than each other,” Hardy said.
A strong game up front from its line and the offense as a whole will set the tone for East Union.
“On offense, we need to go out and be physical and control the line of scrimmage and value each possession when we do have the ball,” Hardy said. “We need to cover their receivers and tackle well in space on defense as well play solid special teams play.”
Spirits high for SW Valley heading into opener
Increased numbers have led to better spirits at Southwest Valley’s camp.
Having a considerable jump in the number of bodies on the field has also helped with practice as the Timberwolves prepare for their opener at Red Oak.
Southwest Valley has 43 out for football this season.
“Camp went great,” said first-year Southwest Valley coach Anthony Donahoo. “We have 43 kids out for football, which is up from 28 from last year. It allows us to really go one’s-versus-one’s in practice. The kids have been pushing each other every day in practice to get better. The kids have done a great job focusing on what it takes outside of actual practice to become a great team.”
Donahoo’s positive vibe has rubbed off on the team in camp.
“I’ve been told that I’m a pretty excited guy,” Donahoo said. “I killed the team with positive energy all summer and I truly think they fed off that and now we see that in practice. I think having 43 kids out showcases how bought in they are.”
The Timberwolves want to show their fans what kind of team they are.
“Most importantly, it’s showcasing how they are not a 1-8 team and that their hard work has paid off,” Donahoo said.
Familiar opponent for Lenox
Lenox matches up with Fremont-Mills in a battle of two teams that reached the quarterfinals of the Eight-Player playoffs last season.
The Tigers took last season’s meeting against the Knights 40-34 in Tabor.
Lenox coach Matt Malusky said the Tigers know what they’re going to see from the Knights.
“They’re big physically and they have very good speed,” Malusky said. “Coach (Jeremy) Christiansen has a very good thing going over there. He reloads.”
Malusky expects the Knights to be hungry to avenge their only loss of the regular season last season.
“They’ll have the revenge factor,” Malusky said. “They’re going to be a tough, real physical football team.”
Lenox has adapted well to the system Malusky implemented in the offseason heading into his first season as the head coach.
“Anytime you have change. it can be panic or they can welcome it,” Malusky said. “They’ve been open and honest and welcoming of it as possible.”
Murray on the road
Murray opens the season at CAM, Anita.
The Mustangs return six starters on offense and have 19 players listed on their roster. Murray is coming off of a 3-7 season and last played CAM in 2011 when it defeated the Rams 36-28 in Anita.