These Area High School Football Games Have Me The Most Intrigued

Hello people who actually read my blogs (mom). It's been awhile, but there's no better time than now.

The high school football season is right around the corner (just 16 days!). When someone asks me what my favorite sport is to cover, I answer wrestling, but there's just something about football season that gets me jacked up. Nothing like driving all over Iowa to watch/cover some really good teams and athletes. There are lots of games every night and each week there are certain games I am way more intrigued by.

Here are those games.

WEEK 1: Sergeant Bluff-Luton @ Lewis Central

I am intrigued by just about any game Lewis Central has this season, especially if TCU commit Max Duggan is calling the signals. However, that's not the only reason I am excited for this game. Lewis Central has made the drop from Class 4A to Class 3A and could be a state title contender right off the bat. They lost a handful of key pieces from last season, but they have some other really good talent besides Duggan. As for Sergeant Bluff, they like Lewis Central were a state quarterfinalist last season. The Warriors finished the 2017 regular season undefeated, but fell to Harlan in the playoffs and return their quarterback (Daniel Wright) and a 1500-yard rusher (Britton Delperdang). This is a great game to kick off the season.

WEEK 2: Audubon @ Fremont-Mills

I contemplated putting the Exira-EHK/Sidney matchup here, but this one takes the cake. Last year, Audubon rolled through the regular season before dropping a state quarterfinal to Remsen St. Mary's (who is also their Week 1 opponent). The Wheelers lost their three-headed monster of Tyler Riebhoff, Josh Lange and Nolan Smith, but the Wheelers tend to be well-coached team and could reload rather than rebuild. The first two games will be a huge measuring stick for the Wheelers' 2018 season. As for Fremont-Mills, the Knights were a state semifinalist despite not even winning their district. The Knights return basically everything from last year and the expectations are really high. 

WEEK 3: Kuemper Catholic @ Glenwood

Anytime Kuemper and Glenwood meet it tends to be fun. No matter what sport it is. We don't know a ton about these teams other than they have had lots of success the past few years, but have both graduated a ton of key pieces. I would like to applaud both teams for not pulling any punches when scheduling  non-district games. Kuemper has St. Albert, South Central Calhoun and Glenwood while Glenwood has Carroll, Bishop Heelan and Kuemper in their first three games. There is a realistic shot that both these teams are 0-2 coming into this game, but there's probably just as equal a chance they are 2-0.

WEEK 4: Southwest Valley @ Clarinda

This one might look like a head scratcher, but hear me out. These two teams have scrimmaged each other in years past, but have never played each other in a competitive game. Last year, Southwest Valley put up their best season in school history posting a 9-0 regular season record and being ranked as high as second in the state polls. Unfortunately, most of the key pieces from that team are gone but I've seen first-hand the culture and attitude that has been instilled at Southwest Valley and trust me, it's good... Clarinda finished last season 2-7. The Cardinals have made the jump down from Class 2A to Class 1A, return just about everybody and it sounds like they are going to switch to a new offense that better suits their playing style. This could be a sneaky good game.

WEEK 5: Lewis Central @ Creston

Like I said, I am intrigued by any game Lewis Central is playing in this season. Week five will mark the start of district play in Class 3A and District 9 is loaded with Creston, Lewis Central, Harlan, Winterset, Glenwood and ADM-Adel. I noted earlier that Lewis Central is probably the favorite in this district and perhaps the state, but don't sleep on Creston. The Panthers had a down year last year, but it's hard to predict the same from a program that's had so much success over the past few years. I think the Eli Loudon to Kylan Smallwood connection could be the most potent in the area. Is it enough to knock off Lewis Central? I'm not sure, but I do know that one of these two teams will begin district play with a loss.

WEEK 6: Southwest Valley @ St. Albert 

Class 3A District 9 is probably the best district in this area, but I think Class A District District 9 is a close second. There's a very good chance that Earlham, St. Albert, Southwest Valley and AHSTW all beat up on each other while we see signs of improvement from Nodaway Valley and Riverside. Last year, Southwest Valley pulled off an 8-7 stunner over St. Albert on a field with conditions that probably heavily favored Southwest Valley, both these teams lost a bulk of their production from last year and Week 6 could be a real strong indicator of how these team's seasons will play out. Will Southwest Valley prove last season was not a fluke? Will St. Albert get revenge? What will these two teams’ records be coming into this game? We will have to wait until September 28th to answer those questions.

WEEK 7: Harlan @ Lewis Central

Well look at that, another Class 3A District 9 game on this list. These two teams have met the past couple years, but have been non-district games, this year it could be for all the marbles. Harlan lost their stud Nick Foss, but they return some solid pieces including UNI commit Jake McLaughlin on the defensive side. Plus, we all know its Harlan, they don't rebuild, they reload. The real difference maker in this game will be Max Duggan (as he pry will be in most). Two years ago Lewis Central defeated Harlan 45-13 behind five scores from Duggan (1 passing, 4 rushing). Last year, the future Horned Frog left the game due to injury in a 24-14 victory over a much improved Harlan team. This might be the game I'm the most excited for all season.

WEEK 8: Sidney @ Fremont-Mills

I'm not sure if folks from these communities consider this a rivalry, but if they do, then this is the best 8-Man rivarly in our area. Fremont-Mills/Sidney almost always means something. Last year Sidney stunned Fremont-Mills en route to a perfect regular season. The Knights got their retribution by defeating Sidney 35-9 on the Cowboys home field in State Quarterfinal. As I noted, Fremont-Mills returns basically everyone and is considered by many as the favorite in Class 8-Man District 7. Sidney lost many pieces from last year including stud rusher Bryson Duncan, but the Cowboys have some big, mean, green (not really), blocking machines on their front-line that could probably even pave the way for me to rush for 1,000 yards (OK--maybe not). There is a good chance this game doesn't resemble much of an 8-Man game and could be a low scoring affair that is won in the trenches.

WEEK 9: St. Albert @ AHSTW

Seven of the nine games on this list feature a team from either Class A District 9 or Class 3A District 9. I think that means those two districts will be a ton of fun. I personally believe that it's highly likely that the Class A District 9 title could be decided in this match-up. As I noted earlier, St. Albert has some huge shoes to fill, including those of their former head coach Kevin Culjat, but I don't doubt the Falcons and you probably should not either. AHSTW lost their quarterback R.J. Harris, but they return their leading rusher and tackler (Gabe Pauley) as well as two of their top three receivers (Drake Partridge and Blake Osbahr). Every year at least one area district comes down to a last week battle between the top two teams. I think this game could be that.

BONUS: WEEK 2: Worth County (MO) @ Bedford 

I originally said one per week, but my blog, my rules and this brings the total to even 10. As Adrian Monk would say, I like the number 10.

 Before I dive into this matchup, I need to rant.

 The IAHSAA has this game listed as being played at Worth County, but Missouri 8-Man's twitter account as well as Bedford's school website have this game listed as being played in Bedford. I'm going to trust the school website and assume it's in Bedford, but maybe they are planning on playing it somewhere in the middle (Blockton maybe?). 

Anywho, I feel bad for anybody who did not get to witness Worth County last year. I saw them in person and in my opinion only the 2011 Fremont-Mills Knights could possibly beat them. The defending Show-Me-State 8-Man Champs lost their top two rushers and some dudes on the o-line, but the pieces and culture is there for a repeat. Bedford finished last season 5-4, but I have a feeling the Cooper Nally/Brennan Sefrit duo could be as exciting in football as it is in basketball. That's pretty darn exciting. 

Perhaps the part I'm most excited about is that I've never got to see an area Iowa school play an out-of-state school and we will see that in Week 2. 

I don't think it will disappoint and I hope this blog didn't either.