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CORNING — The Southwest Valley defense looks to stay in control in Friday’s homecoming game against Martensdale-St. Marys.
The Timberwolves are allowing just 5.25 points per game, and have two shutouts to their name, including last week’s 48-0 win at Griswold.
The Blue Devils enter Friday’s contest at 1-3 and coming off a 63-0 loss to Earlham, who Southwest Valley defeated 38-15 two weeks ago.
The Timberwolves won last year’s meeting 55-12.
Despite being shutout in back-to-back weeks, the Blue Devils do have athletic talent. That includes running back Steven Linn, who leads his team with 379 yards on 73 carries.
Creating havoc in the backfield could make the Southwest Valley defensive line a large factor Friday. The Timberwolves have totaled 23 solo tackles for loss and 15.5 assisted tackles for loss, to go with eight sacks, all tops in Class A District 7.
Quarterback Chandler Craig is 19 of 37 passing for 277 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. His primary targets will be Kolton Fish (six receptions for 139 yards and three touchdowns) and Garrison Haupts (six receptions for 66 yards).
“When you throw film on, they’re pretty talented and they spread the ball out,” Southwest Valley coach Anthony Donahoo said.
Defensively, Haupts leads the Blue Devils with 37 tackles.
Southwest Valley will employ its triple-option in an attempt to improve upon its 35.5 points per game.
“We pretty much understood that we’re a triple option team and we do like to pass the ball a little bit,” Donahoo said. “We might only run three plays but the option looks a little different each time.”
Mount Ayr at Pella Christian
PELLA — Mount Ayr, coming off a 48-32 win over Woodward Academy, has a daunting opponent places before it this week, and on the road at that.
Third-ranked Pella Christian sits at 4-0 and is coming off a 45-10 win over Interstate 35.
The Raiders, who lost last year’s matchup with the Eagles 62-14, face an uphill task as they try to get back above .500, sitting at 2-2 and 1-2 in Class 1A District 5.
The game featured the district’s top rushing squads, as Mount Ayr enters the game with 1,269 rushing yards this game, while Pella Christian has 1,094 and 17 rushing touchdowns.
The Eagles can cause chaos at the line of scrimmage, boasting 34 solo tackles for loss.
Noah Treimer leads the Eagles with 583 yards rushing on 9.4 yards per carry and has eight rushing touchdowns, much of it from the quarterback spot.
“The Eagles offense usually operates from a four wide spread attack,” Mount Ayr co-coach Delwyn Showalter said. “They often line up with three receivers to one side of the formation, a single receiver on the opposite side, and the quarterback and running back in a pistol set. They will also utilize a double slot formation, and occasionally line up in a wildcat set.”
To stop Pella Christian’s attack, the Raiders will need performances on par with that of John Shields’ production in the Woodward-Academy game. Shields had 12 tackles, three of which were for loss.
Nodaway Valley at Griswold
GRISWOLD — Winless Nodaway Valley heads to Griswold, with both teams making to look some headway in Class A District 7 play.
The Wolverines are still trying to find their footing, and are coming off a 41-7 homecoming loss to Riverside.
Brady Hilpipre had the best offensive game of the season for any Wolverine with 113 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries.
AustIn Wilson and Evan Forcht combined for 16.5 tackles in that loss and Wilson recorded an interception. Spencer Lamb also had an interception in the loss.
Griswold lost 48-0 at home to Southwest Valley last week.
Heath Ogg and Jadon Jahnke were the rushing leaders in that game with a combined 199 yards.
The Wolverines will have to stop Griswold’s run-heavy offense if they are to have a chance at their first win against the 1-3 Tigers.
Stanton at Murray
MURRAY — Friday night, the Murray Mustangs (0-5, 0-2) will welcome the class of 8-player District 8, Stanton to their field.
Stanton’s lone loss was to Ar-We-Va to start the season. Both of those teams received votes in the latest Associated Press poll.
The Vikings’ passing attack is what makes them most dangerous, with the combo of Keygan Day at quarterback and Drake Johnson at wide receiver piling up all kinds of yards.
Johnson had 416 receiving yards and nine touchdown receptions out of 15 catches.
Johnson and Dillion Rocha are both over 400 yards receiving for the Vikings.
Slowing down Stanton’s offense will be the goal for Murray, not to stop it. Stanton has scored 60-plus points in each of its last two games, and had not scored fewer than 36 in a game this season.
Continued valuable repetitions for Murray’s underclassmen should pave the way for more competitive play in the future.
By LARRY PETERSON CNA senior feature writer lpeterson@crestonnews.com
Lenox at East Union
AFTON — When Lenox visits East Union Friday, it’s not only a longstanding rivalry game, there’s plenty on the line in terms of staying in contention for postseason play in 8-Player District 6.
This is especially the case for Lenox, battling some injury losses along the way to a 1-1 district mark to date, and 2-3 overall.
Stanton is at the top with a 2-0 district mark, while East Union and Bedford are still without a district setback at 1-0. The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season last week to 3-1 Baxter in non-district play.
Lenox is coming off a 60-0 homecoming triumph over Murray.
This is a rivalry game,” East Union co-coach James Hardy said. “It’s a game that always has intense play in it. I don’t expect anything less this week.”
Hardy said there can be benefits from last week’s 72-50 setback against Baxter’s formidable passing attack as the Eagles prepare for a tough stretch of games against Lenox, Stanton and Bedford.
“To have that happen, win or lose, against a non-district opponent that plays solid football ... It gives us a feeling of where we’re at,” Hardy said.
Lenox coach Matt Malausky knows his team faces a tough challenge at such a critical juncture of the season.
“We’ve got to stop their running game first and foremost,” Malausky said. “They run a lot of misdirection and outside stuff, so outside containment will be number one. Take care of your responsibility and let them take care of theirs.”
Wittstock is the workhorse of that East Union rushing attack with 456 yards and five touchdowns on 82 carries. Since Sanden Cheers has returned to the quarterback spot, he’s proven to be a two-way threat with 179 yards and four TDs in 32 carries while passing 9 of 21 for 187 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions.
Joshua Hardy, Kole Seales and two-game quarterback starter Matt McGuire have all ran for more than 90 yards to date. Hardy has four touchdowns and a touchdown return of a pass interception.
Five Eagles have caught two or more passes, led by Wittstock’s 106 yards and two TDs on three catches. Dillon Weis also has two scoring receptions.
Defensively Tate Kerrigan, Seales and Hardy are the tackle leaders. Colton Abell has three quarterback sacks. Weis has picked off two passes.
Malausky has done some shuffling with the Lenox lineup with injuries to Sam Donaldson and Colton Hogan. Donaldson had rushed for 344 yards and five touchdowns.
Quarterback Carter Still is the leading ground-gainer with 378 yards and seven touchdowns on 66 carries. Colton Gordon has been a running and receiving threat, picking up 256 yards on the ground along with eight catches for 82 yards. Brenden Christensen has four receptions for 102 yards and three TDs.
Christensen, Aaron Schmitz, Derek Venteicher and Drew Venteicher have been the tackle leaders on defense. Derek Venteicher has been a force with five sacks among his eight tackles for losses. Christensen has five stops for losses. Gordon, Drew Venteicher and Schmitz have each picked off one pass.