March 28, 2024

Bolts prepare for one final Friday Night Lights

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Friday night’s game for Baxter’s football team is not for a playoff berth. It’s not for a chance at a winning record.

The Bolts will play Meskwaki Settlement School on Friday night for their senior class and for school pride. It’s also a chance for the program to get some momentum heading into next season.

Baxter has the chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since last season, and it faces a Warrior team who has been outscored 501-60.

“We have nine seniors and a lot of them haven’t played before,” Baxter coach Rob Luther said. “I have been impressed with those guys who came out and gave football a chance. They committed to keep this 8-man thing going and hopefully we can send them out with a win.”

The Bolts got some momentum last week during a win over Colo-NESCO. They can make it two straight against 0-8 Meskwaki Settlement.

Leading the nine-member senior class is Will Clapper, the only returning starter from last year’s 8-1 team who made it through the season healthy.

Clapper will move on to play college football somewhere.

He’ll have one more night under the lights with his teammates on Friday.

“I think he knew early on, we weren’t going to be as good as we were last year,” Luther said. “But every single night, he tries to make sure we make the next play. He’s one of the best leaders I have had in the 30 years I have been coaching this game. He grabbed everyone tonight at practice and made sure the guys don’t overlook this team. He’s trying to keep this group together, and I think he’s had a lot of fun this year.”

The Bolts struggled early and then they lost starting quarterback Cole Damman to a season-ending injury in Week 3. it took a while to figure out an identity, but Luther feels like Baxter has made some progress the past few weeks.

The Bolts struggled against district runner-up AGWSR, but played well offensively in a 66-64 loss to Twin Cedars. Last week, Baxter got back on the winning track with a 56-40 win over the Royals.

The offense changed to a Wildcat-type formation and is primarily running behind Clapper, who has dominated in the trenches this season.

“Once Cole went down we were scrambling to find out what we wanted to hang our hat on,” Luther said. “We didn’t have a true running back on our team, but we have a lot of kids who can do things with the ball in their hands.

“So we just adapted and went to a Wildcat, spread things out, throw a lot of bubbles and screens and run behind Clapper. We made it as simplistic as we could.”

Baxter used three quarterbacks in last week’s win over Colo-NESCO. All three — seniors Brendyn Padget and Peyton Johnson and freshman Rory Heer — rushed for more than 100 yards.

The defense should be in a better situation against Meskwaki, which has only scored 60 points in eight games. Luther said the Bolts will rely on Clapper and senior Koby Barber to handle things on that side of the ball.

“They are much better defensively than they are offensively,” Luther said of Meskwaki Settlement. “They’ll present some problems for our offense. They have struggled offensively. They’ll throw a lot of fade balls and take a lot of chances. I don’t think they’ll have an answer for Clapper or Barber though.”

Kickoff for Friday night’s game is 7 p.m. Baxter will honor its seniors before the game. Meskwaki has struggled with numbers lately and played last week’s game with only 11 players.

“I have the utmost respect for a team like that,” Luther said. “When you’re 0-8, it’s tough to get up off the mat. Every time we see film on them, you can see glimpses of good things, especially on the defensive side.”

Woodward-Granger (4-4, 1-3) at Colfax-Mingo (5-3, 2-2)

Both Colfax-Mingo and Woodward-Granger are on the edge of the top 16 when it comes to the state’s RPI rankings in Class 1A.

The loser of this game is eliminated from playoff contention, but the winner could move into a wild card postseason spot if the cards fall in line.

Colfax-Mingo comes into the game No. 21 in the latest RPI and Woodward-Granger is No. 22. District champions including ties automatically advance to the postseason, and then the state will get to 16 total teams by filling in the rest of the field using the RPI rankings.

The Tigerhawks and Hawks need to win the game and then hope other teams like No. 15 Cascade, No. 16 Underwood, No. 18 Sumner-Fredericksburg, No. 19 Sigourney/Keota and No. 20 Iowa City Regina also lose.

No. 17 South Hamilton will be 7-2 after taking a forfeit in Week 9.

Woodward-Granger comes into the game losers of four of its last five games. The Hawks are 1-3 on the road.

Leading the Hawks offensively is junior Tate Lettow and senior Gabe Yingst. Lettow has a team-high 898 rushing yards and four touchdowns and Yingst has 549 rushing yards and a team-high 12 TDs.

Woodward-Granger has totaled 2,456 rushing yards this season, which ranks fifth in 1A. The Hawks’ 25 rushing TDs is tied for ninth.

The Hawks have 783 passing yards, and 632 of those have been recorded by junior Bryce Achenbach, who has 32 catches and four TDs. Achenbach also has four interceptions and a TD on defense.

Yingst headlines the W-G defense with 74 tackles and two sacks.

Colfax-Mingo has one of the top passers in 1A in junior Brady Berkey. He has thrown for 1,762 yards, which ranks fourth, and 20 touchdowns, which ranks third. He’s also tied for first in 1A with six interceptions on defense.

Senior Zarek Hill ranks seventh in 1A with 40 catches, 12th with 645 receiving yards and second with 11 TDs. He’s also just one TD catch off the school record for touchdowns in a season. Hill leads the defense with 37 1/2 tackles, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Centerville (5-3, 2-2) at PCM (8-0, 4-0)

The Mustangs locked up a playoff berth and their third straight district championship last week in the win over Clarke.

This week, Class 2A No. 1 PCM gets a tune up before an anticipated deep postseason run. Centerville’s season ends after Friday night, but the Big Reds have won two straight games.

PCM’s top focus on defense will be with Centerville senior quarterback Jaxson Ocker, who leads his team with 495 passing yards, 727 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns.

Junior Oden McCain has 436 rushing yards and six TDs for the Big Reds, who have rushed for 1,595 yards on the season.

If Ocker passes the ball, it likely will go to junior Gage Carson, who has 30 catches for 334 yards and two scores. No other Centerville player has more than nine catches.

Defensively, Centerville is led by senior Ethan Susin, who has 38 tackles, nine tackles for loss and seven sacks.

PCM is outscoring opponents 374-49 overall this season. In district play, the advantage is 201-19. The defense has shut out two district foes.

Senior Wes Cummings set the all-time career touchdowns record at PCM last week. This week, he could set a new benchmark for career rushing yards. He enters the game with 3,260 rushing yards and is only 18 yards away from passing Hutch Burns for the most in school history.

Burns’ 50 touchdowns was surpassed last week by Cummings, who has 52 total TDs in his career.

Cummings has 954 rushing yards and 16 TDs on the season. He’s averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Senior Reed Worth gives the Mustangs a 1-2 punch offensively. He has 1,312 passing yards and 13 TDs and rushed for 678 yards and 11 TDs. He’s completing 66 percent of his passes and has thrown only one interception this season.

The Mustangs’ top three receivers, Cummings and seniors Brayton Van Dyke and Preston Van Wyk, have combined for 39 catches for 967 yards and 13 TDs. Van Dyke has missed the last two games with an ankle injury.

PCM’s defense is led by senior Brycen Rogers, who has 42 tackles. Senior Cole Dustin has 26 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two sacks.

The Mustang defense has tallied 10 picks, 11 fumble recoveries, nine sacks and 58 tackles for loss this season.

PCM maintained its No. 1 spot in the state’s latest RPI rankings. That should mean the Mustangs will host the first two rounds of the postseason if they advance that far.

Lynnville-Sully (6-2, 4-0) at Martensdale-St. Marys (0-8, 0-4)

The Hawks have found their stride since district play began. Lynnville-Sully has won five straight games, including four inside district play.

L-S won its second straight district title after the win over North Mahaska last week. It can complete an undefeated run through Class A District 8 with a win over the league’s worst team, Martensdale-St. Marys on Friday.

Martensdale-St. Marys has been outscored 206-39 in district play. The Blue Devils have allowed at least 34 points in every game this season and has been held under 20 points in seven of the eight games.

Lynnville-Sully has done most of its offensive damage on the ground. The Hawks have rushed for 2,366 yards, which ranks seventh in Class A.

Senior Gage Vander Leest leads the way with 1,052 yards but has only gained 43 the past two weeks. Senior Tyson Vander Linden has 435 rushing yards and senior Evan Squires has 433.

Vander Linden also leads the receivers with 31 catches, 386 yards and two TDs.

The Hawk offense will have to find a way to block Blue Devil senior Dominick DiCeasare, who has 80 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one sack and two fumble recoveries. Junior Colby Widener also has 63 tackles.

L-S’ defense, which has been led by seniors Rylan James and Nate Stock, could face three different quarterbacks on Friday night. None of them have thrown for more than 400 yards. The Blue Devils also have rushed for only 653 yards.