March 29, 2024

Colfax-Mingo, Montezuma square off in Class A district tilt

Area Prep Football Game Previews

Seeking its first home playoff game since 2003, the Colfax-Mingo football team can take a big step toward that feat with a win at home Friday night.

Standing in the way of the red-hot Tigerhawks are the Montezuma Braves, who won the Class A District 7 title a season ago.

The Tigerhawks have won four straight games since losing their season opener to No. 6 Pleasantville. During that stretch, they are averaging more than 43 points per game.

Montezuma though looks to take advantage of the momentum it gained last week when it shut out Belle Plaine, 28-0.

“It’s a huge game for us and them,” Colfax-Mingo coach Jeff Lietz said. “If we take care of business it essentially assures us of a playoff berth.”

A win likely pushes the Tigerhawks into the postseason for the second straight season and could give them a home playoff game as well.

No. 2 BGM is still on the schedule, but with games still to come against Iowa Valley and GMG, a win over Montezuma on Friday will go a long way in placing Colfax-Mingo into one of the top two positions in the district. Iowa Valley and GMG have a combined two wins.

Five different players have carried the football at least 20 times for the Braves. Carson Losure is leading the way with 480 yards and seven scores in five games.

Montezuma did not complete a pass in last year’s win over C-M. The Braves likely won’t pass much Friday either. They only have thrown for 303 yards this season but four of Logan Price’s five touchdown passes have gone to Brody McKeag.

“They will line up and try to smack you in the mouth,” Lietz said. “We are going to have to stop the run. They are big up front. They’ll present similar challenges as Lynnville-Sully, Belle Plaine and North Mahaska did in our first three district games.”

The Tigerhawks will run it some but they pride themselves on being the most dangerous passing attack in all of Class A. Jared Myers leads Class A in passing yards (1,380) and passing touchdowns (15), Jacob Lietz is first in receptions (37) and Blake Summy is second in receiving yards (421) and tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns (4).

“The offense has had a nice season, but none of that would be possible if the offensive line didn’t do their jobs up front,” Coach Lietz said. “They have done a great job this year in giving Jared plenty of time to throw.”

The offensive line includes tackles Michael Deal and Jake Dunsbergen, guards Kyle Breen and Wyatt Owens and center Sean Borts.

Coach Lietz also said they should get starting right tackle Nicholas Deal back on Monday. Nicholas Deal has missed the first five games with an elbow injury.

A victory by the Tigerhawks on Friday also could rocket the squad into the Associated Press rankings. Montezuma began the season ranked and Colfax-Mingo already has defeated two teams who appeared in the rankings at some point this year in Lynnville-Sully and Belle Plaine.

“The kids use the rankings thing as a chip, and I use it as motivation,” Coach Lietz said. “The only rankings that matter are the ones at the end of the season, but it would be nice to get the kids some recognition for what they are doing. I would imagine a win over Montezuma would open up some more eyes.”

Lynnville-Sully handed Montezuma its first loss two weeks ago when the Hawks defeated the Braves, 10-7 at home. The Braves are 3-0 at home but only 1-1 on the road.

Lynnville-Sully (3-2, 2-1)

at BGM (5-0, 3-0), 7 p.m.

In another big Class A District 7 game, the Hawks hit the road to face second-ranked BGM in Brooklyn.

BGM is coming off back-to-back shutouts where it defeated GMG 81-0 and North Mahaska 61-0. BGM has scored at least 61 points in its last four games.

Lynnville-Sully has won two straight games after dropping its district opener to Colfax-Mingo. The Hawks gave BGM something else to plan for when they threw for 303 yards in the win over Iowa Valley last week.

The Hawks came into the week with only 203 passing yards.

Tanner Jansen has thrown for 12 touchdowns and only one interception, Colton Massengale has rushed for 827 yards and 11 scores and Jayce Knight has 348 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

Clarke (0-5, 0-3) at

Collins-Maxwell/Baxter (4-1, 2-1), 7:30 p.m.

The short-handed Raiders will play their homecoming game against a Clarke team that has lost 23 straight games.

CMB will be without Brady Stover due to an injured shoulder, and the status of the four players who were suspended before last week’s game remains unknown.

It may not matter though as Clarke has only scored 41 points in five games and has been shut out twice, including last week’s 20-0 loss to Davis County.

Clarke’s last win came in the 2013 season opener. The Indians defeated Clarinda Academy 36-28.

CMB is coming off its first regular season loss since 2013 when it was outscored 28-6 in the second half against Prairie City-Monroe.

West Marshall (2-3) at Prairie City-Monroe (4-1), 7:30 p.m.

The Mustangs follow up an emotional win over previously ranked CMB with a non-district, homecoming game against West Marshall, which picked up its second win last week.

The Trojans come into the game 2-3 after defeating Columbus Junction 34-20. Jared Johnson has rushed for 383 yards on the season and 158 of those came in the win last week.

Johnson also is West Marshall’s leading tackler. He had 15 in the win over Columbus Junction.

PCM has won its last four games and is averaging 44 points per game during that stretch.

The Mustangs won last year’s game 44-20 in a year where West Marshall finished 0-9.

Logan Gilman comes into the game with the sixth most passing yards in Class 2A and he needs only 72 yards to surpass 1,000 for the year.

Luke Greiner (7) and Noah Clark (6) have combined to scored 13 receiving touchdowns.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com