Your summer Class 3A champion prediction is.......
- Thread starter LukeFeddersen
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Assumption has 13 returning starters and a healthy quarterback this year. The seniors on the team were MAC conference champs when they were freshmen and undefeated MAC champs when they were Sophs. They will definitely be in the mix
So much of this depends on injuries. Last year, a very good team like West Delaware got derailed due to injuries while Pella was able to stay very healthy. I think Pella will be the favorite, but the others listed already could do it as well. I think Assumption will be much improved this year. Solon will obviously be very good again, don't expect a drop off there. CRX will be good every year and with Schulte having a year of experience now at QB, he will be very good this year. That CRX, Solon, Assumption triangle is tough to come out of to get to the dome. Heelan lost a lot and will have a new staff. Not sure if they will be quite as strong this year, but I'm guessing they will still make the dome, as usual, unless somebody else from western Iowa can step up. DCG will also be strong this year. Their QB is very athletic and DCG has many other great athletes as well. Pella will be at DCG week 2, that should be a very good game.
Will be interesting to see if some traditional powers such as Decorah and Harlan will be able to bounce back this year.
Will be interesting to see if some traditional powers such as Decorah and Harlan will be able to bounce back this year.
The DCG program has been improving but I'm still not seeing them as a viable threat as the 3A Champion. It takes a complete team to make it there and DCG while good next year just has too many gaps yet. In addition they lack any real deep playoff experience which often becomes an issue as the playoffs advance and the teams get better.
Absolutely agree with fmclonefan that playing Pella week 2 will answer some questions and if their QB can avoid being throttled by Pella's traditional tough D it would be a big stepping stone for them.
Maybe I might be a bit optimistic about DCG, but that program seems like a sleeping giant that could be among the elite in the future. It really has everything going for it as a community, school, and program. DCG has really upgraded the Little Hawkeye Conference in most every sport.
DCG moving from the Raccoon River to the Little Hawkeye was a very good move for everyone involved. Not trying to step on anyone's toes but DCG's growth just did not make for a good fit in the RRC anymore.
The key for Xavier is, how will they reload on both offensive and defensive lines? They return Schulte at QB, and Murphy at RB and Stark at WR have a lot of speed and played well last season. There's also a RB who was lights-out for the sophomore team last year.
Defense has to really rebuild, but Coach O'Connell seems to get that defense playing tough every single time, regardless of how young they are.
Elite? Let's not get too far out there. A good season does not make you elite.
Offense runs around Kloewer and if he can be controlled on the ground then I see them winning 6 or 7 tops. They lost some big boys to graduation so I think they are wait and see.
Creston returns most everyone and although they lose their QB they have a good one stepping in who probably runs better.
I wasn't so much referring to one "great" season for DCG as I was the school, community, favorable location and such. They are among the elite in basketball and baseball most years. It isn't a big stretch to see where the football program is heading. I'm not saying they are going to be state champs this year. What I am saying is that, I think, in the upcoming 5 and 10 years will turn into a power program.
Just an observation and not pointing fingers at you in particular...people sure throw that word elite around a lot on this board. Elite? Elite is Katy, TX, De La Salle, Miami Northwestern, Oak Hill Academy.
Elite is winning state championships...and doing it more than once. Not every year but not winning a state title automatically disqualifies you as elite.
Elite is putting kids in college - not a requirement...not necessarily D1 but having kids move on and not all of them.
Elite is beating who you are supposed to beat and then beating those that you are not supposed to
Elite is taking a mediocre team and making them state champs.
Not saying...well I guess I am...DCG has been good.
One title and another appearance with the same core of kids in baseball...
No title in basketball and no championship game and appearances at the tourney with the same core of kids....not elite.
Wasn't trying to derail this thread into a future DCG thread. Back to the op, I think Pella is the Vegas favorite to win and until somebody knocks them off, they are the choice. The line play won't be as strong as last year, but the skill players have to be the best in 3A. They will play several guys both ways though. They really aren't a terribly deep team.
I think Pella will be the favorite. They return some very good skill position players but they lost some big boys up front as well as DCG. DCG has a lot of skill position players back but the loses on the offensive and defensive lines will throw up question marks right away. Crestons QB will be a bigger loss than they think but they return a lot of players. Pella seems like one of those squads that reloads instead of rebuilds. District 8 will be tough and I really think Norwalk could also be a sleeper. I know Solon has to be one of the stronger teams as well as Xavier.
Just like any school making the jump to 4A from 3A. It will be years before they become acclimated to the competition. Boone, Norwalk, DCG are probably going to be 4a within 4 years. I know Norwalk and DCG already play a number of 4A schools in all sports with the exception of varsity football and is competitive. The lower classes that are now juniors and sophomores have been playing 4a competition and have done very well against them. Time will tell. After this season, DCG cupboard will be pretty bare.
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Not sure why you think Boone will be going to 4A. They've almost always been in the upper part of 3A enrollment and usually have little fluctuation. I looked at the BEDS chart on iahsaa.org from the last three years. Here are the six 3A schools, near the top...
SCHOOL.....2013.....2014.....2015
Newton.....622.....639.....616
Norwalk.....605.....599.....633
DC-G.....508.....564.....558
Boone.....563...548...559
W-SR.....489.....526.....553
W Dubuque.....577.....624.....654
Just looking at those numbers, Newton and Boone seem pretty stagnant, as their overall movement has been minimal. Norwalk looks like it could be in the beginning of a large boom. Dallas Center-Grimes looks like it just had one but smoothed out again. Waverly-Shell Rock and Epworth Western Dubuque have each had steady, big gains. EWD would be 4A very soon(maybe two years) with continued growth like they've been experiencing. W-SR is a little behind that and other than an actual absorption of Janesville and/or Clarksville, it will take more than five years to really get close.
SCHOOL.....2013.....2014.....2015
Newton.....622.....639.....616
Norwalk.....605.....599.....633
DC-G.....508.....564.....558
Boone.....563...548...559
W-SR.....489.....526.....553
W Dubuque.....577.....624.....654
Just looking at those numbers, Newton and Boone seem pretty stagnant, as their overall movement has been minimal. Norwalk looks like it could be in the beginning of a large boom. Dallas Center-Grimes looks like it just had one but smoothed out again. Waverly-Shell Rock and Epworth Western Dubuque have each had steady, big gains. EWD would be 4A very soon(maybe two years) with continued growth like they've been experiencing. W-SR is a little behind that and other than an actual absorption of Janesville and/or Clarksville, it will take more than five years to really get close.
Thank you for the information. I was going off talk and not facts. I know with the enrollment numbers in DCG's jr high right now there will be a big jump.
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