March 19, 2024

Lynnville-Sully seeks quick start against GMG

Area Prep Football Game Previews

The last thing Lynnville-Sully wants to do Friday night is allow Green Mountain-Garwin to gain any kind of confidence.

The Wolverines have been shut out in three of their four Class A District 7 games, and the Hawks hope to keep them in reverse by getting out to a fast start.

“It’s been a big thing for us this week,” Lynnville-Sully coach Mike Parkinson said. “We never want to underestimate our opponent. We want to have the mindset that we are the team that plays better and the team that is more physical.”

GMG’s only win on the season came against North Tama (0-6) in non-district action. The closest the Wolverines (1-5, 0-4) have come in district play was a 41-20 defeat to North Mahaska.

Jacob Burt has completed just seven passes this year and thrown five picks. Freshman Brock Baldaze leads the rushing attack with 315 yards and five scores and freshman Blaze Krull has three interceptions to lead the defense.

Lynnville-Sully (3-3, 2-2) has hovered around .500 all season. A win Friday would push them past that mark for the second time this year. The Hawks could get some valuable pieces back, too.

Sage Ehresman has rushed for 570 yards and eight touchdowns, but the senior captain has missed the past two games with an injury.

Parkinson thinks he’ll have the injured players available by Friday, but if Ehresman can’t go the Hawks now have the ability to put a dent in opposing defenses through the air.

Taylor Van Zante got his opportunity at quarterback when Kobe Fisk went down with an injury against Colfax-Mingo. Fisk has returned to action but was moved to wide receiver, and Van Zante continues to get better each week. He threw for 303 yards in a win over Iowa Valley earlier this season.

“We knew what Tyler could do, but we were just kind of waiting for the light to come on,” Parkinson said. “He’s come along more each week and we are excited about him. We also know that Kobe is someone we have to keep on the field.”

As a wide receiver, Fisk gives the team another threat to go along with Noah Engle and Caden Dunsbergen.

The Hawks are coming off a 44-0 loss to Class A No. 2 BGM. GMG lost to BGM 81-0 earlier this year and the two teams have two other common opponents. Lynnville-Sully defeated Montezuma 10-7, while the Braves defeated GMG 57-0. Against Iowa Valley, the Hawks won 42-14, while GMG lost 30-0.

However, Parkinson has stressed to his team all week that anything can happen when the lights come on. That’s why he seeks a fast start against a Wolverine team that may be lacking in confidence.

“Anything can happen,” Parkinson said. “We are going to have to execute, we are going to have to get our running game going and be more physical at the point of attack.

“We don’t want them to have any success early because if you give a team like GMG a little bit of confidence it becomes problematic.”

Friday night’s kickoff will be at 7 p.m. in Sully.

PCM (5-1, 3-0) at

Clarke (0-6, 0-4) in Osceola, 7:30 p.m.

This game features two teams that are going in the opposite direction. PCM has won five straight and is averaging 43 points per game during that stretch, while Clarke’s last win came in the 2013 season opener, a skid that has reached 24 straight games.

Clarke is one of four Class 2A teams still searching for its first win. The Indians scored 28 points in a 20-point loss to Colfax-Mingo but has not scored more than eight since that Week 2 game.

Clarke features three quarterbacks who have thrown at least 24 passes and seven players who have at least 10 carries. Gabe Crawford leads the receivers with 253 yards on 19 catches and three touchdowns.

The Mustangs are relying heavily on the arm of senior Logan Gilman, but Logan Littrell also has rushed for 513 yards and nine scores.

Gilman is fifth in 2A in passing yards with 1,201 and is tied for first with 17 touchdown passes. Most of his passes have gone to either Luke Greiner or Noah Clark, who have combined for 52 catches and 855 yards. Greiner is second in 2A with nine touchdowns, while Clark is tied for third with seven.

Reid Jenkins leads a Mustang defense that has recorded two shutouts this year. Jenkins has a team-high 47.5 tackles.

Kicker Chase Wilkie is 29-of-31 in PATs, 2-for-2 in field goals and has 17 touchbacks in 39 attempts.

Albia (6-0, 3-0) at Collins-Maxwell/Baxter

(5-1, 2-1) in Baxter, 7:30 p.m.

The short-handed Raiders will have their hands full against the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A during this District 7 matchup.

Brady Stover is expected to miss another game with a shoulder injury and CMB may not have the four players who were suspended earlier this year for another game.

Those losses won’t help the Raiders against a Blue Demons squad who has outscored district opponents 162-6. Albia has recorded back-to-back shutouts, and the closest game it has played in this season was a 62-21 win over Pella Christian.

Carter Isley leads the Albia offense. Isley, who recently committed to wrestle at Northern Iowa, is second in 2A with 1,092 yards and 19 touchdowns. Blake Lawless leads the defense with 53.5 tackles and two sacks.

CMB”s two-quarterback system will have to be on its game against Albia, which reached the state semifinals last year but lost to CMB 21-20 in district play.

Nate Bishop has thrown for 698 yards and seven touchdowns, while Hunter McWhirter has thrown for 477 and rushed for 169 yards and four scores.

Charles Robertson leads the defense with 35.5 tackles and also has rushed for four touchdowns on offense. Brad Ritter has five sacks.

Stover has been missed the last two weeks. He has thrown a touchdown, rushed for four scores, caught four touchdown passes and returned an interception for a touchdown this year.

Colfax-Mingo (5-1, 4-0) at Iowa Valley (1-5, 1-3) at Marengo, 7 p.m.

One week after its defense led them to a big Class A District 7 win over Montezuma, Colfax-Mingo will take its record-setting offense to Iowa Valley for another district contest.

The Tigerhawks’ offense features the school’s all-time leading passer in Jared Myers and two of the top receivers in school history in Jacob Lietz and Blake Summy, but it was the defense last week that held the defending district champion Braves to nine points.

This week shouldn’t be near as tough. Iowa Valley has lost two straight games and its only win came against GMG, which is also 1-5. In those two losses the past two weeks, Iowa Valley was outscored 76-28 against Lynnville-Sully and Belle Plaine.

Gavin Collingwood has only thrown for 220 yards and tossed nine interceptions. Iowa Valley’s best offensive threat is Bennett Goettsch, who has rushed for 780 yards and nine scores. Jacob Krakow is the team’s top receiver (nine catches, 172 yards, one touchdown) and leading tackler (40).

Myers leads Class A with 1,680 passing yards and is tied for the lead with 17 touchdown passes. Lietz (43), Summy (28) and Colin Lourens (25) are all in the top five in receptions, Lietz (510) and Summy (518) are in the top five in receiving yards and Summy is tied for fourth with seven touchdown catches.

A win Friday over Iowa Valley would set up Colfax-Mingo’s district showdown with No. 2 BGM in Colfax the following week.

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