Small schools set for Week 1

It will be the first full football schedule in the state of Iowa in 2020 on Friday night as teams get ready to play their Week 1 games. Most of the area's small schools will be opening their season, while Cardinal and Columbus will be playing in their second games of the year.

Cardinal will look to move to 2-0 on the young season as they travel to Southwest Valley. The Comets defeated Columbus 63-26 last week to start their season off on the right foot. Maddux Jones had an insane game, throwing for five touchdowns and running for three. Southwest Valley picked up a win of its own, beating Nodaway Valley 22-15. Timberwolves starting quarterback Brendan Knapp had a big game on the ground, running for 158 yards and a touchdown.

Pekin travels to face the Class 2A Central Lee Hawks. Both teams were 2-7 last season. Central Lee averaged 12.8 points a game and gave up 40. Pekin scored 19.9 points a game and gave up 24.8.

Columbus will host Louisa-Muscatine. The Falcons were a 2A school last year and went 4-5, scoring 24 points a game on average and yielding 18.8. Columbus was 1-9 in Class 1A last year and drop to A this season. The Wildcats lost to Cardinal 63-26 last week. Jeff Hoback was 6-of-8 passing for 123 yards and Will Schwab ran for 103 yards on 13 carries.

Wilton will play at Highland. The visiting Beavers were 3-6 in 2019, scoring 19.8 points a game and giving up 27.6. Highland was 5-4 and averaged 24.9 while opponents scored 23.9.

New London will open up play at Moravia. Since joining Class 8-Man in 2018, the Tigers have lost just four total games and will be looking for their fifth-straight season above .500. Moravia is coming off two-straight 3-6 seasons. New London blasted Moravia 71-12 in a game last season.

WACO will begin their season in Victor as they take on Hartwick-Ladora-Victor. The Warriors are coming off a 4-5 season last year. Four of their losses werew by seven points or less, and one of those was a 45-42 loss to HLV. HLV went 8-3 last season, including 1-1 in the Class 8-Man playoffs, where they were knocked out in the quarterfinals.

Winfield-Mt. Union will host Tri-County. The Wolves are coming off a 1-8 campaign last season and will be looking to bounce back from losing their final seven games last season. The Wolves will host a Tri-County team that hasn't played a game since the 2018-19 season.