Warriors not underestimating Lone Tree

Even though Lone Tree will come to Wayland with an 0-2 record, the Warriors will likely have their hands full with the Lions on Friday night.

?They?re a darned good football team,? WACO head coach Chad Edeker said. ?We haven?t even mentioned to the kids that they?re 0-2. If you look at the two teams they?ve played, they?ve had a very tough schedule. Mediapolis is 2-0 and possibly the best team in Class 2A. We know what Lone Tree can do, and they made Lone Tree look bad. And North Tama is a good team also.?

The Lions are led by senior quarterback Gabe Lorack, who has completed 14 of his 23 passes this season for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Lorack, who is also Lone Tree?s leading rusher, threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score in the Lions? 42-6 win at WACO last season.

Lorack?s favorite target is senior Bryan Forbes who has caught nine passes for 105 yards and two scores. Forbes has also intercepted a pair of passes this season.

?Lorack is very explosive at quarterback, and the Forbes kid is very, very good at receiver,? Edeker said. ?Lorack just puts the ball up, and Forbes goes and gets it. We have to keep Lorack in check. He had a big game against us last year. And we have to keep Forbes under control also.?

While the Lions have Lorack and Forbes, the Warriors (2-0) also have a pair of explosive players. Sophomore Tucker Janecek has rushed for 262 yards and five touchdowns on just 15 carries this season, and senior Tyler Ayers has run for 243 yards and four scores.

?We have to be physical and we have to control the line of scrimmage,? Edeker said. ?We have to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. They?re pretty good. We?re going to have to play well.?

Mid-Prairie at Central Lee

After his team lost its season opener at Washington 30-0, Mid-Prairie head coach Pete Cavanagh was pleased to see his team get back on track with a 10-7 win over Clear Creek-Amana last Friday night at Doc Sattler Field.

?I think it was a good win just from a mental standpoint,? he said. ?We didn?t play outstanding, but we played good enough to win. It was good to get a win before we start district play.?

The difference between the Golden Hawks? 30-0 loss to the Demons and Friday?s victory, Cavanagh said, was his team?s ability to run the football against the Clippers. Mid-Prairie ran for just two yards in Washington, but rushed for 172 yards last Friday night. Junior Eesaa Baylor led the way with 98 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

We just kind of went back to the basics and pounded the ball a little bit,? Cavanagh said.

The Golden Hawks also got a school-record 58-yard field goal from junior Austin Errthum in that contest.

This week, the Golden Hawks must slow the aerial attack of Central Lee (0-2). Quarterback Chase Vogel has connected on 42 of his 61 passes this season for 427 yards and two touchdowns while throwing three interceptions. His top target is sophomore Jacob Boeck, who has caught 13 passes for 140 yards and a score.

West Burlington-Notre Dame at Columbus

If his Wildcats can keep from giving the football away, Columbus head coach Jeff Martin likes his team?s chances of getting its first win of the season on Friday night.

Columbus (0-2) turned the ball over four times in last week?s 52-12 loss to rival Wapello.

?We had six fumbles last week and gave four of them away,? Martin said. ?If we hadn?t done that, the game would have been totally different because they scored after three of them. Everything we?ve been doing offensively has worked fairly well. We just have to keep the ball off the ground.?

Senior Esteban Gutierrez, who has rushed for 309 yards and scored four of his team?s five touchdowns this season, leads the Wildcat offense. Sophomore quarterback Da?Shon Johnson, who ran for three touchdowns in West Burlington-Notre Dame?s 27-0 win over Van Buren last Friday night, leads the Falcon offense.

Martin also hopes his team?s defense, which has given up 92 points in two games, can slow down the Falcons (1-1) this week.

?Last week we were better on defense, but we just have to finish tackles,? he said. ?If we can limit our mistakes and make tackles, we?ll be in good shape.?

Sigourney-Keota at Wilton

In their season-opener, the Savage Cobras faced a Central Lee team that liked to sling the football all over the field with its passing attack. Last week, Sigourney-Keota faced a bruising Pekin running attack led by all-state tailback Quentin Garrels. And this week the Savage Cobras are up against a team that is proficient running and throwing.

Wilton (1-1) showed off a balanced offense in its 53-12 win at Louisa-Muscatine last Friday night, as junior quarterback Tyler Hetzler threw for 224 yards and a touchdown, sophomore Logan Mays rushed for 127 yards and four scores, and junior Koy Snider ran for 138 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, the Savage Cobras (1-1) struggled to stop Garrels and Pekin quarterback Graham Wittrock last Friday night. They?ll have to be a bit tougher this week.

Sigourney-Keota struggled to run the football ? the program?s bread and butter ? against Pekin last week, gaining just 221 yards on the ground. The Savage Cobras seemed to miss bruising runner Mark Waechter, who rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the team?s season-opening win over Central Lee. Hopefully he?ll be back in the lineup this week to give the Savage Cobras that 1-2 punch to go with speedy tailback Kolton Greiner, who has run for 175 yards and a touchdown in two games.

Highland at New London

Highland?s defense shut out Central Lee?s aerial attack last week. Could the Huskies blank their second-straight opponent this week? Possibly.

New London (0-2) has scored just two touchdowns all season ? one in a brutal 88-6 loss at Pekin and the other in a narrow 8-6 loss to English Valleys last week. And only one came on offense. Sophomore quarterback Tristan Kadel ran for a touchdown last week, and sophomore Quincy Porter scored a special teams touchdown when he returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score against Pekin.

Highland (1-1) showed a lot of offensive balance in its 35-0 win in Donnellson last week. Senior Trey Brenneman rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns, junior Jesse Hootman ran for 53 yards and a score, and senior Bradlee Lucas rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, junior quarterback Kody Wood threw for 85 yards and a score, connecting with senior Jake Tate for a 26-yard touchdown. The Huskies could keep rolling this week in New London against a team that has given up 96 points in two games, including those 88 points in Packwood two weeks ago.