Hawks Face Powerhouse Stanton Tonight

EG TRAVELS TO SW IOWA FOR PLAYOFF OPENER

East Greene heads to Stanton tonight to face the Stanton Vikings in an 8-Man State Playoff game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Stanton is an 8-Man football powerhouse, qualifying for the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

The two teams head into the game with identical 7-2 records with Stanton qualifying as the district runner-up in District 8 at 6-1 and EG as the No. 3 team in District 7 at 5-2.

The Vikings were 8-Man state champs in 2007. Stanton also qualified in 2002 and 2003 in 8-Man, and the Vikings made it to the playoffs in 1984, 1998 and 1998 in Class A. This is Stanton’s 10th football playoff appearance. The Vikings have a total combined won-loss record in the playoffs of 11-8.

This is East Greene’s first 8-Man playoff berth and the fourth in school history, as the Hawks went to the playoffs in Class A three years in a row, 1987-89, and compiled a 3-3 postseason record.

Stanton, state-ranked earlier this season until falling to District 8 champion Fremont-Mills (Tabor), is predominantly a running team, lead by Greg Focht, who has rushed for 769 yards in 123 carries and scored 11 touchdowns, and Tyler Havrum, who has a carried 131 time for 724 yards and 15 touchdowns. Havrum handles the QB duties for the Vikings and he has thrown for 464 yards, good on 49 of 108 passing attempts and four touchdowns. But Havrum has been intercepted five teams. Jeff Marshall has also seen quarterbacking duties with 5 touchdowns and no interceptions with a completion rate of 18 of 22 for 230 yards.

Stanton has passed for a total of 716 yards this year but its rushing yardage is a whopping 2,588.

East Greene counters, however, with the sixth-best defense in the state in 8-Man, giving up an average of just 14.3 points a game while scoring 41.7 (26th best). Stanton has scored at 48.7 points-per-game clip, 12th best in the state, while giving up 24.11 (20th best). [Add those up and 12th and 20th equals 32 divided by two equals 16, and 6th and 26th also equals 32 and divided by two equals 16, so these teams come out with exactly the same level of offense/defense when ranked among all the state’s 8-Man teams.]

Team stats are very close as EG has rushed for 2,293 yards and passed for 856.

The Hawks’ offense is led by running back Schyler Bardole, who ranks among the top all-time career leaders in touchdowns, total points scored, and rushing yards in Iowa 8-Man football. This season Bardole has scored 29 touchdowns and 7 two-point conversions (188 points) on 190 carries for a whopping 1,652 total yards.

He is also an anchor of the EG defense along with linebackers Zach Dearborn and Tory Beger. The Hawk’s have been known for their solid defense the last several seasons. Last year, Tom Beger, who played the same positions that younger brother Tory, a sophomore, plays this year (QB and linebacker on defense), was named second team all-state as a linebacker in his senior season. Tom is now playing defensive linebacker for the Simpson College JV team. Kyle DeMoss of rural Rippey, a graduate of Ogden High School, plays for the Simpson varsity this year as a senior running back and kickoff specialist.

The Begers are sons of EG co-coach and athletic director Tony Beger. Bardole is the son of co-coach Tim Bardole, an EG graduate who lettered in football in Iowa State after his days as a Hawk gridder a generation ago. Another son, Gabe, is a freshman on this year’s team.

The Begers are an “all EG” family as Traci Beger, wife of Tony and mom to the “Beger Boys,” is lead elementary teacher at the EG elementary school in Rippey and the high school girls basketball and softball coach. And there is still a third “Beger Boy” to wear the green and white, as Tyler will be in high school in a few years and has played in the youth county league in football.

100-POINT TURNAROUND: This football season has marked many accomplishment for the EG gridders, among them the first winning season since 2001, best season record since the 1980s, first 8-Man Playoff appearance, and first playoff berth in 21 years. Most indicative of the Hawks’ success is a 100-point turnaround against a very solid football program like Ar-We-Va.

EG shut down the Rockets 50-0 last Friday night in Westside to put a dramatic flourish on the last game of the regular season. Just three years ago—in 2007—the Hawks took a 57-7 drubbing from Ar-We-Va. The gap closed the next year to 39-20 in 2008 and last year, EG opened the season in Westside, losing to the Rockets in a tough, defense-oriented battle, 15-2. That’s an amazing 100-point turnaround in just three seasons.

The Hawks rolled up 388 total yards and 19 first down in last week’s game while holding the Rockets to just 48 yards rushing in 13 attempts and 8 of 29 passes for 88 yards—and no first downs for the entire game.

Bardole led the charge with 192 yards and five touchdowns. Beger had a great night at quarterback with 8 of 16 passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception on the night but the Hawks had the overall advantage as they intercepted five Ar-We-Va passes and recovered a fumble.

Beger’s passes were spread among four receivers: Nic Nicoliasen, 3 catches for 68 yards; Reed Ostrander, 3 for 45 yards with two of them for touchdowns; Cooklin, one for 25; and Aaron Lyons, one for 14.

Beger and Bardole were sharp on the defensive side, leading the Hawks with 10 and 7 tackles respectively. Cooklin snared two of the interceptions and returned them for 56 yards total while Lyons, Beger and Rob Ritchie each picked off a pass.

Stanton also heads into tonight’s game after a big, lopsided win last week as the Vikings drubbed winless South Page (College Springs), 82-14.

STANTON’S DEEP TRADITION: This is the third year that East Greene’s district (7) and Stanton’s district (8) have been matched up in the playoffs with each of the top four finishers in the two districts facing off in the first and second rounds, and then the state quarterfinals. Two years ago, Coon Rapids-Bayard, the runner-up to CAM (Anita) in District 7, and Stanton, undefeated champion of District 8, met in the quarterfinals with Stanton winning 42-17 and advancing on to the semifinal round where the Vikings lost to Armstrong-Ringsted, which fell in the title game to Lenox. Last year, Adair-Casey, D7 co-champ and top seed, moved through the first two rounds and, again, the team advancing on the opposite side of the quarterfinal bracket was Stanton, but this time the D7 team had the upper hand as AC disposed of the undefeated Vikings, 42-26. AC met the same fate as Stanton had the year before, falling to Armstrong-Ringsted, 64-22, with AR going on to claim the state title.

Armstrong-Ringsted was the team Stanton defeated in the 2007 championship, 32-24. The Mustangs have now been in the last three straight championship games, winning the crown in 2008 and finishing as runner-up in 2007 and 2009. AR (9-0) has qualified again as the No. 1 seed from District 2 and the winner of the D7-8 quarterfinal matchup will again face the winner from D1-2 in the semifinal round in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. The Mustangs head into the playoffs as the No. 2 ranked team in 8-Man football by the Des Moines Register and the Associated Press, just behind Lenox, the team it beat last year for the title.

Lenox (9-0), District 3 champion, handed Stanton (7-2) one of its two losses this year in a non-district home opener for both teams, beating the Vikings 44-8 in Stanton. That loss snapped Stanton’s win streak of 30-regular season games, the longest in the state, and when Stanton lost to Fremont-Mills (Tabor) a few weeks later, that snapped a 26-game winning streak in district games.

Since 2001, its last year in Class A, Stanton has finished first or second in its district except for one year, 2004, when the team went 2-2 and 5-3 and finished third of five teams in District 5.

THE COFFEE POT TOWN: Stanton is a stand-alone town and school district in Montgomery County, located between Red Oak, the county seat, and Villisca. Total K-12 enrollment is 267 compared with EG’s 308. Stanton has a vibrant Scandinavian history and one of its most famous daughters is longtime character actress Virginia Christine, who gained fame as Mrs. Olsen of the successful television advertising campaign for Folgers Coffee. She also had significant roles in such films as “Guess Whose Coming to Dinner?” (1967), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and High Noon (1952).

Ms. Christine remained loyal to her hometown and despite her busy life as an actress in Hollywood she visited Stanton often. And in her honor and the height of the success of during her 21 years as Folger’s Mrs. Olsen, the town rebuilt its water tower to look like a coffee pot. And Stanton topped that when it built a new water tower in 2000 and this one was built to look like a coffee cup. Stanton has also kept the first water tower. Both are designed with a Swedish motif, in further expressing the town’s deep Swedish heritage.

Stanton has a modern school facility on the north edge of town and the football field is just adjacent to the school at a lower elevation. The home side bleachers are actually built into the side of the hill, or rise, between the school and the field with the visiting team’s bleachers on the opposite side of the field. A new elementary wing was added to the school in 1994 and the facility now serves grades K-12.

Stanton has retained its older school building from the early 20th century and turned that into the Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center. It is located in the heart of the community not far from another landmark in the town center, the high-steepled Mamrelund Lutheran Church.

Stanton’s population is 714 (U.S. Census, 2000) and it is located on U.S. Highway 34 between Red Oak (pop. 6,197) and Villisca (1,344), the two other main communities of Montgomery County.

However, these communities are coping with declining populations and smaller school enrollments, as are most small towns of rural Iowa. As of 2009, the projected census for Stanton was 680, a 4.8% drop, while Villisca has decreased 8.8% to 1,226 and Red Oak is now down to 5,626, a 9.2% drop. Comparatively, towns in Greene County are seeing declines of anywhere from 10 to 14% but there are more communities in Greene County: Jefferson, Grand Junction, Rippey, Dana, Paton, Churdan, Scranton, Cooper and Farlin, all but two of them incorporated. Montgomery County has just 5 incorporated towns and one unincorporated: Red Oak, Villisca, Stanton, Elliott, Grant and Goburg (unincorporated). Overall, however, Montgomery County has a slightly larger population, 10,796 based on 2009 U.S. Census estimates, than Greene County, 9,251, due to the size difference between the two county seat towns, Red Oak and Jefferson. Montgomery’s population has decreased 8.3% since 2000 while Greene’s population has dropped 10.8%.

Stanton’s BEDS enrollment figures for high school sports classification is 71 compared to East Greene’s 84. Villisca, which is also an 8-Man school in District 8, is 94.

Stanton has long competed among the 10-member Corner Conference which was comprised of 10 school districts in the four southwestern-most counties of Iowa: Mills, Fremont, Page and Montgomery. Along with Stanton, the longstanding Corner Conference schools were Nishna Valley (Hastings), Malvern, Fremont-Mills (Tabor), Sidney, Hamburg, Farragut, Essex, South Page (College Springs) and Villisca.

The alignment has changed in the just last few years as Nishna Valley and Malvern embarked on a sports sharing and now whole-grade sharing arrangement and have renamed themselves East Mills as a combined entity with elementary students attending a school in each of the two main towns, Malvern and Hastings. The high school is in Malvern and the middle school in Hastings. When East Mills was formed, that dropped the Corner down to 9 teams but then Clarinda Academy, a private school formed a few years ago in Clarinda, the county seat of Page County, was added to make the league 10 teams again.

This past year, Hamburg and Farragut joined forces to share sports and now compete as Nishnabotna, taking up the slack since Nishna Valley is just the name of a school district and elementary school in Hastings (for the time being). Nishnabotna got out of the blocks in a good way as the baseball team qualified for the state tournament last summer, the first state baseball appearance for either school.

Nishnabotna finished fourth (4-3, 6-3) in District 8 and will travel to Glidden-Ralston tonight to face the Wildcats, the D7 champions and the seventh-ranked team in the state. Nishnabotna drubbed Essex (1-7, 1-9) in its district game on Friday, 92-6. East Mills heads to Coon Rapids-Bayard to take on the Crusaders, the No. 2 team from D7. Fremont-Mills, ranked sixth in the state, will host Boyer Valley (Dunlap), the fourth-seeded team from D7. F-M won the D8 crown Friday night in Tabor with a big 56-20 win over EM.

The Corner Conference is now reduced to 9 teams and it looks as if more sharing is on the horizon. It does not appear that Stanton or Villisca have approached any type of teacher or classroom sharing with either other or neighboring districts like Red Oak and Corning (just east of Villisca and the county seat of Adams County) nor in sports in the past few years. But now discussions are underway in earnest. Villisca has agreed to discuss pursuing whole grade sharing with Corning while Stanton is looking at several neighboring districts (one of them was Villisca) but it is most likely it would align with Red Oak, which is only 8 miles away.

Hawks Defuse AWV Rockets, 50-0

IT’S ON TO STATE (AND STANTON)!

East Greene shut down Ar-We-Va 50-0 tonight in Westside to put an exclamation point on an amazing 2010 football season.

But the Hawks are not done yet. The 50-0 blitzing of Ar-We-Va is just icing on the cake of a season that saw the Hawks clinch a playoff berth several weeks ago. By finishing third in Division 7 of 8-Man football, the Hawks will get the No. 3 seed and face off on Wednesday against the No. 2 seed from Division 8—the Stanton Vikings. Game time is 7 p.m. in Stanton.

Friday, Oct. 22 Scores:

East Greene 50, Ar-We-Va 0

Glidden-Ralston 32, Coon Rapids-Bayard 27

Boyer Valley 53, Walnut 12

Woodbine 66, Charter Oak-Ute 21

Final Division 7 Standings:

Glidden-Ralston 7-0, 8-1

Coon Rapids-Bayard 6-1, 7-2            

East Greene 5-2, 7-2  

Boyer Valley 4-3, 6-3

Woodbine 3-4, 3-5     

Ar-We-Va 2-5, 3-6     

Walnut 1-6, 1-8

Charter Oak-Ute 0-7, 0-9

Hawks Head to Ar-We-Va

LOOKING FOR FIRST WIN EVER AGAINST ROCKETS

Three points and three seconds. It could not have much closer, unless maybe it had been 1 point and 1 second.

Either way, East Greene suffered a heartbreaking loss to longtime rival Coon Rapids-Bayard in Coon Rapids Friday night as the Crusaders scored with just 3 seconds left to beat EG 29-26 and remain unbeaten in Division 7 at 6-0 while the Hawks fell to 4-2.

Of course, the loss was tempered somewhat by EG having clinched a spot in the 8-Man Football playoffs. It’s the Hawks’ first-ever playoff appearance in 8-Man football and the first since qualifying 21 years ago after three straight appearances (1987-89) in Class A (11 man).





East Greene came up short, 15-2, in last year's game at Ar-We-Va,

but running back Schyler Bardole, one of the all-time leading career

rushers in 8-man football in Iowa, will look to lead the Hawks to a

win tonight in Westside. (Photo from AWVCSD.com)                  

   East Greene heads to Ar-We-Va (2-4, 3-5) tonight to close out the regular season. The Hawks have qualified for the State Playoffs as the No. 3 team in Division 7 and will be waiting for the results to come in tonight from games in Division 8 as to determine that division’s No. 2 seed. That school—which could be Fremont-Mills (Tabor), East Mills (Malvern) or Stanton—will host the Hawks on Wednesday with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

Coon Rapids-Bayard takes a perfect D7 mark (7-1 overall) to Glidden where it will face Glidden-Ralston (also 6-0 in D7 and 7-1 overall) to determine the Division winner and top-seed in the playoffs. First-place bragging rights will be determined in the “Lincoln League” (D7) right on the Original Lincoln Highway (today’s U.S. 30), where the GR gridders play, although both teams will host playoff games next week against the No. 3 and 4 seeds from Division 8.

Boyer Valley has already nailed down the No. 4 spot in Division 7 and will head to the top-seeded team in D8 on Wednesday.

CRB 29, EG 26: East Greene has had a fierce rivalry in boys and girls sports with CRB over the years, and this game was more of the same. It was a thriller from start to finish. According to the website of KCIM radio station in Carroll, CRB QB Michael Schwenk left the game in the first half with an injury, but returned to action in the second half. His top receiver, Jacob Esdohr, filled in at QB during his absence.

East Greene went into halftime with a 1 point lead but CRB went back in front after the break. But the Hawks kept battling and it looked like victory was in hand when they scored with just 35 seconds left in the game to go up 26-21. A two-point conversion would put them up by eight points forcing CRB to run the field in just 35 seconds, score a TD and then either kick to tie or add a two-point conversion to win.

But EG’s two-point conversion attempt was stopped and then the unthinkable happened. The Crusaders drove the length of the field in just 5 plays and scored with just 3 seconds on the clock. They added insult to injury by succeeding on their two-point conversion.

The Hawks only had time left to get the kickoff after the touchdown and return the ball all the way to payday, but that did not happen, so CRB got the win and the chance to host a playoff spot at home, in addition to setting up a somewhat expected CRB-GR finale for the Division title.

EG did everything it could to keep itself in the driver’s seat for a possible three-way tie atop D7. The Hawks certainly had the firepower, amassing a whopping 465 total yards to CRB’s 298. EG was clearly moving the ball as it had 27 first downs compared to just 12 for the Crusaders.

But four fumbles and an interception by QB Tory Beger really did the Hawks in. This is a problem that plagued the Hawks last year throughout the season but not as much this year, so that level of miscues in a big game was troubling.

The Hawk defense again rose to the occasion, limiting Schwenk to 13 completions in 27 attempts for 210 yards and intercepting him twice. Schwenk is one of the state’s all-time leading quarterbacks, and these numbers were way below his season average. EG’s Schyler Bardole showed why he is one of the state’s all-time best running backs as he racked up 268 yards on 48 carries and scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

QB Tory Beger went 5-9 for 73 yards and the interception. Beger also carried the ball 18 times for 53 yards and a TD. Tyler Cooklin rounded out the offense with 12 carries for 68 yards.

Bardole, Beger and Cooklin all had good efforts on defense. Bardole led the Hawks with 9 tackles and he intercepted a pass and ran it back 12 yards. Cooklin intercepted a pass and ran it back 22 yards while Beger recovered a fumble.
 

HAWKS vs. AR-WE-VA: The Hawks will need to bounce back for a road trip to Westside to take on a tough Ar-We-Va Rockets squad. Ar-We-Va has a strong tradition, having qualified for the playoffs four straight years in 8-Man (2006-2009) and three times in the 1990s in Class A.




Nic Nicoliasen heads down the sideline toward the goal line after hauling in a pass deep in Rocket territory in last year's game at Ar-We-Va. (Photo from AWVCSD.com)

 

Ar-We-Va was eliminated from a playoff spot a few weeks ago, but will be playing for pride and upholding its advantage over EG, as the Hawks have never beaten the Rockets since Ar-We-Va moved to 8-Man in 2002, a year after EG made the switch.

Ar-We-Va gave D7 co-leader Glidden-Ralston a very tough game on Oct. 8, losing 24-13, and the Rockets fell to Boyer Valley by just one, 28-27, earlier in the season. The Rockets are 2-4 in Division 7 and 3-5 overall.

Most of the attention in D7 will be on the game in Glidden however, as the Wildcats are ranked 8th in state by the D.M. Register and the Crusaders are among a handful of teams right behind the top 10.

UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS: Bardole ranks No. 4 for all-time career touchdowns in 8-man football, and the three scored at CRB moved him to 88, just one TD behind Shane Nicholson who played at Melcher-Dallas from 2005 to 2008. One touchdown against Ar-We-Va will move him into a tie and two or more touchdowns will move him past Nicholson into the No. 3 slot. Bardole is fifth in most points scored in a career (574) and four more points will move him to No. 4 past Jared Bruce (577) who played at Aurelia from 2007 to 2009. Nine points scored will move him into the No. 3 slot, now filled by Nicholson at 582. In career rushing yards, Bardole is fourth at 4,296 and closing in on Jeff Struecker (4,377) who played for Sentral (Fenton) from 2000 to 2003. Bardole has a been a starter in the backfield since his freshman season in 2007.

District 7 Standings
Coon Rapids-Bayard 6-0, 7-1
Glidden-Ralston 6-0, 7-1
East Greene 4-2, 6-2
Boyer Valley 3-3, 5-3
Woodbine 2-4, 3-5
Ar-We-Va 2-4, 3-5
Walnut 1-5, 1-7
Charter Oak-Ute 0-6, 0-8

Oct. 22 Results:
Ar-We-Va (Westside) 55, Walnut 22
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 54, Woodbine 13
Glidden-Ralston 92, Charter Oak-Ute 6
Coon Rapids-Bayard 29, East Greene 26

Oct. 29 Games:
Coon Rapids-Bayard at Glidden-Ralston
East Greene at Ar-We-Va
Walnut at Boyer Valley
Woodbine at Charter Oak-Ute

EYE ON GJ SAYS: If the Hawks need any incentive for tonight’s game, they need only think back to July and the susbstate baseball championship game in Denison where Ar-We-Va edged the Hawks 3-2 and advanced to the state tourney at Principal Park in Des Moines. Most of the Hawk starters—Beger, Cooklin, Aaron Lyons, Zach Dearborn and Wes Onken with the exception of Bardole, a non-baseball player—played key roles on that Hawk baseball squad.

Or some of the pummelings taken in years past at the hands of the Rockets should get them psyched up. In 2007, when Bardole was a freshman, the Hawks were whipped 57-7 as Ar-We-Va rolled up an 8-1 record and 4-1 in Division 2, losing only to GR. Both teams qualified for the playoffs that year and posted first-round wins. In a quarterfinal rematch, Ar-We-Va drubbed the Wildcats 44-6 to get revenge for the regular season loss and advance to the semifinal round, where they lost a heartbreaker to Armstrong-Ringsted, 45-42, in overtime. In 2008, EG closed the gap, falling to AWV 39-20 in a non-division game in Grand Junction. Last year, the Hawks traveled to Westside in the season opener, but fell in a tough, hard-fought game, 15-2. The game goes back to Westside again this year as both teams are back in the same division again, this time it’s D7 whereas in the mid 00s it was D2. Next year the Hawks will host.

EG @ ?? ON WED.: Teams vying for the top spots in Division 8 are first-place Fremont-Mills (6-0, 8-0), along with East Mills (5-1, 6-2) and Stanton (5-1). Fremont-Mills hosts East Mills tonight in Tabor while Stanton is at home against winless South Page (College Springs). The most likely scenario tonight is that Fremont-Mills prevails over East Mills, claiming the D8 crown at 7-0 and dropping East Mills to 5-2 and third place in the district with Stanton easily dispensing of South Page to grab the No. 2 spot at 6-1. EG would then travel to Stanton next Wednesday in a first-round playoff game.

If, however, East Mills should beat FM, ranked seventh in the state in 8-man, one spot ahead of Glidden-Ralston, and Stanton should prevail, then all three of those teams would end up deadlocked for first at 6-1 and they would have to go the points differential tie-breaker. FM has an advantage there, however, as they have won all their games by 13 points or more, so a close loss would not drop their points down too much. Stanton’s point difference is presently at 8.17 but most likely they will beat South Page by more than 13, so their differential would increase slightly while a win by EM, which stands at 9.17 with the tie-breaker, would also increase, based on how many points it would score in the win against the points it would give up, so a 2-, 3- or 6-point win might not really shift its differential by much, so it really all comes down to the points, and that might leave FM in first, and allow EM to keep it advantage over Stanton.

But seriously, EG fans might want to get their maps out and start planning their route down to Stanton, which is in southeastern Montgomery County, six miles from Red Oak, the county seat.

Interestingly, no matter which D8 team EG takes on, should the Hawks win, they would then meet the winner of the first-round game matching the D7 winner (CRB or GR) with the D8 No. 4 team, which is Nishnabotna, presently at 3-3 in fourth place with a game tonight at Essex (1-5, 1-7). Villisca and Sidney are both 2-4 and they face off in Sidney, but even if Nishna were to lose tonight and drop to a tie with the Villisca-Sidney winner, Nishna would get the No. 4 spot in the head-to-head tiebreaker, as it has beaten both teams this season.

If EG does get by its D8 opponent in round one, it would meet the winner of the game between the No. 1 seed in D7 (GR or CRB) and the No. 4 seed in D8 (Nishnabotna). The way the playoffs are constructed in the second round, if a team that travels in the first round meets a team that had the home field in that round, then the traveling team gets to host in round two—that would be East Greene, versus [most likley] GR or CRB

Clearly, EG matches up well with CRB as noted in the 29-26 squeaker from last week but the incentive would be there to get one back from GR, too, as the Hawks are a much better team than the squad that ended up at the wrong end of this year’s Homecoming game with the Wildcats, 40-8.

CRB Ends Hawkettes’ Season

LOSE IN REGIONAL FIRST ROUND, FINISH 9-15

Coon Rapids-Bayard swept East Greene in three games, 25-19, 25-16, 25-12, in first round regional volleyball action at Coon Rapids on Wednesday. CRB (23-6) advances to the quarterfinal round in Madrid where they will face the Madrid Tigers, winners over Earlham.

EG ends the 2010 season with a 9-15 record. The Hawkettes finished in eighth place in the Rolling Hills Conference with a 3-6 mark.

Only AC and ICA were winners among the 10 conference teams in regional action on Wednesday. Adair-Casey sidelined conference foe Walnut to advance to a Region 3 quarterfinal match against Riverside (Oakland) next Tuesday in Adair. Iowa Christian beat Southeast Warren Liberty Center and will take on Martensdale-St. Mary’s on Tuesday at Melcher in Region 5. Regional quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round on Friday, Oct. 29.

Paton-Churdan lost on Wednesday night to Southeast Webster in Burnside in Region 2, while Jefferson-Scranton got by Ogden in Class 2A first round regional action in Ogden. The Rams (16-21) move on to face Kuemper (21-10) next Tuesday in Carroll.

In the conference tournament at Elk Horn last week, EG took on Paton-Churdan in an opening round match, beating the Rockettes to advance to a second round match against Iowa Christian Academy, the No. 2 seed in the league tourney. ICA, ranked 12th in the state in Class 1A, beat the Hawkettes 21-9, 21-18 to advance to the semifinals. The Blazers won their semifinal match but fell to Adair-Casey in the championship. In a consolation round game, EG was edged out by CAM (Anita) 21-18, 18-21, 15-11.

FINAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
(Conf. Record, Season Record Through 10-20-10)
Iowa Christian 9-0 18-8
Adair-Casey 8-1 23-6
Ankeny Christian 5-4 12-12
CAM (Anita) 5-4 9-15
Orient-Macksburg 5-4 8-17
Glidden-Ralston 4-5 10-15
Elk Horn Kimballton/Exira 4-5 6-17
East Greene 3-6 9-15
Paton-Churdan 1-8 2-30
Walnut 1-8 8-23

EYE GJ SAYS: It was an up and down season for the Hawkettes this year. After a strong start with a season-opening win over Southeast Webster-Grand and a good showing at an invitational tournament in Coon Rapids—and starting out 2-1 in the Rolling Hills—in looked like the Hawkettes could compete for an upper division finish in their first year in the RH. But key losses to teams like Orient-Macksburg and Ankeny Christian resulted in EG falling into the lower half of the conference which was dominated all season by Adair-Casey and Iowa Christian. EG did put some together some solid performances during the season, beating former league rival Guthrie Center, last year’s West Central Conference champion, and they pulled out some close matches which showed they could play well under pressure. After EG beat Guthrie, the Tigerettes turned around and upset Adair-Casey, but both EG and GC suffered from inconsistency throughout the season.

The West Central Conference fared much better in opening round regional action than the RH with the 9 teams posting a 6-3 mark. And two of those three losses were to other WC teams. Guthrie got by CAM (Anita), a Rolling Hills team, and will next face East Union (27-7). Madrid beat league foe Earlham to also advance in Class 1A. Woodward-Granger and Des Moines Christian, which has been ranked for part of the season, advanced in 2A as did Van Meter, which beat fellow conference member West Central Valley. The only 2A team to lose to a non-league for was Panorama.

The West Central will became a 10-team league again next year, as Ogden will leave the Heart of Iowa-Small after this season and fill the vacancy created by East Greene’s move to the Rolling Hills.

Five East Greene seniors played their last match in the regional loss: Katlynn Gannon, Molly Neese, Tia Lowe, Brittanee Heaning and Jasmine Kinney. Several younger players made significant contributions to the team this year, especially Chelsi Wilkens, who had a big impact on the front line as just a freshman starter, leading the team in blocks. Wilkens and sophomore reserves Tori Lowe and Brittany Gunn will serve as the nucleus for the varsity next year.

There were no juniors on the squad, so Coach Carly Tiffany will be fielding a young team next year in a somewhat of a rebuilding phase. EG also has a strong group of 8th graders moving up to the high school level for next year’s team—including Tiffany’s daughter Bailey Godwin— who could step in and play key roles. The team that takes the court next fall will essentially be in place for back-to-back seasons, so this year’s sophomores will be called upon to show leadership for the younger team members.

Hawks ‘Crush’ Walnut, 56-8

BV, AWV LOSE; EG CLINCHES PLAYOFF SPOT

East Greene rolled over Walnut in Grand Junction tonight, 56-8, to move its season record to 6-1overall and 4-1 in District 7.

The win over Walnut with Ar-We-Va’s loss to Woodbine guarantees EG a spot in the playoffs as the Hawks are in third place at 4-1, just behind co-leaders Coon Rapids-Bayard and Glidden-Ralston at 5-0. GR rolled over Boyer Valley 46-6 to drop the Bulldogs to 2-3 in D7.

The top four teams in the 8-team division qualify for the playoffs.

Ar-We-Va and Woodbine entered tonight’s game with 1-3 records in the division standings, which made the matchup an “elimination round” game as the loser would end up with 4 division losses and even with two more wins to close out the year, would still end up at only 3-4, making it nearly impossible to the get the fourth playoff  spot.

If BV had upset GR, moving to 3-2 in the league, and then won its final two games to finish 5-2, and Ar-We-Va had beaten Woodbine to go 2-3 and then win its next two games (Walnut, EG), and EG were to enter that AWV game at 4-2 having lost to Coon Rapids-Bayard the previous week, then AWV and EG would tie at 4-3 for fourth. And BV could easily finish in third place at 5-2 since its last two games are against Woodbine and Walnut. Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard would finish in first and second depending on the winner of their matchup the last week of the season.

AWV would have gotten the fourth playoff spot based on beating EG which is the tie-breaker (head-to-head competition) when two teams tie. If more than two teams tie, and each as a loss to one of the other two teams, then the point differential is used.

If GR were to have actually been upset by BV and then beat CRB in the finale, they would get the No. 1 seed in D7 as both teams would finish tied at 6-1 but GR would get the top spot because the tie breaker between two teams is the winner in head-to-head competition. And if CRB were to win in that game under the same circumstances, then the Crusaders get the top seed.

Ar-We-Va had put a scare into GR last week before falling by just 11 points, and that coming just a week after GR had drubbed then undefeated EG by 32 points. GR, ranked No. 7 in the state, seemed vulnerable again tonight, leading BV by just 16-6 at the half, but the Wildcats prevailed by outscoring BV 30-0 in the second half to win 46-6. Meanwhile, Ar-We-Va trailed Woodbine by just 8 points in the first quarter, 14-6, but Woodbine put 12 points on the board just after halftime to go up 26-6 and hang on for the win, 34-20.

BV’s loss to GR drops the Bulldogs to 2-3 and even if BV wins its next two games and ends up 4-3 and the above scenario of EG losing its last two games were to happen, EG would finish at 4-3 and still get the tie-breaker because EG beat BV in head-to-head competition. Another concern, though, was if this same scenario had played out but Ar-We-Va actually beat Woodbine, and then won out for the season, going from 1-3 to 4-3 and beating EG, then then all three teams would have tied for third, and the No. 3 and No. 4 spots would be determined by the points differential.

Fortunately, for the Hawks, the Woodbine win over Ar-We-Va means that EG has already beaten the two teams in the No. 4 spot, and has a two-game lead over them, 4-1 vs. 2-3.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks actually still have a chance for the Division 7 title despite their loss to GR two weeks ago. If EG gets by CRB next week, and then the Crusaders should beat GR in the season finale—while EG gets by Ar-We-Va—then GR, EG, and CRB all would finish in first place with 6-1 records. The tie-breaker invoked then in is the points differential, and that final number would not be determined until the games are played and the margins of victory and defeat calculated for all three teams.

EG’s biggest challenge right now is Coon Rapids-Bayard. The game is in Coon Rapids, so the Crusaders have the home field advantage. They bring a high-powered passing game into this showdown of longtime Central Valley and West Central conference rivals. CRB’s Michael Schwenk set a new state mark in an 85-12 drubbing of winless Charter Oak-Ute last night— scoring 9 touchdowns in the first half.

The Hawks will need to put the breaks on the Crusader offense and make sure they keep their own offense in gear. The Hawks have scored 52 and 56 points in their last two games, while the defense has given up an average of just 10. For the season, the Hawks are scoring at a 41.7 average while holding opponents to just 13.1. CRB has a whopping 58.9 per game scoring average and a 24.1 defensive average.

Friday, Oct. 8 games:

East Greene 56, Walnut 8

Coon Rapids-Bayard 85, Charter Oak-Ute 13

Glidden-Ralston 46, Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 6

Woodbine 34, Ar-We-Va (Westside) 20

Standings, Division/Season Records, Pt. Diff. Average

Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-0, 6-1             (13)

Glidden-Ralston 5-0, 6-1                    (12.6)

East Greene 4-1, 6-1                           (7.8)    

Boyer Valley 2-3, 4-3                         (-5)

Woodbine 2-3, 3-4                              (-2.6)  

Ar-We-Va 1-4, 2-5                              (-5)     

Walnut 1-4, 1-6                                   (-7.8)

Charter Oak-Ute 0-5, 0-7                    (-13)

Hawks Win Big Over Woodbine 52-12!

CLINCH FIRST WINNING SEASON SINCE 2001

East Greene beat the Woodbine Tigers, 52-12, in Woodbine tonight to move to 3-1 in District 7 and 5-1 overall. The Hawks are in sole place of third place in District 7—the “Lincoln League”—and the win guarantees a winning season with just three games left on the 2010 schedule.

East Greene hosts Walnut (1-3, 1-5) next Friday, Oct. 8, at Karber Field for Parent’s Night.

Tonight’s District 7 Games and Updated League Standings:

East Greene 54, Woodbine 12

Glidden-Ralston 24, Ar-We-Va 13

Coon Rapids-Bayard 76, Walnut 0

Boyer Valley 62, Charter Oak-Ute 8

Coon Rapids-Bayard 4-0, 5-1

Glidden-Ralston 4-0, 5-1

East Greene 3-1, 5-1

Boyer Valley 2-2, 4-2

Ar-We-Va 1-3, 2-4

Woodbine 1-3, 2-4

Walnut 1-3, 1-5

Charter Oak-Ute 0-4, 0-6

GR Spoils EG Homecoming

HAWKS LOSE FIRST GAME, NOW THIRD IN D7

Glidden-Ralston put the clamps on East Greene, 40-8, in a District 7 showdown last Friday night in Grand Junction.

The loss put a bit of a damper on East Greene’s Homecoming activities. GR remained in first place in D7, the “Lincoln League,” with a 3-0 mark, tied with Coon Rapids-Bayard, which beat Boyer Valley, 67-44. EG dropped into third place in the district with a 2-1 mark.

EG, GR and CRB are each 4-1 overall for the season. The win helped push GR to the No.10 spot in the Des Moines Register’s 8-Man state football rankings this week.

The Hawks put forth a solid effort. It tied the lowest point total the Wildcats have been held to all season (40 in a 3 OT loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40) but the GR defense was unyielding and the offense got off to a fast start. GR rolled to a 34-0 halftime lead and upped that to 40-zip early in the third quarter.

The Hawks did get on the board with a touchdown run by Scyhler Bardole and run for the 2-point conversion by Reed Ostrander in the third quarter. Despite a poor first-half showing, the Hawks did play the Wildcats even for the second half, and actually outscored them 8-6.

East Greene was able to move the ball—racking up 237 yards and 11 first downs—but just could not punch the ball across the goal line. GR had only 25 more total yards (262) and just two more first downs (13) but the Hawks hurt themselves with three turnovers—an interception and two fumbles.

Bardole racked up 128 yards on 21 carries while Nic Nicolaisen ran 5 times for 23 yards. Bardole also led the receiving corps with 3 catches for 18 yards. QBs Tyler Cooklin and Tory Beger passed for 85 yards against the GR defense, but it took them 20 attempts and only 8 of those passes were completions. Cooklin completed 1 of 6 passes for seven yards, while Beger connected on 7 of 14 for 78 yards and one interception.

GR unleashed a running back “triple threat” with Taylor Hackett, Mitchell Lensch and QB Wade Hoyle each scoring two running touchdowns. Hackett had 13 carries for 114 yards and Lensch added 99 yard on 17 carries.

Despite his scoring two TDs, the Hawks did hold QB Hoyle pretty much in check, limiting him to just two completions in six passing attempts for 12 yards, and just 33 yards on the ground in 9 carries.

East Greene travels to Woodbine tonight while the Wildcats host Ar-We-Va.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Well, there are baseball towns and there are football towns. Clearly, Glidden is a football town, and with EG having made the substate in baseball the last two years, Grand Junction and Rippey are baseball towns.

But, that being said, it really was disappointing to see GR win by a such a large margin when it seemed both teams were pretty evenly matched, and especially since last year, when EG came so close to beating GR, losing a hard-fought battle, 14-6. That game showcased how much improvement the Hawks have made over the last several years, considering GR drubbed EG 48-8 in 2007 and the Hawks pulled closer in 2008, 34-14, and then the loss by just a touchdown last year.

The Hawks will need to re-group as they have a long road trip this week to Harrison County to take on Woodbine, now 1-2 in D7 after rolling over Walnut last week, 52-12. The Tigers are 3-2 on the season, but their losses are to very strong teams—D7 co-leaders GR and Coon-Rapids Bayard (combined records of 8-2) and East Mills (3-1) which is in third place at 2-1 in District 8, just behind co-leaders Stanton and Fremont-Mills (3-0). East Mills’ only losses this season have been to top ranked Lenox (5-0) and No. 5 Stanton (4-1) whose only was to Lenox in the season opener.



Woodbine's Kyle Kuhlmann heads down the sideline

in last week's game at Walnut. Photo by Dawn Powers

of the Logan Herald Observer/Woodbine Twiner.



The Hawks will need to get their offense back in gear while the defense will need to stop the Tigers’ Kyle Kuhlman (see photo) and QB Zach Archer. Archer has thrown for 393 yards and 8 TDs and passed for 313 yards and 5 TDs through the air so far this season, while Kuhlman has rushed for 647 yards and scored 9 running TDs along with 118 yards receiving and 2 passing TDs.

EG has its own offensive weapons with Bardole now having racked up 823 yards for the season, a hefty 164 yards per game average, and a 1-2 punch at quarterback with Beger and Cooklin.

Tonight’s matchup with Woodbine begins a key stretch of four key games for the Hawks that mark the back half the season. After the road trip, EG returns to face Walnut (1-4) in Grand Junction on Parents’ Night on Oct. 8, and then the Hawks go on the road to finish the season with tough games at Coon Rapids against CRB and in Westside against Ar-We-Va the final two weeks of the season, Oct. 15 and 22.

The Hawks will need to make sure there is no letdown after losing in a big game that was even bigger because it was against a longtime rival like GR and that it came at homecoming.

It should be noted that when the Hawks scored that impressive victory over Boyer Valley on Sept. 10—even more important when tallying up the District 7 standings as BV went on to beat Ar-We-Va, a solid team year-in and year-out—it also matched all of last year’s EG win tally (3). And the thrashing of Charter Oak-Ute the following week moved the EG season win total to 4, which surpassed last year’s mark and equaled the four wins of the 4-5 record of the team two years ago. That 2008 season was the best EG grid showing since its first year of 8-man football in 2001, when EG went 6-2 with its only losses to the same team—state champion Adair-Casey.

One more East Greene win will clinch a winning season, the first since that 2001 campaign.

It’s a bit premature to begin talking about a berth in the substate in the postseason, as there are still 4 of the 7 total district games to be played, but it’s not at all out of the realm.

First things first, and that’s the road game at Woodbine. This will be a night where the lights are really shining bright on the Lincoln. Not only do “Lincoln League” schools EG and Woodbine faceoff in a key game in Woodbine, but Ar-We-Va travels east “on the Lincoln” to the other side of Carroll to Glidden to take on GR in another key battle of LL teams—these two being the smalls school rivals who are the east and west neighbors of county seat Carroll and its 2A schools Kuemper and Carroll public.

Ar-We-Va rolled over Charter Oak-Ute by 54 points last week and will no doubt be psyched to knock GR off its first-place D7 perch and out of the state-wide rankings. Last year GR squeaked by with a 20-19 win while Ar-We-Va had the upper hand in 2008, winning 32-12.

District 7 Standings
Coon Rapids-Bayard 3-0, 4-1
Glidden-Ralston 3-0, 4-1
East Greene 2-1, 4-1
Boyer Valley 1-2, 3-2
Ar-We-Va 1-2, 2-3
Woodbine 1-2, 2-3

Walnut 1-2, 1-4

Charter Oak-Ute 0-3, 0-5

Sept. 24 Results:

Glidden-Ralston 40, East Greene 8

Coon Rapids-Bayard 67, Boyer Valley 44

Ar-We-Va 56, Charter Oak-Ute 2

Woodbine 52, Walnut 12

Tonight’s Games:

East Greene @ Woodbine

Ar-We-Va @ Glidden-Ralston

Boyer Valley @ Charter Oak-Ute

Walnut @ Coon Rapids-Bayard

EG Netters Drop 3 Straight

FALL TO 2-4 IN ROLLING HILLS CONFERENCE

A quick three-game sweep of CAM (Anita) in a match at Rippey put East Greene at 2-1 and into a tie with Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira for third place in the Rolling Hills Conference, but a three-match losing streak has since dropped the Hawkettes into a tie with Glidden-Ralston in seventh.

East Greene quickly got the measure of the CAM Cougars on Sept. 7, taking the best-of-five-games match 26-24, 25-15, 25-21.

The Hawkettes faced a much more formidable foe in their next match on Sept. 14 as they hosted Adair-Casey, the sixth-ranked team in the state. EG put up a good fight, but fell in three games, 25-19, 26-24, 25-22.

The Hawkettes and AC had tangled earlier in the season in the semifinal round of the Coon Rapids-Bayard Tourney, with the Bombers getting the upper hand in a tight best-of-three match, 25-23, 25-21.

The Sept. 14 conference match against the Bombers put the Hawkettes into the meat of their season schedule as state-ranked Iowa Christian was on the docket for the following Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Rippey with a match at Ankeny Christian Academy in Ankeny on Thursday, Sept. 16.

ACA and East Greene went right down to the wire with a fifth game showdown in Ankeny and the Eagles prevailed: 16-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-8. East Greene almost had a three-game sweep in hand, but ACA rallied in a third game that went into extra digits, and then went on to even things up in game four. The Eagles made quick work of the Hawkettes in that game, winning by a big 13 points. It was more of same in the match-deciding fifth game, with ACA winning by 7.

The loss to ACA was a bit of an upset as EG had rolled over the Eagles in the CRB Tournament 21-8, 21-11. ACA went 0-3 in pool play, also losing to Paton-Churdan and CRB, while EG had advanced to the championship round with a 2-1 pool mark.

While ACA was upending EG to put both teams at 2-3 in the conference, there was a bit of a surprise at the top of the standings as Iowa Christian Academy rolled over Adair-Casey in three straight in a showdown of the league’s leaders. ICA was firmly in command of the match with the Bombers not making much of a threat until third game: 25-20, 25-11, 27-25.

The win left ICA atop the league standings at 5-0 while AC fell to 4-1. In the Class 1A state volleyball rankings released that day, Adair-Casey was ranked 6th and Iowa Christian was 12th.

ICA solidified its place at the top of Rolling Hills on the following Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Rippey taking down the Hawkettes in three games: 25-17, 25-11, 25-18.

The loss dropped EG to 2-4 in the conference and 5-6 overall, the first time all season the Hawkettes have been below .500.

With just three conference matches remaining, the Hawkettes will be fighting to claw back to a finish in the upper division of the Rolling Hills. If they beat Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira (3-3, 4-12) tonight in Elk Horn, Glidden-Ralston (2-4, 5-12) at home on Oct. 5, and Walnut (1-5, 3-14) in their final regular season match on Oct. 12, the Hawkettes will finish with a 5-4 conference mark.

EG also has a home match with former West Central Conference foe Guthrie Center on Thursday of this week and a road match at Madrid, also a West Central member, next Thursday, Oct. 7, to round out its non-conference slate along with a tournament in Walnut on Saturday, Oct. 9.

Rolling Hills Conference
(Standings and records through Monday, 9-27)
Iowa Christian Academy 6-0, 9-3
Adair-Casey 5-1, 10-1
CAM (Anita) 4-2, 4-4
Ankeny Christian Academy 3-3, 4-7
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 3-3, 4-12
Orient-Macksburg 3-3, 4-3
East Greene 2-4, 5-6
Glidden-Ralston 2-4, 5-12
Paton-Churdan 1-5, 2-14
Walnut 1-5, 3-14

EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG will be racking up the miles from here on until the end of the season. Along with tonight’s journey to Elk Horn and the trip to Walnut on Oct. 12, the team will also travel to Walnut on Saturday, Oct. 9, to participate in the Walnut Tournament. Then it’s back to Elk Horn again on Thursday, Oct. 14, for the Rolling Hills Conference Tournament, at the Elk Horn-Kimballton gym which is the home court for EHKE.

CONFERENCE TOURNEY: The next three matches are critical to the Hawkettes as the final standings determine the seedings for the conference tournament on Oct. 14. The teams are seeded 1 through 10 and the bottom four seeds play a preliminary round with 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9. Last year, Paton-Churdan was seeded seventh and got by tenth-seeded Walnut in the opening round. The Rockettes then upset No. 2 seed Iowa Christian, the regular season runner-up, to advance to the semifinal round. The four losers in the quarterfinal round drop down into a consolation round, which ICA won by beating Ankeny Christian in the fifth-place match. CAM eliminated PC in the semifinals and went on to face Exira in the championship match, which Exira won. The Rockettes were beaten by Orient-Macksburg in the consolation championship game, giving OM third place with the Rockettes finishing in fourth.

SEASON COMPONENTS: The nice thing about the playing in the Rolling Hills is that the volleyball season is broken up into four components: the regular conference season, the non-conference and invitational tournaments, the conference tournament where everyone gets a fresh start against the same opponents but the match-ups are based how the teams played during the regular season, and then the post-season playoff in the regional tournament, which determines the team that will move on to the state championship in Cedar Rapids.

At this juncture, Iowa Christian and Adair-Casey look very solid. Along with Grandview Park Baptist of Des Moines, they are the only area teams ranked in Class 1A, and all three are currently in the Top 10. Grandview Park (15-7), a qualifier in last year’s state tourney, is fourth, while Adair-Casey is ninth and Iowa Christian is tenth.

Only two central or west central Iowa area teams are ranked in Class 2A—Bondurant-Farrar, which competes against Jefferson-Scranton and Ogden in the Heart of Iowa Conference, and East Sac County, a member of the Twin Lakes along with Southeast Webster-Grand, Prairie Valley and South Central Calhoun (the alignment of Southern Cal of Lake City and Rockwell City-Lytton).

MOMENTUM: Volleyball is clearly a game of momentum, as evidenced by EG’s match against Ankeny Christian. Here the Hawkettes had already beaten the Eagles by scores of very wide margins for volleyball games--10 and 13 points--and were up two games to none in a best-of-five match in Ankeny, winning by nine points and then by four points. The Eagles had whittled away any advantage the Hawkettes had and took a must-win game three that went into extra digits (26-24). That comeback clearly gave ACA the momentum and they carried forward in a complete reversal—and then some—in the final two games winning by wide margins of 13 and 7.

A big momentum shift had hurt the Hawkettes earlier in the season. Coach Carly Tiffany told the Jefferson Herald that in EG’s opening conference match against Orient-Macksburg, the Hawkettes had taken the first game by a comfortable seven-point advantage, 25-18, but then a leaky roof stopped play. When play resumed after the delay, the Hawkettes had lost their momentum and OM took advantage, taking the next three games and the match, 25-17, 26-24, 25-18.

REGIONAL PAIRINGS: Regional pairings will be released soon and it will be interesting to see how teams are placed geographically. Last year, East Greene and Madrid were on the far eastern border of a region that stretched all the way to the Missouri River, encompassing Southern Cal on the northern edge of the region and teams such as Coon Rapids-Bayard, Ar-We-Va, Exira and St. Albert’s (Council Bluffs). Southern Cal, a highly ranked team, was placed on one side of the region and St. Albert’s, Exira and CRB, all strong teams but none ranked or ranked as highly as Southern Cal, were placed on the opposite side of the region. Southern Cal prevailed and advanced from the region to the state tournament.

Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside), the closest 1A team to the north of East Greene, along with Rockwell City-Lytton which is (or was, last year) the school just beyond Southern Cal, were in a region that stretched from a line across the middle of Calhoun (Rockwell City) and Webster (Burnside) counties all the way north to the state border with Minnesota.

The next region had a line from Colo-Nesco and over and down to Ankeny and then stretched south and east encompassing Grandview Park Baptist, Iowa Christian and Des Moines Christian, along with schools south of Des Moines such as Martensdale-St. Mary’s and teams further south and east like Moravia, Melcher-Dallas, Twin Cedars (Bussey) and Lynville-Sully.

Grandview Park Baptist was on one side of the region with Iowa Christian, Des Moines Christian and a very strong Twin Cedars team on the other. Twin Cedars beat DMC in the semifinal round, and then fell to Grandview in the region final.

It will be interesting to see how the regions take shape this year. Southern Cal and Rockwell City-Lytton are out of the picture, as South Central Calhoun is a 2A team, so that takes two 1A schools out of two different regions from 2009—So Cal in Region 3 and RCL in Region 2.

Last year, four of the 10 West Central Conference schools (EG, DMC, CRB and Madrid) were in Class 1A with the other six in 2A. Since EG moved from the West Central to the Rolling Hills, the league has just nine members this year (Ogden will leave the Heart of Iowa after this year and begin play next year in the West Central). And again this year, four of the members are in 1A. This year its Guthrie Center and Earlham dropping down from 2A to join Madrid and CRB in 1A while Woodward-Granger, Van Meter, West Central Valley and Panorama remain in 2A and DMC moves from 1A to 2A.

So there will be the DMC void to fill in that region but the next nearest team to the north and west is Madrid and due west is Earlham, so most likely one—or both—of those two teams could slide into that region (which was Region 5 last year). And last year, Guthrie Center was in 2A so they also come into the mix for Region 5 scheduling in 1A.

It will be very interesting in Region 2. Not only is RCL gone, but so is Schaller-Crestland which is in a sports-sharing arrangement with Galva-Holstein as Ridge View, a 2A school.

So some area teams might need to slide north and since Southern Cal is out of the picture then the north edge of the region would drop further down to include Paton-Churdan and also Glidden-Ralston or East Greene, as both are on an even line (Highway 30). In softball last season, in which PC shares with Jefferson-Scranton which is classified either as 2A or 3A (depending on the sport), the schedulers had to leap over PC, geographically speaking, so EG, GR, SWG and Ar-We-VA were classified in a 15-team region (regions are usually between 16 and 18 teams) that included Newell-Fonda, Alta, and Aurelia and teams in far northern Iowa like Ruthven-Ayrshire, West Bend-Mallard, Graettinger-Terrill, and Harris-Lake Park.

Volleyball does have a higher participation level however, as seven of the eight softball regions were comprised of just 15 teams, while in volleyball last year there were four regions with 17 teams and four regions with 18 teams. That resulted in a 17-team regional with a first-round game matching up two teams with the winner slotted into the top or bottom of 16-team bracket and two first-round games on both top and bottom sides of the brackets in regions with 18 teams.

With Adair-Casey well beyond Des Moines, and two ranked teams in the immediate Des Moines area, look for AC to be positioned again in Region 3, where they were last year, while both Iowa Christian and Grandview Park Baptist placed in Region 5 but on opposite sides of the bracket.

GPB could be scheduled to play teams to the east and south while Iowa Christian, being in West Des Moines, would be aligned with teams to the south, but the championship game would most likely be in the southern metro Des Moines area, perhaps Norwalk or Indianola, as last year it was in Truro, which is pretty far south but Twin Cedars reached the final opposite GPB which played its first two rounds at Martensdale-St. Mary’s, a team that was highly ranked last season. GPB knocked out MSt.M in the first round on its march to the regional championship and state tournament.

So far, teams with solid records in the area include both CRB and Guthrie Center from the West Central and Ar-We-Va in the Western Valley South—all three would most likely contend with Adair-Casey in Region 3.

EG-GR Game Highlights Homecoming Week

HAWKS TAKE UNDFEATED MARK INTO D7 SHOWDOWN

Homecoming spirit is in full force at East Greene as the Hawks prepare for a big homecoming game against rival Glidden-Ralston tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Karber Field in Grand Junction.

Homecoming 2010 got underway last Friday with the announcement of the Homecoming Court—five senior girls and five senior boys who are candidates for Homecoming Queen and King. Queen candidates are Brittanee Heaning, Tia Lowe, Jasmine Kinney, Molly Neese and Katlynn Gannon. King candidates are Zach Dearborn, Tyler Cooklin, Charlie Jacobsen, Aaron Lyons and Bret Kersey.

The football team pushed the interest in Homecoming to a higher level that night in Charter Oak with a big 68-12 win over the Charter Oak-Ute Bobcats to remain undefeated with a 4-0 mark and in a tie with Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard for the lead in District 7 8-Man football. All three teams are 2-0. GR is 3-1 on the season with its only setback a triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40, in non-district action.

Tomorrow night’s games will have a big impact on who takes the Division 7 crown this year and which of the four teams in the 8-team division will qualify for the playoffs. Besides the EG-GR faceoff, CRB (2-0, 3-1) will travel to Dunlap to face Boyer Valley (1-1, 3-1).

The theme of this year’s Homecoming is “Welcome to the Jungle: Let’s Get a Wildcat Takedown” and the spirit has been building all week with special dress up days for the high school students. Monday was PJ Day with the kids wearing pajamas; Tuesday was Opposite Dress Day, where they dress up as the opposite gender; and Wednesday was Throwback in Sports Day, where students don old uniforms.

Tuesday was also the traditional picture day for the elementary school in Rippey so it was “dress up days” for the younger grades.

All the grades got into the act today with Class Color Day: kindergarten—green; first—blue; second—purple; third—red; fourth—yellow; fifth—pink; sixth—yellow; seventh—orange; eighth—brown; ninth (freshmen)—purple; tenth (sophomores)—red; eleventh (juniors)—blue; and 12th (seniors)—pink.

The Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned tonight at a pep rally and coronation ceremony at the high school gym in Grand Junction. The annual parade is tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Grand Junction and the Homecoming Dance is Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. in the GJ gym.

District 7 Standings (District, Overall)
East Greene 2-0, 4-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0, 3-1
Glidden-Ralston 2-0, 3-1
Walnut 1-1, 1-3
Boyer Valley 1-1, 3-1
Ar-We-Va 0-2, 1-3
Woodbine 0-2, 1-3
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2, 0-4

Friday, Sept. 17 results:
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 28, Ar-We-Va, Westside 27
Coon Rapids-Bayard 58, Woodbine 27
East Greene, Grand Junction 68, Charter Oak-Ute 12
Glidden-Ralston 62, Walnut 0

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Glidden-Ralston has been a longtime rival of EG with both teams having been in the same conference together since the fall of 1976, with the exception of last year when GR moved to the Rolling Hills while EG was in its final year in the West Central. Most years they were grouped in the same football division with the exception of the early 00s, when EG was in 8-Man and GR was in Class A. Back in 1976, GR was coming off its Class 1A state championship the previous fall. Glidden has long been a football town and Glidden HS and Glidden-Ralston HS have won numerous football titles. The win tally in the EG-GR gridiron rivalry tilts pretty heavily toward the Wildcats. It’s possible that East Greene has not beaten GR since the Hawks’ playoff teams of the late 1980s.

GR switched from Class A to 8-man in 2004 and qualified for the playoffs that year, the first of four successive district crowns and playoff spots, punctuated by the 8-Man state championship in 2005. GR has never finished lower than fourth in the division standings. So GR brings a strong heritage into tomorrow night’s game but the Hawks’ will have the home field advantage and hopefully a big Homecoming crowd to spur them on. Look for GR to bring a good contingent too, as the Wildcat fans are looking to get back on the post-season trail after falling in the sub-state round the last two years.

Both teams have picked up votes in the Associated Press rankings for 8-man football the last two weeks and are among five or six teams just behind the ranked leaders.

This is another “battle of the Lincoln” in D7 as the two schools are both situated in towns on the historic Lincoln Highway. Karber Field is actually right on the historic original highway which runs in conjunction with Iowa Highway 144 north-south through Grand Junction (from Main Street) before turning west toward Jefferson at the southwest corner of GJ at the original Camp Cozy (known locally as Miller’s for the longtime Standard Oil service station there next to the Star Motel, a later name for Camp Cozy).

Hawks Blank BV 26-0; Now 3-0

EG ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM IN DISTRICT 7

East Greene blanked Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 26-0 tonight in Grand Junction to win its District 7 opener. The Hawks are now 3-0 and travel to Charter Oak-Ute next week to face the Bobcats (0-3), who lost to Walnut tonight 54-25.

Friday, Sept. 10 Scores:
East Greene 26, Boyer Valley 0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 46, Ar-We-Va 7
Glidden-Ralston 58, Woodbine 14
Walnut 54, Charter Oak-Ute 25

District 7 Standings
East Greene 1-0, 3-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-0, 2-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-0, 2-1
Walnut 1-0, 1-2
Boyer Valley 0-1, 2-1
Ar-We-Va 0-1, 1-2
Woodbine 0-1, 1-2
Charter Oak-Ute 0-1, 0-3

Next Friday’s Games (Sept. 17)
East Greene @ Charter Oak-Ute
Ar-We-Va @ Boyer Valley
Walnut @ Glidden-Ralston
Woodbine @ Coon Rapids-Bayard

Hawks Take 2-0 Mark Into D7 Opener

EG FACES BOYER VALLEY IN 'LINCOLN LEAGUE' BATTLE

Two key wins over non-district opponents Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey) give East Greene some serious momentum heading into tonight’s district opener in Grand Junction.

The Hawks can use the home field advantage to counter-act the offensive prowess of Boyer Valley (Dunlap), which has rolled by its first two opponents, 82-12 (Whiting) and 52-32 (Kingsley-Pierson). This is the first-ever matchup between East Greene and Boyer Valley in football or any other athletic contest.

Boyer Valley is in its first year of 8-man competition, dropping down from Class A where it racked up a 4-5 record and a 2-4 mark in District 8 action in 2009. BV is one of seven teams that switched to 8-man this year and so far they have a combined 11-2 record and one of those two losses was BV’s defeat of Kinsley-Pierson.

Along with BV and Kingsley-Pierson, the other newcomers to “8-ball” this year as are Newell-Fonda, River Valley (Correctionville), Fremont-Mills (Tabor), Midland (Wyoming) and Tripoli.

Last week EG racked up 336 yards and 13 first downs in beating Twin Cedars, a District 5 team, on the Sabers’ home field near Bussey. Schyler Bardole led the rushing brigade with 182 yards on 17 carries and 3 touchdowns. Tory Beger had 12 carries for 49 yards and Tyler Cooklin rushed five times for 25 yards. Beger and Cooklin split the quarterbacking duties with Beger going 3-8 for 65 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception and Cooklin good on 1 of 5 passes for 12 yards and 1 interception.

Beger and Bardole each had a big night on defense with 16 and 12 tackles, respectively. Cooklin snared two interceptions and ran one back for a touchdown. He also had a good night on kick returns with 91 yards, one of which he scored a TD.

EG is now 2-0 on the season and one of just 18 (of 65 total) undefeated teams in 8-man football.

The Hawks opened the season on Aug. 28 with a big 48-6 win over Melcher-Dallas at Karber Field in Grand Junction. The Hawks put 42 points on the board before allowing the Saints to cross the goal line. Bardole led the rushing attack with 172 yards and three touchdowns, while Cooklin passed for 99 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those were caught by Nic Nicolaisen and the other by Bardole.

EG’s defense picked off three passes from MD quarterback Robert Bingham who threw for over 2,000 yards last season. Cooklin had two of the interceptions and Nicolaisen nabbed the other. Bingham went 16-29-3 for 203 yards.

Elsewhere in non-district games, Glidden-Ralston suffered a tough triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40. The week before GR had rolled over Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines) 71-7. CRB opened its season with a loss to No. 4-ranked Northeast Hamilton, 68-27, but bounced back last Friday with a 66-25 drubbing of GPB, which is in District 5 along with Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Tonight's game features two real-deal, D7 “Lincoln League” schools, as the Bulldogs will be motoring east on Highway 30 to Grand Junction for this match-up of high schools located in towns on U.S. Highway 30, the historic “Lincoln Highway.”

Boyer Valley was formed when Dunlap CSD merged with Dow City-Arion CSD a few years back, and Dow City-Arion was a merger from a generation before that. All three towns are on Highway 30 west of Denison — first Arion, then Dow City (just two miles down the road) and then Dunlap. The next town west is Woodbine, also a member of D7 and a “Lincoln League” school and town. Woodbine hosts Glidden-Ralston tonight, creating another head-to-head “battle of the Lincoln.” The fifth LL team located on U.S. 30, Ar-We-Va (Westside), hosts CRB.

Tonight’s Lincoln League (District 7) slate:
Boyer Valley @ East Greene
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Ar-We-Va
Charter Oak-Ute @ Walnut
Glidden-Ralston @ Woodbine

District 7 Standings (Non-District Games)
East Greene 2-0
Boyer Valley 2-0
Ar-We-Va 1-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-1
Woodbine 1-1
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2
Walnut 0-2

Sept. 3 Results:
Ar-We-Va 50, River Valley (Correctionville) 20
Boyer Valley 52, Kingsley-Pierson 32
Coon Rapids-Bayard 66, Grandview Park Baptist 25
East Greene 40, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 22
Woodbine 58, Whiting 20
Newell-Fonda 46, Glidden-Ralston 40 (3 OT)
Remsen-Union 68, Charter Oak-Ute 7
Nishnabotna (Farragut) 68, Walnut 26

Aug. 27 Results:
Boyer Valley 82, Whiting 12
East Greene 48, Melcher-Dallas 6
Glidden-Ralston 71 Grandview Park Baptist 7
Kingsley-Pierson 31, Ar-We-Va 24
River Valley 55, Charter Oak-Ute 14
Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) 68, Coon Rapids-Bayard 27
East Mills (Malvern) 40, Woodbine 28
Sidney 50, Walnut 25

EG Beats PC; Ups Mark to 4-3

HAWKETTES NOW 1-1 IN ROLLING HILLS CONFERENCE

East Greene rolled over Paton-Churdan in three straight games on Thursday, Sept. 2, to up its season record to 4-3 and even its Rolling Hills Conference mark at 1-1.

The 25-10, 25-19, 25-16 win was the first head-to-head conference competition between EG and PC since 2007, when both teams were members of the West Central Conference. The two teams had met earlier this season at a tournament in Coon Rapids, where the Hawkettes prevailed in a best-of-three match, 21-15 and 21-17.

Last week’s conference tilt at Churdan saw the Hawkettes make a solid showing at the net with 18 kills in 66 attempts and 9 errors. Molly Neese, middle hitter, and Tia Lowe, outside hitter, led the charge. Neese was 5 of 21 with 2 errors and Lowe was 6 of 20 with 2 errors. Middle hitter Chelsi Wilkens had a strong showing with 4 kills in 13 attempts and two errors.

Katlynn Gannon led in digs with 15 and Neese had 12. The Hawkettes had some trouble at the service line however, connecting on just 65 of 75 for 60%, but they did score 10 aces. Jasmine Kinney went 27-28 with 4 aces and Neese was a perfect 18-18 with 3 aces.

EG opened conference play two nights earlier, Tuesday, Aug. 31, against Orient-Macksburg in Rippey. The visitors went home with the win, 18-25, 25-17, 26-25, 25-18.

The Hawkettes opened the season on a bright note on Thurs., Aug. 26, when they squeaked out a win over Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside) in Rippey that was extended by extra points in the fifth and final set in the best-of-five-sets match. EG came back nicely after winning the first set and then dropping the next two. The final match tally was 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 27-25, 19-17.

The following Saturday, EG went on the road to Coon Rapids where they went 2-2 on the day, finishing second in their pool play and advancing on to the semifinal round. Along with the win over PC, the Hawkettes downed Ankeny Christian 21-8, 21-11 and fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard, 21-12, 21-12 in pool play to advance to the semifinal round along with CRB, Adair-Casey and Iowa Christian Academy.

All matches in pool play and the championship round (semifinal and final matches) were best of three. The No. 1 team in each pool was matched against the No. 2 team of the opposite pool. Adair-Casey eliminated EG 25-23, 25-21 to advance to the championship match against Iowa Christian, a 25-22, 25-18 winner over Coon Rapids-Bayard. Adair-Casey went home with the trophy with a 19-25, 25-21, 15-11 win over Iowa Christian in the final.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The tournament in Coon Rapids offers a good snapshot on the overall volleyball season and how it might unfold in the weeks ahead. CRB has had great success in past years, advancing to state and winning a West Central Conference crown, while EG entered the tournament as the defending champs but looking at many holes to fill in its lineup. CRB was ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll.

Iowa Christian returned four starters this year, led by junior Karlie Schut, an all-district and all-conference pick last year as a sophomore, so it was not that surprising when the Blazers upended CRB in the tournament semifinals. The Crusaders were coming off a 20-10 season and a fifth-place showing (5-4) in the West Central in 2009, a year beyond winning the league at 9-0 and then winning the regional to advance to state.

The big surprise though is Adair-Casey. The Bombers tied for third at 6-3 in the RH last year, but it was pretty much expected they would fall in line again this year behind ICA and especially the combined EHK/Exira squad, considering that Exira had won the league on its own last year with an unblemished mark.

Not the case, though, as AC took the title at the CRB tourney and is still undefeated on the season at 7-0, and tied for first place in the RH.

All three teams are making their mark on the area and state. AC is ranked No. 9 in Class 1A by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union while ICA is 14th and CRB is 15th.

The irony here is that in the last few years, the Rolling Hills has typically had a ranked team in volleyball and basketball (usually Exira) while the West Central has had several teams ranked in either 1A and 2A (often both) in basketball and softball, and one or two in volleyball — usually more than the RH has no matter what the sport. And now the first year that EG moves to the Rolling Hills and in its very first sports season there — two RH teams are ranked!....and just one from the West Central. Go figure. Unlucky break or spirited challenge?

Either way, coach Carly Tiffany is doing a great job of blending her five senior veterans with younger players Wilkens, a freshman, and sophomores Tori Lowe, Brittany Gunn and Liz Gunn.

After the CRB tournament, it’s clear that AC and ICA are the leading contenders for the conference crown. The real surprise is the new super-sized Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira squad, which went winless in four matches in the CRB tournament in addition to dropping a non-conference match to CRB the following Monday. EHKE lost the 7th place match to Ankeny Christian to finish last in the eight-team CRB tournament. PC lost to St. Mary’s (Storm Lake) in the fifth place game, to finish the day 1-3 and in sixth place in the tourney.

EHKE has come back, however, to win its two first conference tilts over Walnut and Paton-Churdan and a non-conference match against AHST (Avoca).

Rolling Hills Conference Standings
(Records through Saturday, Sept. 4, Conf./NonConf.)
Adair-Casey 2-0, 7-0
Iowa Christian Academy 2-0, 5-2
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 2-0, 3-5
East Greene 1-1, 4-3
CAM (Anita) 1-1, 1-1
Orient-Macksburg 1-1, 1-1
Ankeny Christian Academy 1-1, 2-4
Glidden-Ralston 0-2, 2-7
Paton-Churdan 0-2, 1-5
Walnut 0-2, 1-8

HAWKS GO 2-0, BEAT TWIN CEDARS 40-22

FLASH! EG WINS OPENER 48-6

Hawks Vie for ‘Lincoln League’ Title

EG OPENS SEASON AGAINST MELCHER-DALLAS


East Greene opens the 2010 football season tonight with a home tilt against Melcher-Dallas. After a trip to Twin Cedars (Bussey) in another non-district game next week, the Hawks return home to open District 7 action on Sept. 10 against new district foe Boyer Valley (Dunlap).

The newly aligned District 7 could easily be tabbed the “Lincoln League” as five of the eight high schools are located in communities on U.S. Highway 30, the original Lincoln Highway. Along with East Greene, the other schools on Highway 30 are Glidden-Ralston, Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley (Dunlap) and Woodbine. Rounding out the “League” are Coon Rapids-Bayard, Charter Oak-Ute and Walnut.

Two of those other three schools are located within less than a dozen miles of U.S. 30—Coon Rapids south of the Lincoln in eastern Carroll County and Charter Oak west of Denison and north of Dunlap in Crawford County, heading along the diagonal that starts at Arcadia and heads down to Missouri Valley. Walnut is the “orphan” of the league. Located less than a mile south of Interstate 80 in the far northeast corner of Pottawattamie County, Walnut is about 40 miles due south of U.S. 30 from Vail.

Not only does D7 encompass five high schools located on the Lincoln, those five school districts among them have 10 towns located on the highway. From east to west, they are: Grand Junction, Ralston, Glidden, Arcadia, Westside, Vail, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap and Woodbine. Grand Junction, however, is the only town to lay claim to being both on both U.S. 30 and the historic Original Lincoln Highway. The original Lincoln spans a point east of Grand Junction—site of the Historic Bridges and Welcome Center—and continues for three miles through Grand Junction along Main Street and Highway 144/Eighth Street to the southwest edge of town, and then on to Jefferson and Scranton, running parallel to “New 30.”

EG vs. Melcher-Dallas

District alignment saw the shifting of Adair-Casey and CAM (Anita) to District 6 while Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, a D7 member last year has moved up to Class A. Filling the gap of those three departures are Ar-We-Va, Charter Oak-Ute and Woodbine from District 1. Boyer Valley, which drops down from Class A, was assigned to D7 making it a full 8-team league.

With the shift of district assignments, the non-district match-ups were adjusted too. EG faced Ar-We-Va and Charter Oak-Ute last year but as they are now D7 foes, EG will face two teams from District 5: Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey).

The Hawks return nine lettermen from a squad that finished fifth of six teams in D7 at 1-4 and 3-6 overall. Co-coaches Tim Bardole and Tony Beger will be looking to the six senior returning lettermen to lead the Hawks this year: Schyler Bardole, Nic Nicolaisen, Wes Onken, Aaron Lyons, Rob Ritchie and Brett Kersey. Also back is Zach Hiller, who lettered as a junior, and sophomore letterwinners Tory Beger and Reed Ostrander.

Bardole has started in the EG backfield since his freshman year and he has been named to all-district team each of the last three years. He rushed for 822 yards on 52 carries last year and scored 14 touchdowns. He was also the Hawks’ leading receiver with 24 catches for 338 yards. Nicolaisen ran the ball 23 times for 163 yards.

Coaches Bardole and Beger will look to either Tyler Cooklin or Tory Beger to handle the QB duties. They will have big shoes to fill as Tom Beger racked up 1,262 yards last season with a 78-174 completion rate. He threw 16 touchdown passes last year and scored 2 rushing TDs.

Lyons and Nicolaisen will anchor the receiving corps this year. Lyons caught 14 passes for 210 yards and Nicolaisen snagged 9 for 137 yards.

The Hawks have some key holes to fill on defense, but have back two of their top four tacklers—Ritchie and Bardole.

Both of EG’s non-district opponents are located in southern Marion County, south of Knoxville and Pella.

Melcher-Dallas: Melcher and Dallas are not a combined school district like Paton-Churdan or Glidden-Ralston, but actually one town. But they were merged. Dallas was established first in the southwestern corner of the county on one rail line and Melcher, a coal mining town, was formed on a different rail line but the towns were less than a mile apart. The distance grew smaller over the years and they basically grew into each other. The two were officially merged in 1986, but each still maintains its own zip code.

The Saints went 3-2 and finished third in the six-team District 6 last year and 4-6 overall. MD lost to Ankeny Christian 69-28 in the substate round of the playoffs. The Saints are led by returning QB Robert Bingham, one of the top returning quarterbacks in 8-man as he threw for 2,220 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. Also back is offensive end Josh Schrader, who had 661 yards receiving and 7 TDs.

Twin Cedars (Bussey): Predominantly a rural school district, Twin Cedars encompasses six very small towns in the southeastern corner of the county. The towns are Bussey, Attica, Hamilton, Tracy, Marysville and Pershing. When the district was formed in 1961 it was a merger of the existing schools in Bussey, Tracy and Attica. Attica is the most western of the towns while Bussey and Tracy are the most eastern. Tracy is almost right on the Marion-Mahaska county line and Bussey is less than a mile west of the county line.

A new high school was built in the country east of Bussey on County Road G71 across the county line into Mahaska County in 1961, as the school district also encompasses all of Jefferson Township in the southwestern corner of Mahaska. A gym was added in 1970 and a new elementary school built on the site in 1976. The school takes its name from the north and south branches of Cedar Creek that flow through the district.

TC has a BEDS enrollment (grades 9-11 in 2009-10) of 125 while Melcher-Dallas is closer in size to East Greene (81) with a BEDS enrollment of 85. The Sabers finished fifth in D5 last year at 1-4 and were 2-7 overall.

In head-to-head competition last year, Melcher-Dallas beat Twin Cedars 70-28 in the last game of the season.

Lincoln League Title Up for Grabs

With last year’s co-champs—Adair-Casey and CAM—now over in District 6, the race for the top of “Lincoln League” is up for grabs. GR and CRB seem to be getting the most attention as they tied for third last year, ending the season with identical 3-2 and 7-2 marks. Each lost in the substate round to end the year at 7-3.

GR returns much of its punishing ground game from last year while CRB will again feature its high-octane aerial attack. Senior QB Michael Schwenk passed for 2,940 yards and 53 TD’s last year while adding another 637 yards and 13 TDs on the ground.

Ar-We-Va and Woodbine both qualified for the playoffs last year as they ended up with Remsen-Union in a three-way tie for second at 5-2 (all 6-3 overall) just behind D1 champion St. Mary’s (Remsen). But all four of the D1 teams were knocked out of the substate round to their D2 competitors. It was the worst substate performance of any of the 8 districts.

Ar-We-Va loses nine players off that squad and will be in a bit of rebuilding this phase, but the Rockets are always competitive.

Boyer Valley is the mystery team, moving down from Class A where it went 2-4 in District 8, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth. Overall, BV was 4-5. Traditionally, when teams make that first year move from A down to 8-man they do very well. EG went 7-2 in its first year in 8-man in 2001 as did CRB in 2002.

When GR made the move in 2005, the Wildcats went 8-1 and won the District 4 crown with a perfect 5-0 mark. GR did not lose a district game over the next three seasons, qualifying for the playoff each year. GR went undefeated and won the state 8-man championship in 2005 and went undefeated again in 2007 before falling to Ar-We-Va, the team it beat to win the district crown, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Overall, D7 was very competitive last year as the teams went 12-3 against the other districts in the weeks before intra-district play got underway. That was topped only by District 6, which includes Lenox and Ankeny Christian, which went 13-3. D6 gets even tougher this year with Adair-Casey and CAM in the mix while Grandview Park Baptist moves over to D5.

Districts 5, 1 and 8 had the worst showings at 5-11 and that prevailed in the playoff round as those districts had the fewest teams advancing from the substate to the first round.

East Greene 2010 Football Schedule
(Game time for all is 7 p.m.)
Aug. 27: Melcher-Dallas H
Sept. 3: Twin Cedars (Bussey) A
Sept. 10: Boyer Valley H
Sept. 17: Charter Oak-Ute A
Sept. 24: Glidden-Ralston H (HOMECOMING)
Oct. 1: Woodbine A
Oct. 8: Walnut H (PARENTS’ NIGHT)
Oct. 15: Coon Rapids-Bayard A
Oct. 22: Ar-We-Va A


EYE ON GJ SAYS: Melcher-Dallas is a good first-game test for EG as the Hawks’ defense was its strong suit last year. If the Hawks can contain Bingham and his aerial attack it will stand in their favor for stronger teams that pass a lot like CRB as the season progresses.

Iowa Sports Connection has CRB ranked No. 5 in its pre-season Top 10. Northeast Hamilton from D3 is getting some attention also as ISC ranks NEH sixth. CRB and NEH square off tonight in Blairsburg in the season opener for both teams.

The online BC Moore pre-season rankings have CRB, NEH and GR at seventh, eighth and ninth. Ar-We-Va comes in at No. 20 and EG is close behind at No. 24.

BC Moore gave the Hawks some good feedback, noting that EG’s improvement over the last five years is second only to that of CWL (Corwith). EG has improved from 46th to 35th to 30th to 29th to 24th since 2006.

In the Associated Press poll released this week, NEH is ranked No. 7 at 1-0 after a season opening win over Twin River Valley (Bode) 65-6 last week. All the other teams are 0-0 as they kick off their seasons tonight. CRB is among six teams that received votes in the poll but not enough to rank in the top 10. Lenox, No. 1 in the AP poll, takes on No. 9 ranked Stanton tonight in Stanton.

The Des Moines Register poll this week has Lenox at the top and Stanton eighth and Northeast Hamilton ninth.