Marquee weekend for Henry County football

Some football weekends are just bigger and better than others and Henry County is about to enter the most important slate of games so far this year. This weekend's slate has two games for district supremacy, one homecoming game and a rivalry renewed after a two-year absense.

There are only four Henry County games being played this weekend since WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union play each other. That game and Iowa Wesleyan's homecoming game are the only two contests inside the county's walls.

MT. PLEASANT @ SOLON – First place is on the line in Solon on Friday night. Mt. Pleasant enters the game on a four-game winning streak and has dominated all four games including its two district wins against Fairfield and Keokuk, but they'll face a heavily favored Spartan squad.

Solon is 6-0 this season and also 2-0 in the district, getting blowout wins against Ft. Madison and Washington. The Spartans have one of the best defenses in the class, giving up a maximum of 14 in their gmes this season. Quarterback Cam Miller has 15 touchdown passes and just four inerceptions this year and running back Adam Bock has scored 11 total touchdowns this season.

Friday's winner will have a stranglehold on the district with just two games remaining. A win in that game all but guarantees a spot in the Class 3A playoffs.

NO. 1 NEW LONDON @ NO. 6 IOWA VALLEY - Although the Associated Press rankings has Iowa Valley back at No. 6, every other poll, they are ranked as highly as No. 2 in the Radio Iowa Poll. Either way, this is one of the games of the week in Iowa and there is a lot more on the line than a little supremacy in the rankings.

New London and Iowa Valley have dominated Class 8 District 4 all season and they've been on a collision course for the league championship. Friday's game could be considered the defacto district championship even with both teams having two games left.

The lowest point total Iowa Valley has had in a game this year is 46. The highest amount New London has given up is 16. Something has to give when the two Tigers finally get to go at it.

New London will need to slow down Iowa Valley's running game if they want to walk away with a huge road win. Quarterback Ben Smith leads Iowa Valley with 628 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground, and also has a six-to-one touchdown to interception ratio.

WINFIELD-MT. UNION @ WACO - On Oct. 9, 2015, W-MU beat WACO 36-13 in an 11-man football game, en route to a district championship and a playoff berth. That was the last time the Wolves and Warriors met on the gridiron in a meaningful game.

After a two-year absense, the teams will finally play on the eight-man field in Wayland. This time it's WACO that is favored. WACO running back Colton Horak looks to add to his 1,369 yards from scrimmage and 19 total touchdowns against a struggling W-MU defense, but Wolves' quarterback Daunte Oepping (511 yards passing, 218 yards rushing, 11 total touchdowns) will want to match that with his arms and legs.

IOWA WESLEYAN VS. MARTIN LUTHER - It's homecoming for Iowa Wesleyan and they've got quite the task ahead of them as the Tigers look to ring the victory bell on back-to-back weeks.

Martin Luther already has three wins this season, two of which came in the conference. The Knights' offense can do it through the air and on the ground, and they've outscored opponents 112-49 in their two UMAC wins.

IW has won three of the last four games against Martin Luther, but the Knights won the last meeting, 42-20, in 2017.