No. 1 Spartans to host Wolverines in playoff opener

Friday night the Nodaway Valley Wolverines will have a tall task ahead of them in the form of the Grundy Center Spartans, but the Class A playoff opener could prove to be a better game than the numbers dictate.

Class A No. 1 Grundy Center (8-0), a team who has not conceded more than two scores in a game all season, awaits the Wolverines (4-5) Friday night. The contest against the top-ranked opponent will without a doubt be Nodaway Valley’s toughest game all season and will have little room for error.

The 2019 state runner-up Spartans enter another state-qualifying season with something to prove, and will look to make it a second consecutive season where they play at the UNI Dome. Nodaway Valley, on the other hand, enters its first playoff berth as a school under first-year head coach Duane Matthess.

A David and Goliath situation will take place north of Des Moines in Grundy Center, with kick off coming at 7 p.m. Weather looks to be on the colder side, with temperatures hovering in the 40s and 30s.

A win Friday night will make the 2020 Wolverines team the winningest since the 2013 team finished 5-5.

Coverage for the game will be on Twitter by Tyler Hetu (@TheTylerHetu) Friday night, and will have a full game story in Monday’s issue of the News Advertiser alongside state cross country coverage.

Who to know

Getting to Spartan quarterback Logan Knaack, applying pressure on an otherwise strong offensive line (13th in all-purpose yards in Class A) and forcing bad passes into coverage will need to be a focus for the Wolverines.

The same goes for preventing the rushing attack, which features 800-yard rusher Knaack and 1,300-yard rusher Zach Opheim. The sixth best rushing team in the class goes up against a Nodaway Valley squad who has no problem getting in the backfield – racking up 85 1/2 tackles for a loss to be behind only South Winneshiek and Riverside in the class.

If an offensive line for Grundy Center shows problems, and the Wolverines stay relentless on their need to both get to the ball carrier and keep pressure on the quarterback, the Wolverines are in business. But, easier said than done.

At 13 and 10.6 yards per carry, Knaack and Opheim (respectively) are possibly the best athletes on the field at any given moment. An all-state first-team and third-team selection (respectively) combination makes for a solid 1-2 punch and has generated enough attention to net Opheim an opportunity to play at NAIA powerhouse Morningside. Knaack, who will be a senior next year, will likely generate similar offers if not better.

On defense, the team is deep, but is notably led by tackle leaders Brayden Sawyer (43 tackles) and Wes Willis (40 1/2 tackles). Willis has 18 tackles for a loss, tied for fifth in the class with Avery Phillippi, who will oppose him Friday night with NV. Willis edges Phillippi by two in sacks with eight.

The defensive numbers are not eye popping, and in fact, Nodaway Valley edges them in most numbers. NV leads in tackles for a loss, tackles as a whole, fumble recoveries and interceptions. A team that has faced opponents with a combined record of 29-34 looks like the better team on paper, and will be favored by some. But, NV will send out its best and will undoubtedly head into Friday knowing it has nothing to lose.

The usual suspects for Nodaway Valley will be out and ready to make noise. The Ayase brothers of Adam and Tony (577 and 557 yards, respectively) will lead the charge on the ground game for NV, who has rushed for a combined 408 yards in its back-to-back shutouts of Earlham and North Mahaksa.

Under center will be thousand-yard passer Nate Russell, who has thrown for 13 scores. Continuing the brotherly trend, the DeVault brothers of Boston and Caelen have combined for seven of his touchdowns.

On defense, the DeVault and Ayase brothers will continue to be a force, but Phillippi and team interception leader Jon Gebbie, who missed last Friday, will be back in the lineup and ready to roll.

Tale of the tape

The Spartans are very familiar with the number zero. Over the last four weeks, Grundy Center has put up a goose egg (zero) in the opponents’ scoring column three times. The lone score in a game came Oct. 23 in last week’s 48-6 rout of Ogden.

The closest Grundy Center has come to losing was a 20-14 win on opening night against Panorama. The Panthers had three interceptions that night, and have been the only interceptions thrown by Knaack all season.

Back-to-back shutouts by the Wolverines have breathed new life into a program that is celebrating its first “banner” football season in Nodaway Valley school history.

In NV’s four wins, it’s outscoring opponents 94-0, which I assure you is not a typo. Friday certainly won’t be a shutout thrown by the Wolverines, but don’t expect this team to roll over and quit either.

In nearly every loss, with the exception of a 41-13 loss to Mount Ayr Sept. 4, Nodaway Valley was one score away from either tying or taking the lead on the final possession. In the loss to Mount Ayr, NV did put up points in the fourth quarter, but the difference was too great to make up.

Some things need to go right for Nodaway Valley in order to win, but they’ve proven they can battle when needed.

They’ll do all they can to make it an uncomfortable evening in Grundy Center, and make sure they leave it all on the field in the playoff opener. Let’s see how the state title hopefulls battle the underdog Wolverines.