District 3, two weeks in

[KidSilverhair]

Two weeks into district play, and District 3 already looks interesting. Well, to me at least.

Big games tonight with Xavier at Decorah, and Waverly-Shell Rock at Benton. Xavier has cruised over Benton and Charles City so far, and has to be the district favorite at this point. Not to mention, they haven't forgotten Decorah knocked them out of the playoffs last November. Decorah is just puzzling. They lost by 3 TDs to North Fayette Valley, but there's no shame in that. They had to score very late touchdowns to beat both Crestwood and Vinton-Shellsburg by a point apiece, then let Benton hang around until the Bobcats tied the game late and won it in overtime.

Waverly-Shell Rock is looking like perhaps the other favorite in D3 - they play Decorah at home next week. They've won easily over Independence and Vinton-Shellsburg so far, and beat Crestwood by more and lost to NFV by less than Decorah did. Benton has some good athletes - Spencer Touro didn't play in the loss to Xavier but really piled up the yards against Decorah last Friday.

I expected South Tama to be in the mix, but their overtime loss to Charles City didn't help their chances much. The Trojans thumped Grinnell in their opener, then lost to a good Williamsburg team by a point. They are at Vinton-Shellsburg tonight.

Vinton-Shellsburg, I don't know yet. They got up on Decorah 6-0 in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings were able to get a TD for the win. At least we'll be able to tell where they might rank in the middle after playing South Tama and Charles City the next two weeks.

Charles City can really throw the ball around. Unfortunately, their roster is too small to let anybody get a breather, and they have a hard time stopping anybody. They should get a win at Independence tonight.

As for Independence, it looks like a rough year. Coming off two solid years with playoff appearances (I'm pretty sure they were 8-1 last season, with the loss to West Delaware), it appears the Class of 2016 played a big role on those teams. Indee started this season with 15 quarters of scoreless football. They were shut out their first three games, then went three quarters against South Tama last week without getting in the end zone. They finally got a TD in the fourth quarter, to only be outscored 173-8 so far. Yikes.

 

[Iowamavs14]

Benton Community vs Waverly Shell Rock was a fun game to watch last night. Both these teams deserve to make the playoffs.

 

[KidSilverhair]

And after the results of Friday night, the only thing I know is that Xavier is the prohibitive favorite. Second place? Who knows? South Tama is there right now, but Benton and Waverly-Shell Rock are right in the mix. Decorah's already got two district losses, but they still could play their way into second.

One of the most impressive things I'm seeing about WSR is they're allowing under 30 yards per game through the air. They've played five games, and only Independence has been able to throw for more than 34 yards against the Go-Hawks (and that was for only 71 yards, and the Mustangs had negative yards rushing). They're decent against the run, too, giving up about 150 yards per game, so that defense is rock solid.

We are going to find out a lot in the next few weeks (of course, since there's just four weeks left). But just this coming Friday, WSR plays Decorah and Benton faces South Tama. After that, Benton's final three games are Charles City, Independence and Vinton-Shellsburg, so they get a break there schedule-wise. South Tama still has to play Decorah, WSR and Xavier, while WSR has Xavier and South Tama ahead.

I hate to totally count out Charles City, because they had a nice well-rounded offensive game against Independence, but, well ... it was Independence. The Comets still have to face Benton, Decorah, and WSR.

 

[IOU1]

Xavier is in the driver's seat for the #1 spot. Even if they get ripped up by WSR or South Tama, they still hold the head to head against Benton. Benton is in the driver's seat for the #2 spot...if they win out they are IN. WSR needs to win out in order to have a realistic shot at the post season. That would give them 1 district loss and a head to head tie-breaker over Xavier. If Benton wins out as well, there would be a 3-way tie for the District title...then it would come down to points and the hope that one of the teams manages to snag a wildcard spot.

 

[PNation]

The #2 spot is a tough one to call, right now Benton is in the best position with the win over Waverly. South Tama could put themselves back in the discussion with a win over Benton this week, but still have to go to Decorah (which is a long haul for them) and play Waverly and Xavier, if they can get through Benton, Decorah, and Waverly then you would have to think they have a good shot, and I heard that they will get their #1 running back, back this week which would help. Waverly is kind of in a tricky spot, they still have Xavier which is probably a second district loss, so they would need a little help, which could come. Charles City is probably the team most written off, but they can be a tough team to put away, and control their own destiny, but I really don't see it. Decorah would have to win out to have a chance, and Vinton and Indee are eliminated.