Cobras host Bulldogs for title

SIGOURNEY - This town of 2,000 people, the Keokuk County seat, will be the place to be Friday for high school football.

Mediapolis will bring its 7-1 overall record and 4-0 mark in Class 1A District 5 to face Sigourney-Keota (8-0, 4-0). The winner has a home playoff game while the loser may or may not make the playoffs.

'I have no idea about the RPI or playoffs,” Mediapolis head coach Brian Borrison said. 'Our sole focus is to be district champion.”

'We expect a dogfight for the championship,” SK head coach Jared Jensen said. 'They can match our athleticism, so I think it is going to come down to the trenches. Who can play better on the offensive and defensive lines? That may prove to be the difference.”

The line of scrimmage is where most games are won and lost.

'SK is really good,” Borrison said. 'They run their stuff well. They are big and have a lot of guys that run hard. It will be the most difficult offense that we have faced all season. We will need to tackle well and to get off of blocks.”

The SK offense has three backs that all pose significant threats in JD Stout (13 yards/carry), Sam Sieren (9 yards/carry) and Brady Duwa (15 yards/carry).

Mediapolis has four players with at least eight tackles for loss.

'Offensively, we need to do what we do,” Borrison said. 'We need to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers and we need to make sure that we are physical upfront. When big plays are available, we need to take advantage of them.”

Two different Mepo QBs (Regan Thornburg and Briar Johnson) have thrown for a combined total of 36 of 76 for 706 yards with 10 TDs and four INTs. Klay Foster has 960 yards on 93 carries.

The Cobras have struggled a bit on special teams at times, but the defense and offense are making up for those mistakes.

'Against quality teams those mistakes can be costly,” Jensen said. 'We changed up our approach to extra points and went 7-7 last week, which has been our best showing of the season. Our kickoff coverage has been much better than earlier in the year and will have to be phenomenal this week. We gave up two kick returns for touchdowns last year against Mepo and they have been fantastic at punt return. They play special teams really well so we will have to make sure we pay attention to detail this week more than ever.”

Expect a gridiron battle between these perennial powers.

'We expect a team full of athletic players,” Jensen said. 'They are well coached and have been a quality football program for a long time now.”

New London (6-2) plays at Montezuma (6-2). NL has an RPI of 17 while Montezuma's is 10.

Monte's Eddie Burgess has thrown for 2,357 yards on 141 of 230 passing with 42 TDs and seven INTs. He is also the team's leading rusher with 919 yards on 138 carries.

Shae Summerfield has 1,669 yards rushing for NL on 158 attempts. Ethan Streeter is 23 of 45 passing for 306 yards.