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