District 7 Week 1

[TigerHawkTackle]

With great apologizes to Dark Thunder, I'm getting antsy about the season and we have an appalling lack of posts about the season. So lets talk District 7 football:

Week 1 Schedule (along with my 2 cents):
Greene County at South Central Calhoun - Prediction: SCC SCC is returning a ton and should be a district title contender in the toughest overall district in Class 1A
Manson-Northwest Webster @ SE Valley - Prediction: MNNW Honestly don't know much about what SE Valley has coming back, but I know that Manson lost a lot of talent. Manson still has another outstanding lineman in Birkey, but that may not be enough in this district.
Ogden @ Panorama - Prediction: Ogden Ogden has some big shoes to fill at QB but they still have Lentz to carry the load.
South Hamilton @ Roland Story - Prediction: Roland-Story If the word is correct about Hill's retirement from football to focus on basketball, South High may struggle to find some offense. Still a very physical team, but may not be enough to handle RS.
Ft Dodge St. Ed's @ Bishop Garrigan - Prediction: Bishop Garrigan O'Tool is still the man, but it sounds like he may be hurting for a supporting cast. Garrigan may not be able to stop him but might be able to contain him enough to pull out the W.
Van Meter @ Madrid - Prediction: Madrid The Tigers open the season in the newly renovated Jungle with one of 3 District 8 opponents.
Woodward Academy @ Earlham - Prediction: Earlham Once again WA opens a season with an entirely new group of athletes, so you never know what they will be capable of. Earlham is a solid program of late and a tough opening game for the Academy.

Good luck to all of the District 7 teams tomorrow night!

 

[oldernotwiser]

It's amazing what Woodward Academy is able to do in sports with that much turnaround every year. I like to see Madrid do well, but right behind the Tigers I'm rooting for W-A.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Hey no problem at all! It has been pretty quiet around here considering football kickoffs in just a few hours.

Looks like it's gonna be a wet one tonight. Nothing in the way of heavy rain or bad storms but it's misting right now so that could still have an effect on teams that may look to work on their passing game in week one (not that it would stop them from trying).

I think there will be quite a few good games tonight.

Earlham edged WA late in last year's contest iirc. Earlham does look like they'll be fairly solid this year though as others have mentioned you can never be sure what you're gonna get each year with Woodward Academy due to the roster turnover.

I'm interested in seeing how SE Valley does tonight against MNW. I know the Jaguars return quite a few players this year and a lot of big boys on the line. They could be in store for a good season if things fall into place.

Madrid gets a good early test against Van Meter who has taken a step back since their semifinal run in 2013. The wet weather should certainly favor the ground attack of the Tigers.

Ogden - Panorama will be a good one as long as both teams bring their A game right to start the season. Both teams are expected to be contenders in their respective. I like Ogden in that one though.

I said before in a previous thread covering the D7 teams, South Hamilton will always be a physical team and has several kids returning to keep them competitive. But Hill was definitely a play maker and it's understandable that he would want to focus on basketball if that's what he is actually doing. R-S usually always has solid, competitive teams so it'll be interesting to see how the Hawks come out to open the season. If nothing else it's a good tune up for them before the rugged district schedule kicks in.

SE renews it's rivalry with Garrigan once again and this has been a tricky game for the Gaels the last few years. Both years they went to the Dome and both years they opened with single digit victories only scoring 14 puts and needing several late defensive stops to seal the deal. Garrigan does deserve some credit as they've also had some good teams for Class A including a team in 2013 that gave that dominate West Lyon team it's toughest game en route to a state title.
But again you can't really take too much away from tonight's contest given what SE was able to do from week 2 on in both seasons. Still it will be interesting to see how the Gaels perform with so many new faces in the lineup.

Also it sounds like the SCC-Greene County game is postponed to tomorrow due to wet fields.

 

[DarkThunder#61]

Better late than never. Here's the scores from last week's action and the matchups on tap for tonight.

Madrid 50, Van Meter 35
- Santi rushed for 392 yds and 5 TDs in the win

Bishop Garrigan 39, St. Edmond 21
- First season opening loss for the Gaels since 2007, against Mason City Newman who did also go 11-1 that year.

Southeast Valley 28, Manson Northwest Webster 20 ( 3OT )
- The Cougars recovered 5 SEV fumbles but Nolan Brand's 4 TD passes in 5 completions, including the game-winner in the third OT proved to be the difference.

Earlham 65, Woodward Academy 20
- 5 different players scored a TD in the win for the Cardinals.

Panorama 48, Ogden 21
- Austin Lentz rushed for 225 yds and 3 TDS but it wasn't enough to top the balanced Panorama attack.

Greene County 42, South Central Calhoun 28
- 8 different receivers caught a pass for SCC but 6 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome against the Rams.

South Hamilton at Roland-Story
- Game was postponed and most likely canceled since it is non-conference.

WEEK 2:

St. Edmond at Mason City Newman
Ogden at Des Moines Christian
East Sac County at South Central Calhoun
Panorama at Manson Northwest Webster
Southeast Warren at Woodward Academy
West Marshall at South Hamilton
Woodward-Granger at Madrid