Tigers set for title defense

NEW LONDON - This weekend begins the title defense for the sixth-ranked New London Tiger football team. The defending Class 8-Player champions will play a rare out-of-state nonconference game on Saturday, Aug. 24, 13 days before their Iowa schedule begins.

The Tigers will be going in to week one relatively blind, playing a Williams Bay Wisconsin team that isn't familiar with playing Iowa foes. The Tigers will come in riding a six-game winning streak, the longest streak in 8-Player. The last Tiger loss came on Oct. 6 last year against Iowa Valley.

New London will enter Saturday's game without their starting quarterback, leading running back and two top receivers from last season. Due to an injury to senior running back Jordan Johnson, the Tigers will have to play without their top five players in total offense last season.

New London will have to rely heavily on running back Shae Summerfield, who is back this year after sitting out half of last season with a hip injury.

They'll also be leaning on a strong defense. New London returns nine of the 13 defensive players used in last year's state championship.

Gavin Holmes is the leading returning tackler from last year. He led the squad with 93 tackles, three sacks and two fumble recoveries.

New London dominated every regular season game last year besides their road loss to Iowa Valley. The Tigers also cruised through three of their four playoff games, hitting the running clock in every postseason contest besides a 60-54 overtime win over Fremont-Mills.

After this weekend's game against Williams Bay, the Tigers will play six games in a row against teams they beat by 35 points or more in 2018. The first of those is their home opener against Moravia, a 42-0 win from last season. The Tigers will have a bye in 'Week 1” so they'll have almost two weeks to prepare.

New London will then hit the road to play WACO in its homecoming game. The Tigers will take on two Henry County rivals at their homecoming games this season, first against WACO in Week 3, and the second at Winfield-Mt. Union in Week 7.

'You know that both of those teams are going to be amped to play,” said head coach Mark McSorley. 'We're going to for sure have to amp up our intensity those weeks to be prepared.”

Sandwiched in between those two games are a home game against Lone Tree, a road contest at Hartwick-Ladora-Victor and the Tigers' own homecoming game against English Valleys.

The most anticipated game of the year for New London will be their senior night game against Iowa Valley. New London split with Iowa Valley last year, knocking them out 56-20 in the quarterfinals to earn a spot in the UNI-Dome.

New London will finish its regular season schedule at Montezuma on Oct. 25.

The Tigers' full 2019 schedule can be found below with district games marked with an asterisk.

Aug. 24 @ Williams Bay, Wisconsin

Sept. 6 vs. Moravia

Sept. 13 @ WACO

Sept. 20 vs. Lone Tree

Sept. 27 @ Hartwick-Ladora-Victor

Oct. 4 vs. English Valleys (Homecoming)

Oct. 11 @ Winfield-Mt. Union

Oct. 18 vs. Iowa Valley

Oct. 25 @ Montezuma