Henry County football: Panthers move to district play

District play is finally among us in Class 3A football, which means all five of Henry County's teams will be in district/conference play this week. All five teams are in action as we approach the halfway point in the high school season and Iowa Wesleyan wraps up their long road trip.

MT. PLEASANT @ FAIRFIELD - It's rivalry week for Mt. Pleasant as the Panthers will travel to Fairfield for their district opener. The Panthers flattened the Trojans in Fairfield last season but this year looks like it could produce one of the best games of the year.

The Panthers and Trojans both come in to the game 2-2, and both are coming off wins last week. In an unstoppable force/imovable object situation, Fairfield's offense is coming off of a 61-point performance, while Mt. Pleasant's defense hasn't given up a point since their second game.

Mt. Pleasant will have to slow down a Fairfield running game that is just starting to click. Last week Leone GTichure ran for 135 yards and Tristan Waugh went for 117 yards and three scores. The two have combined for almost 800 yards on the ground so far this year.

Some good news came for the Panther running game, as starting back Levi Puig was reinstated after the Panthers appealed an ejection from last week. The Trojans will have to watch out for Puig and all of Zach Beason's weopons through the air. Beason lit the Trojans up for four passing touchdowns last year.

NO. 2 NEW LONDON vs. Tri-County - New London seems to be on a collision course with Iowa Valley on Oct. 5, but they'll need to win back-to-back home games to get to that game undefeated. So far, the Tigers have been running over everyone who gets in their way.

To say New London is heavily favored this week is a massive understatement. Tri-County has scored just six points this season and has given up at least 60 points in every game. Meanwhile, the Tigers have won every game by at least 35 points, putting the running clock on in every contest this season.

WACO @ LONE TREE - WACO (3-2, 2-2) was apart of Henry County's closest contest last week, and they might be in for a similar game this week. The Warriors will take on Lone Tree on the road.

The Lions (1-4, 1-3) have had a tough schedule so far this year, with their only win coming by 11 points over the same Montezuma point that WACO nipped last Friday. Lone Tree is led by quarterback Harmon Miller who's passed for 6778 yards and seven touchdowns, and ran for 186 yards and four scores.

WACO is coming off another big game by Horak, who had well over 200 yards of total offense as well as four touchdowns. The Warriors did give up two touchdowns last week on a couple of pick-sixes.

WINFIELD-MT. UNION VS. H-L-V - The Wolves have quite the challenge on homecoming night, as W-MU welcomes Hartwick-Laroda-Victor. H-L-V is 3-1 overall and 2-1 in conference, with its only loss coming in New London.

H-L-V's running backs have been carrying the load this year. Seniors Chase Sternhagen and Dean Shaull combined for 293 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 14-point win over Lone Tree last week.

The Wolves (1-4, 1-3) are coming off a tough road game at Iowa Valley. W-MU sophomore Jacob Ford has caught six passes in their last two games, a helpful hand to quarterback Daunte Oeppingand the passing game.

IOWA WESLEYAN @ MINNESOTA-MORRIS - It's homecoming at Minnesota-Morris and the IW football team wants to come play spoiler. Both teams are 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference, so something has got to give.

Though the two teams have the same amount of wins, IW has definitely had e more productive season thus far. The Tigers have struggled to score, averaging just over 12 points per game, but Minnesota-Morris hasn't scored a single point all year.

The Cougars have lost 41-0, 48-0 and 41-0 again. It might be a breakout day for quarterback DeMarcus Collins and the Tiger offense.

Mt. Pleasant's game on Friday, Sept. 21 will begin at 7:30 p.m. New London, WACO and W-MU will all kickoff at 7 p.m. The IW game begins at noon.