Area football: Bolts looking to finish season on high note

Baxter head coach Rob Luther said his program outlines several goals before the season. Some large. Some small. Some in the middle.

One of the goals for every football team is to win the district and/or make the postseason. That goal for the Bolts is likely done as Baxter takes a 3-5 record into its last home game against Colo-NESCO.

Both teams are 2-3 in Class 8-man District 5 play. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

But some other goals Baxter set included finishing in the top half of the district and ending the season with a .500 record.

"We have goals from all spectrums because realistically you may not be in the district race after a few games," Luther said. "You have to have other goals so the guys have something to play for. I hope the guys are still playing for something."

The Bolts will have to stop the run against the Royals. Colo-NESCO comes into the game ranked seventh in 8-man with 2,038 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. The Royals have only thrown for 414 yards in eight games.

Sophomore Andrew Grover leads the rushing attack with 806 yards and nine TDs. But the fullback Francis Bower has 560 yards and eight TDs. Brandon Roberts has gained 334 yards and scored eight TDs and also passed for 311 yards and two scores.

"This will be a game of contrasting styles," Luther said. "They run a wing T type offense. They will hand it to the fullback. They are disciplined so we need to make them drive the field. They are perfectly fine with going 10-15 yards in four plays and starting over."

The Royal defense is led Grover, who has 57.5 tackles, two interceptions and five fumble recoveries. Roberts has 40.5 tackles. Colo-NESCO has eight interceptions as a team.

Baxter senior Cole Damman has put together quite the season for the Bolts, and if they want to win their final two games, Damman will most certainly be a featured player.

Damman comes into the game ranked 10th in 8-man with 1,231 passing yards and tied for 10th with 18 passing TDs. He's also rushed for 798 yards and 14 TDs.

Defensively, Damman leads the team with 58.5 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and one fumble recovery.

"We have been blessed with some great quarterbacks," Luther said. "Cole is near the top of the list because he's very coachable and is a coach on the field. He is always striving to be better."

Another goal for the Bolts, and one that is not very unrealistic, is getting Damman to 1,000 rushing.

"We need him to do that if we're going to be successful the next two weeks," Luther said. "If we want to win, he better get those yards."

When Damman is not running the ball, he's usually throwing it to a handful of receivers. Sophomore Rory Heer is the second most productive player on the team with 359 rushing yards and five touchdowns and 46 catches for 630 yards and seven TDs.

Freshmen Jake Travis and Cody Damman also are key pieces to the Bolts defense with 46.5 and 45 tackles, respectively.

Clarke (3-4, 1-2) at PCM (5-2, 2-1), 7 p.m.

After last week's loss and a drop in the RPI rankings, Prairie City-Monroe has to win out to advance to the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

First up is the Clarke Indians, who rank first in Class 2A with 2,141 rushing yards. Clarke also is averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

Brian Avalos and Chris Carson highlight the Indians' ground game with 646 and 643 yards, respectively. Both guys have seven rushing TDs.

PCM lost its first district game since 2015 last week in the loss to undefeated and fifth-ranked Des Moines Christian but its best player left the game in the first half because of an ejection and a handful of other key guys went down with injuries during the game.

The Mustangs will try to rebound against a Clarke team which has lost three of its last four games.

Junior Sage Burns leads the offense with 435 rushing yards and 11 TDs and sophomore Aidan Anderson has 262 rushing yards and three TDs. Twelve different players have at least one carry this season.

Junior Van Winkle leads the receivers with 15 catches, 256 yards and three scores.

Junior Colby Tool and senior Seth Greiner lead the Mustang defense. Tool has 44 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one fumble recovery, while Greiner has 40 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Colfax-Mingo (2-5, 0-3) at Woodward Academy (0-7, 0-3), 7 p.m.

The Tigerhawks and Knights come into Friday night's game with the hopes of claiming their first district win of the season.

Colfax-Mingo has given up 162 points in district play, while Woodward Academy has surrendered 160. The Tigerhawks offense has been better though, scoring 56 points in their three games. The Knights only have 22 points in three district games.

Woodward Academy will throw it more than it will run it as Anthony Barber has 756 passing yards. The Knights have thrown for 1,025 yards and gained 435 yards on the ground.

Since its 22-12 loss to Wayne in Week 1, the Knights' defense has allowed at least 40 points in every other game and surrendered more than 50 four times.

Colfax-Mingo's offense continues to be one of the best in Class 1A.

Senior Brady Berkey ranks fifth in 1A with 1,407 passing yards and is tied for fourth with 16 TDs. Senior Trystin Ross is tied for the 1A lead with 12 TDs, ranks second with 55 catches and ranks third with 640 receiving yards.

The next receiving TD will put Ross all alone at the top for the Tigerhawks' single-season record. He's also nine catches away from the single-season record.

Junior Jayden Horrach ranks 12th in 1A with 778 rushing yards and he's scored eight TDs. Junior Zach Steenhoek has 20 catches for 485 yards and four TDs.

Ross also leads the defense with 50.5 tackles and three fumble recoveries.

Lynnville-Sully (0-7, 0-2) at North Mahaska (0-7, 0-3), 7 p.m.

Lynnville-Sully's best chance to break ino the win column comes Friday against North Mahaska.

Both teams enter the week without a victory. North Mahaska has been outscored 358-36 this season. The Hawks are being outscored 303-103 in 2019.

North Mahaska has allowed at least 35 points in every game and given up 60 points or more three times.

The Warhawks are led by junior Dylan Klinker. Klinker has 125 passing yards, 212 rushing yards and 448 receiving yards. He has 22 catches and four receiving TDs.

Defensively, Klinker leads the team with 38 tackles and one interception.

Sophomore Sam Terpstra also has 605 passing yards and four TD passes.