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AFTON — A year ago, the Wayne Falcons stood in the way of the East Union Eagles and a playoff berth. Win and the Eagles were in.
A 48-26 loss devastaed the Eagles.
This year, star running back Chase Keifer and the Falcons (4-4, 2-3) stand before the Eagles (4-4, 2-3) and a chance to send their seniors off with their fourth consecutive season with a regular season winning record.
Keifer will be the man to stop for the Eagle defense, as he has posted a whopping 1,593 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground.
East Union won’t have to worry much about a Wayne passing attack. The Falcons have thrown the ball for just 228 yards this season.
Quarterback Blake Moore has rushed for 279 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, Keifer is a playmaker with a team-leading 46 tackles and three fumble recoveries.
Last week’s 28-22 overtime win at Lamoni — depsite its frantic and worrisome finish in which co-coach James Hardy collapsed on the field due to complications from the flu and dehydration (Hardy is doing well and was back teaching at school this week) — gave the Eagles a repreive from a four-week stretch without a victory.
“I felt it was a good battle and it was a good game,” East Union co-coach Craig Ditzler said. “I’m glad we came out on top and that’s what you want at the end of the game.”
Now, at 4-4, the Eagle senior class has that winning mark on their minds as a way to solidify its legacy, even without a playoff appearance this season in the cards.
“We know what it means to win these next two games,” Ditzler said. “It’s a big difference. It’s a winning record for these seniors.”
The Eagles forced three turnovers a week ago with interceptions by Dillon Weis, Matthew Wittstock and a fumble recovery by Gavin Kline.
Three more turnovers may make a difference against the run-heavy Falcons.
Riverside at Southwest Valley
CORNING — Southwest Valley’s undefeated, district champion football team heads into week nine looking to shore things up leading into what will be a week 10 playoff appearance.
Riverside (2-6, 1-5) enters with a five-game losing streak, with its last victory coming against Nodaway Valley 41-7 in week four.
A Timberwolves defense that is surrendering just 5.1 points per game and has yet to give up more than 15 points in a game goes head-to-head with a Riverside offense that has not scored more than once in a game since week four.
Southwest Valley’s offense was led by the gauntlet of Jace Petersen, Chance Cobb, Aaron Armstrong and Dustin Lund, who just between the four of them piled up 394 of the team’s 443 rushing yards.
The Timberwolves’ 7.8 yards per carry is now fourth best in Class A.
Should the normal formula of success for the Timberwolves follow them into battle Friday, the No. 2 Southwest Valley squad will enter the postseason undefeated and with a path to the UNI Dome with home field advantage.
Martensdale-St. Marys at Nodaway Valley
GREENFIELD — Coming off a disappointing performance against a well-schooled and powerful Earlham squad in a 63-6 loss, the Wolverine football team enters its last game of the season at home against Martensdale-St. Marys (3-5, 2-4) ready to put everything out on the field one last time.
“We’re getting better. We want to send the seniors off with a win,” coach Steve Shantz said. “That would make two wins in the district for us. Once again, we’re going to have to be physical. Martensdale is big. I don’t think they’re quite as big as Earlham.”
Martensdale-St. Marys will likely look to follow lead back Steven Linn, who enters with 832 rushing yards. The Blue Devils are also the winners of two straight.
The Wolverines have had some players emerge as reliable leaders. One such player, Brady Hilpipre, was questionable for the last contest after going through the concussion protocol.
Sophomore Austin Wilson now has a team-high 60 tackles, while senior Thomas Britten, Evan Forcht and others have helped lead the defense.
Now, they’ll look to send the seniors, Britten and Max Kuhns off with a bang.
Mount Ayr at Interstate 35
TRURO — Friday’s matchup between Mount Ayr (3-5, 2-4) and Interstate 35 (6-2, 4-2) presents a contest with both teams reaching to grasp something for themselves.
Mount Ayr has already clinched a losing season in a tough as nails district, but has the chance to ruin the Roaddrunners’ possible playoff berth.
The Roadrunners can give themselves a chance at the postseason with a win, and a Central Decatur win over Pleasantville.
Mount Ayr fell in last year’s home finale to Interstate 35 27-12 as the still powerful combo of Mason Cassady at running back and Brayden Egli at quarterback torched the Raider defense. Egli passed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in that game and Cassady ran for 180 yards.
This season, Egli has passed for 1,004 yards and 13 touchdowns while running for 226 yards and five touchdowns. Cassady has scooted his way to 974 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, both top four in Class 1A District 5.
Brad Phelps and Zach Murphy have steadily worked their way to a combined 1,009 yards on the ground and 12 touchdowns.
They will try to run around, over and through a talented Roadrunner defense that features some of the district’s best tacklers, like Joey Bregar, Cassady, Jacob Steinlage and more.
Mount Ayr will look for a return to normalcy in the series, as last year marked the first time it had lost to Interstate 35 since 2005.