NOW we have a playoff field set.  That was fun, wasn’t it?  First, a couple of thoughts…Valley knows postseason football.  They gave  Fort Dodge a taste of their experience with a 45-28 road win.  Bettendorf lost to a 4-5 team at home and is out.  CR Kennedy beats the Bulldogs, 17-14.  Wow.  Pella decided to pick the right time to put it together, knocking out Williamsburg, 31-24.  Big win for the Little Dutch.  I knew West Marshall and CMB would have a tough road, but I didn’t think they would both be ousted.  West Marshall lost to IKM/Manning, 35-30 and CMB dropped a home game to Missouri Valley, 23-21.  In 1-A, district seven swept district six, with Panorama, Woodward-Granger, Prairie Valley and Manson all advancing.  Did you expect anything less from the A-P @ Emmetsburg game?  A thrilling 13-7 overtime win for the E-Hawks.  Two years in a row I can’t believe I didn’t go see this matchup.  Just for the record, the Class A bracket is going to be awesome.  There are at least eight teams I can easily see hoisting that trophy at the end.  Well, I owe West Bend-Mallard an apology.  Never doubt a team with that history.  They gave Saint Mary’s, Remsen their first loss and made it to State after a 3-6 season and some luck just making the substate.  That means Cedar Rapids Kennedy at 5-5 and West Bend-Mallard made the playoffs with “non-winning” records.  Does that bother you?  And, finally, the award for the most ‘non-postseason-like score’ goes to the Clarksville @ Preston game.  Preston won 73-0!  Yikes…

Now we go inside the numbers to compare last night’s action to last year’s information we discussed yesterday.  Kinda similar in that there were 18 teams that would not have qualified for the playoffs under the old method that managed to win and make it into the State Playoff field.  This year three #4 teams upset #1 teams, compared to two out of the 21 total upsets last year.  They were Pella over Williamsburg, 31-24, Panorama over Pella Christian, 30-25 and West Bend-Mallard over Saint Mary’s, Remsen 44-36.  Three 4A teams made it with upsets.  CR Kennedy over Bettendorf, 17-14, Valley over Fort Dodge, 45-28 and DSM East over DSM Lincoln 14-7(ot).  Lincoln would not have qualified under the old method, either, so that would have counted had they won, as well.  Now, before you wonder how I can say that since Lincoln was the #8 seed, keep in mind that the #13 seed, Sioux City East was the Missouri Conference Champion and would have automatically qualified, pushing Lincoln to the #9 spot and out of the playoff field.  Since Urbandale beat Sioux City East, there were also 18 teams that would have automatically qualified under the old method that lost and did not.  Here are the remaining ‘upsets’ which are all #3 teams over #2 teams:

Denison-Schleswig 14 Glenwood 9

ADM 20 LeMars 16

JSPC 20 Charles City 17

Sheldon 26 Pocahontas 12

Missouri Valley 23 CMB 21

Hinton 34 Griswold 14

Manson Northwest Webster 28 Mount Ayr 21

Starmont 21 Belle Plaine 7

Eddyville-Blakesburg 44 Northeast, Goose Lake 28

Bedford 30 Van Meter 27

North Mahaska 25 Danville 0

Grand View Park Baptist 24 Harmony, Farmington 22

ICS rankings note:  Only seven of David’s ranked teams from 4A to 8P lost last night, but all seven were upended by unranked teams.  Here’s the list:

4A #6 Bettendorf lost to CR Kennedy, 17-14

#9 Fort Dodge lost to Valley, 45-28

3A #7 Williamsburg lost to Pella, 31-24

2A #5 Sumner-Fredericksburg lost to Gilbert, 21-19

#7 CMB lost to Missouri Valley, 23-21

1A #8 Griswold lost to Hinton, 34-14

8P #9 Saint Mary’s, Remsen lost to West Bend-Mallard, 44-36

Also, three defending champions remained unbeaten and added to impressive overall win streaks last night.  Solon has won 37 straight to lead all teams, followed by Emmetsburg with 25 in a row and Lenox with 20.  All the undefeated teams from this season that won last night have won 10 consecutive games, but NU High, Cedar Falls is the only team with 11 straight.  Just thought you might like to know that.               

Here’s an oddity from last season’s substate field…Four teams that made the substate managed to lose all nine of their games this season.  Ogden, Alburnett, M-M-C and Riceville all have lost their last 10 games after making it into the substate in 2008.  Ogden also lost their last regular season game after already securing their spot in the substate, making their total 11 straight losses.  We’ll have to keep an eye on that this year and see if that will be common.  As for the substate this year, there are some nice matchups, but how the brackets are set up for the road to the UNI-Dome is what intrigues me.  As expected, a lot of geography goes into it, with districts being paired up with other ‘close’ districts and the 4A field being split into West and East sides, so no big surprise there.  The seeding of the 4A substate at least allows a better bracket to the UNI-Dome.  Some 1^st round and quarterfinal round games in 3A to 8P will include a lot of rematches and that’s ok, because there isn’t a high school method we can use in Iowa that will avoid that.  I would much rather see every team play squads from another part of the state that they would never usually get to play, but the travel issues and dollars involved just can’t allow it.  So you have to win a couple of games before you start to get to the ‘unknown’ factor of teams from other regions.  That’s just the way it is.  Sometimes there are highly-ranked teams that meet up in an early round and the fans clamor about it, but, again, geography doesn’t care who is ranked.  They can’t seed the whole state and let it rip, or they would have been doing it a long time ago.  We will see these matchups as usual, but remember, watching those great games outside at one school’s home field is often much better than the semis or even the finals at the UNI-Dome.  I say that fully loving the action at the dome, but great games are great games, no matter the stakes or the round of the bracket…Some 2009 focal points:  This substate offers us a nice DSM East @ DSM Lincoln matchup that assures the Metro of a city school advancing to State.  Valley, WDM travels to Fort Dodge with a chance to avenge a 24-10 loss at home to the Dodgers in conference play.  Iowa City West gets a chance to upend their chief rival, Iowa City High in the postseason, and they can’t ask for much more than that.  Heelan and Harlan are in the same bracket in 3A that would pair with the bracket containing Carroll, Ballard and Clear Lake in the semis.  ADM @ LeMars is interesting, with the winner more than likely taking on Harlan.  On the other side, Marion has a nice path even with Decorah lurking as a potential 1^st round matchup.  Maquoketa could beat them both!?  Oelwein @ Union, LaPorte City should be a good one, too.  The other bracket is going to be a test for Centerville and Williamsburg to try and reach each other.  All four games in this bracket are good…Pella @ Williamsburg, Fairfield @ Grinnell, Washington @ Centerville and Carlisle @ Clear Creek, Amana.  In 2A, just hope your team is on the opposite side of Solon.  Mediapolis drew them tonight.  North Fayette and Osage are in the bracket that hooks up with Solon’s for the semis.  Sumner-Fredericksburg @ Gilbert is a nice game in that one.  The top half of the 2A bracket on the other side has maybe the toughest combination of teams including Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, Pocahontas, Sheldon, Eagle Grove, Western Christian and Cherokee all set to battle.  On the bottom half, it will be fun to see how the district seven powers fare.  Bondurant-Farrar, West Marshall and CMB all want to move on, but IKM/Manning and Carroll Kuemper are more than just roadblocks.  In 1A, by far my attention zeroed in on one matchup.  Aplington-Parkersburg @ Emmetsburg.  Last year it was an instant classic in the quarterfinals and also happened to be the last game coach Ed Thomas guided the Falcons in.  Very big game.  That bracket will show how tough district three is.  West Branch is in the bracket that matches up with them, and Starmont @ Belle Plaine should be a good substate game there.  On the other side, West Lyon, CB ST Albert and Griswold all reside in one bracket with a tough H-M-S and a capable Hinton.  The bottom half on that side is going to come down to who can beat Prairie Valley.  Nodaway Valley gets the first shot, Pella Christian would like to make it to them for a shot, as well.  In class A, the matchups between district one and district two make up a great bracket, including last year’s champ, Southern Cal who hosts Alta.  The bottom half of this side has a bracket of district seven and district eight, which means just what it did last year…Madrid and A-H-S-T.  Could be a quarterfinal showdown again.  On the other side, The top half is heavy with NU High, Central Elkader, Wapsie Valley, Mason City Newman, East Buc and Northwood-Kensett.  East Buc @ Newman is my favorite game here tonight.  The bottom half is North Tama, North Tama and North Tama.  Please.  B-G-M could get revenge in the quarters, but let’s not get too excited.  In 8P, West Bend Mallard is back in the postseason!  But they have to beat Saint Mary’s, Remsen to advance.  Not a good bet.  In the same bracket, North Sentral Kossuth and Armstrong-Ringsted would love to meet in the quarters.  On the bottom of this side, CAM and Adair Casey are looking to derail Stanton, but it won’t be easy.  Coon Rapids-Bayard @ East Mills is a good game here tonight.  On the other side, the top bracket is pretty darn even top to bottom.  Here are the games tonight:  Dunkerton @ CWL, Corwith; Janesville @ West Central, Maynard; Clarksville @ Preston and Kee, Lansing @ Northeast Hamilton.  Great matchups.  The bottom half bracket on this side includes two heavyweights and maybe a wildcard or two.  Tri-County hosts East Union and Lenox hosts Moravia tonight.  After that, it’s probably going to be up to Ankeny Christian and Grand View Park Baptist to try and stop the quarterfinal matchup I would want a ticket to…Tri-County and Lenox.  Lots of great games tonight, and David will be all over it for the Blitz, so do the right thing and tune in. 

Tonight is the substate round in all six classes of high school football in Iowa.  Before we discuss the games, let’s take a look back at last year and see how the first edition of this ‘qualifying’ round went, and how it changes the playoffs.  The substate round is classified as a postseason game, but it is not the playoffs.  The game counts on a team’s overall record, but not as a regular season game, and not as a playoff appearance.  In 4A, the top 16 teams in the point standings on each ‘side’ of the state at the conclusion of Week Nine of the regular season move on to the substate, where they are seeded based on those point totals and paired up.  The winners qualify for the actual State Playoff field of 16 and the bracket continues on.  This replaces the old way of the top eight point leaders on each ‘side’ of the state at the end of the regular season automatically qualifying for the playoffs.  In District play from 3A to 8-player, the top four teams in each district move on to the substate where each district is paired up with another district, pitting #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 for both.  The winners advance in the overall bracket which becomes the first round of the actual State Playoffs.  This replaces the old method of qualifying by finishing 1^st or 2^nd in the district.  One distinct difference this creates is the fact that winning the district or finishing 2^nd doesn’t guarantee making the playoffs.  Lose in the substate and a team is out.  Remember, all of this was set up to assure that deserving teams had a shot of getting to the playoffs.  If there was a particularly tough district where more than two teams were good enough, or a team bounced back after early injury problems caused some losses, they would have a chance to redeem their season with the substate round.  At the risk of some ‘lesser’ teams entering the mix, the thought was that all the better teams would at least have a shot, and no team would get pinched.  It is not expanding the playoffs, just altering the qualifying method.  Since 1972 when the playoffs started, the process has been altered several times, and this is the latest version.  So, with that in mind, let’s look at last year’s substate and see how it went…

First off, Week Nine had a different feel.  There were obviously big games that determined who moved on and who stayed home, but it just wasn’t the same as before.  Good or bad, that doesn’t really matter.  The plan worked, because some bad teams made it and some good teams got there that would not have.  There were 21 teams that finished 1^st or 2^nd in their district or in the top eight in 4A points that ended up losing their substate game.  That included a bunch of 7-2 and 8-1 teams.  So you can see that the ‘on a given night’ theory was at work, but did it really benefit those ‘upset-minded’ teams?  The most notable example was in 3A, where district four champion Central Clinton was knocked off by New Hampton 15-6 at home.  Central Clinton was a 9-0 team, while New Hampton was 5-4.  Big upset or just a case of New Hampton being much better than their record?  Well, in the 1^st round of State, New Hampton lost 21-10 to Cresco, a 5-4 team as well, which had just knocked off 7-2 Union, LaPorte City in their substate game.  Was Cresco better?  They lost 21-7 to unbeaten Decorah in the quarters.  By that point, the best teams are going to make it to the UNI-Dome.  So there are two of the ‘lesser’ teams that survived the substate out of the 21 ‘upsets’ and one team had a playoff win.  How many others fared as well?  In 4A, Cedar Rapids Xavier knocked off Kennedy and followed it up with a 1^st round 27-3 win over undefeated Iowa City High in Iowa City.  That is a big win.  They followed that up with a loss to Cedar Falls, 43-6.  In 2A, Sumner-Fredericksburg was 8-1, but finished 3^rd in district four.  They won their substate game over Dike-New Hartford, 22-21.  Then, they knocked off North Fayette in the 1^st round, 14-7 before bowing to undefeated Roland-Story, 17-0 in the quarters.  This is a very strong example of a team getting their due by the new system.  Sumner-Fredericksburg benefitted justly by getting in.  But that’s only three teams out of 21.  Were there any more?  Actually, yes there were.  In class A, Alta was a 7-2 team that finished 3^rd in district one.  They dumped Algona Garrigan 31-13 in the substate and got by their own district champion, Akron-Westfield, 28-20 in the 1^st round before exiting at the hands of eventual State Champion Southern Cal, 21-6 in the quarters.  Possible justice for a 7-2 team, but that could go either way.  Still, no quarterfinal wins out of four ‘upset’ types of substate teams.  In 8-P, East Union was an 8-1 team that finished 3^rd in district six behind Lamoni and Lenox.  They used their substate opportunity to knock off Melcher-Dallas 61-42!  Then, in the 1^st round they dropped Lamoni, 38-18.  Just like Sumner-Fredericksburg, this was justly deserved for East Union.  But, once again, the quarters proved too much, as they lost to eventual Champion Lenox, 32-6.  Also, Coon Rapids-Bayard beat East Mills, 43-32 in substate and then followed that up with a 38-14 triumph over unbeaten CAM, Anita.  They then lost to Stanton, 42-17 in the quarters.  So that’s six teams that not only made it to State but won a game as well, even though they would not have qualified under the previous method.  Three of the six were 3^rd-place district finishers and CR Xavier was a 4A team that would have just barely gotten squeezed out by tiebreakers.  Cresco was the only 4^th-place team to move on and actually win a first round game, but it came at the hands of New Hampton, a 4^th-place team, as well.  What have we learned?  That’s up to you to decide, but I think this system is going to be ok as long as everyone understands it a little better.  One thing I will say is that I was against it at first, still didn’t like it when it was explained to me, was not convinced it would be a good change, and didn’t care for it as late as this season.  However, once I factored in that it is NOT a playoff game and a team has to win this round to actually get credit for making the playoffs in the official records, I started to come around.  Looking at how last year panned out in a more detailed way, I am at peace with it now.  What will this year’s games bring us?  A look at some of the matchups later…           

Did you know? That a substate win does not count as a playoff win.. And a substate loss means you did not qualify for the playoffs. Well now you do..

5 BOLD Predictions? More fun to be bold.

1 Cedar falls beats Clinton next Monday night in Clinton

2. Wapsie Valley makes it out of their quad to play in the dome

3. Dowling Catholic sacks AJ Derby 4 Times in their championship win.

4 The winner of the State Center IKM-Manning substate Game is your state runner up to Solon

5. That said, still Beware of Pocahontas and AP!

 

 

Bob you had it right in 1-A District 3..   AP needed a big win at Home.. and then as you pointed out would need a G-Center win over GR to get in!!! 

Aplington-Parkersburg 34, Denver 7————Grundy Center21, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7

Now the Falcons will face a familiar trip as they head to take on the E-Hawks and Emmetsburg Wednesday night.

Also Friday Night Casey’s presented a check at the Game to the Ed Thomas Family Foundation. Thanks to Cory Hart for presenting the Check.. and for Jan and Aaron Thomas for being there with Cory. 

 

If you made it through the substate field posts last week, then you were not surprised by the outcome Friday night and the teams that made it in.  I jumbled the order a little bit in 4-A, but had the right 32 teams.  The order bit me because of my unwillingness to check the “opponents overall records” of teams that tied with the same points and did not play head to head or were involved in more than three-team ties.  Oh well, I said it could flip-flop a little.  The districts actually went to the letter.  In 3A to 8-P, the only thing I forgot to mention was if Vinton-Shellsburg beat Central Clinton they had a shot in 3A District Four.  That happened.  Also, I left out the ‘If East Buc beats Postville” part of District Four in Class A.  It was implied, but not written.  So there, two slight omissions in all 5 classes of district play and a few order of finish errors in 4A.  We told you ICS was here for you…  Today and tomorrow we will try to stir something up for the substate round, and then we will have reactions to the games played Wednesday.  Stay close and watch ABC-5 for the Blitz.

Tons of stuff this week.. But here are the Plays of the year so far!

FOR INFORMATION ON THE AP DVD CLICK ON “TOUCHDOWN IN THE HEARTLAND” ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS WEB PAGE..

BOB DID A GREAT JOB BREAKING DOWN THE FINAL WEEK.   WE HAVE TON’S OF VIDEO UPDATES TO POST HERE…  AND WILL BRING YOU MORE AS THE WEEKS UNFOLD..     SOME MORE MADRID VS AHST..  ANKENY VS DOWLING.. CARROLL VS BALLARD.. ENJOY IT ALL

One last section of looking ahead to possible postseason qualifiers…Our journey ends in 8-player on the eve of Week Nine.

District One:  Remsen Saint Mary’s is the champ.  Remsen-Union can grab 2^nd with a victory over Ar-We-Va, Westside.  If that happens, Woodbine takes 3^rd, win or lose, leaving Ar-We-Va to finish 4^th.  If Ar-We-Va beats Remsen-Union and Woodbine loses to Spalding Catholic, Ar-We-Va would finish 2^nd, Remsen-Union would be 3^rd and Woodbine would get 4^th.  If Ar-We-Va and Woodbine win, it will create a three-way tie between Ar-We-Va, Remsen-Union and Woodbine that would be decided by points.

District Two:  North Sentral Kossuth is the champ.  The winner of Graettinger-Terril @ Armstrong-Ringsted will be 2^nd, while the loser takes 3^rd.  Laurens-Marathon could get 4^th with an upset victory over North Sentral Kossuth or a West Bend-Mallard loss to Twin River Valley.  If WB-M wins and L-M loses, L-M would have to hope for a Ruthven-Ayrshire win over Harris-Lake Park, which would forge a three-way tie for 4^th between L-M, WB-M and R-A that would go to points.

District Three:  C-W-L, Corwith is the champ.  Northeast Hamilton can lock up 2^nd with a win over Clarksville.  If that happens, Janesville would get 3^rd with a win over CAL, Latimer and Clarksville would get 4^th.  If Clarksville and Janesville win, the three-way tie would go to points to decide the order of finish.  If Clarksville wins and Janesville loses, Clarksville would be 2^nd, NE Hamilton would be 3^rd and Janesville would be 4^th. 

District Four:  Preston is the champ.  The winner of West Central, Maynard @ Kee, Lansing is 2^nd, while the loser takes 3^rd.  Dunkerton will finish 4^th no matter what.

District Five:  Tri-County is the champ and Harmony, Farmington is 2^nd.  If Tri-County defeats Moravia, and Twin Cedars knocks off Melcher-Dallas, there would be a three-way tie going to points to decide 3^rd and 4^th place.  If Moravia and Twin Cedars win, Moravia gets 3^rd and Twin Cedars would be 4^th.  If Moravia and Melcher-Dallas win, Melcher-Dallas would be 3^rd and Moravia would be 4^th. 

District Six:  Lenox is the champ.  Ankeny Christian Academy is 2^nd.  East Union, Afton would have to beat Lenox and have Mormon Trail, Garden Grove defeat Grand View Park Baptist to finish 3^rd.  That would make GVPB 4^th.  Anything else gives GVPB 3^rd and East Union 4^th. 

District Seven:  CAM, Anita is @ Adair-Casey to decide the title.  If Adair-Casey wins, CAM will finish 2^nd, but if CAM wins, Adair-Casey will need Coon Rapids-Bayard to beat Walnut to have a chance at 2^nd.  That would create a three-way tie between A-C, Glidden-Ralston and CR-B that would go to points to decide the order of finish.  If CR-B were to lose, G-R has the head-to-head on A-C for 2^nd and CR-B would finish 4^th.  If A-C wins and CR-B wins, CR-B will finish 3^rd and G-R will be 4^th.  They would flip-flop if CR-B were to lose.  Any way you look at it, those four teams are in.

District Eight:  Stanton is the champ.  East Mills is 2^nd.  Sidney can take 3^rd with a victory over Villisca.  That would provide Farragut a clean shot at 4^th with a win over Essex.  However, if Sidney loses and Farragut wins, a three-way tie between Sidney, Farragut and Villisca would go to points to decide 3^rd and then 4^th.  If Sidney and Farragut lose, then Villisca would get 3^rd and Sidney would get 4^th.  If Sidney wins and Farragut loses, Farragut has the head-to-head advantage on Villisca for 4^th.  Clear as a bell, isn’t it?                

Our substate speculation continues with a look at Class A…

District One:  LeMars Gehlen is the champ.  If Akron-Westfield beats Alta, A-W will finish 2^nd, Woodbury Central gets 3^rd, win or lose, and Alta takes 4^th.  If Alta upsets A-W, and WC wins, a three-way tie would go to points to determine order of finish.  If Alta wins but WC loses, Alta is 2^nd, A-W is 3^rd and WC is 4^th.

District Two:  Southern Cal is the champ.  If Rockwell City/Lytton beats Algona Garrigan, they get 2^nd, Clay Central is 3^rd, win or lose, and Algona Garrigan is 4^th.  If Clay Central beats North Iowa and Algona Garrigan beats Rockwell City/Lytton, there will be a three-way tie going to points to decide order of finish.  These teams are in no matter what happens.  The only question is the order.

District Three:  NUH, Cedar Falls is the champ.  Mason City Newman is 2^nd, and Northwood-Kensett is 3^rd.  Tripoli just has to beat Riceville and hope NUH, CF takes care of North Butler.  If that happens, Tripoli is in unless AGWSR upsets MC Newman.  That would forge a three-way tie for 4^th that would go to points between North Butler, Tripoli and AGWSR.  If North Butler upsets NUH, CF they are in no matter what.

District Four:  Wapsie Valley is the champ.  Central Elkader can take 2^nd with a win over Lisbon.  If Lisbon wins and East Buchanan beats Postville, then we go to the three-way tie points machine for order of finish between Central Elkader, Lisbon and East Buc.  If Lisbon and Postville win, Lisbon would take 2^nd, Central Elkader would be 3^rd and Postville would finish 4^th.  If Central Elkader and Postville win, then points between East Buc, Lisbon and Postville would decide 3^rd and 4^th place.    

District Five:  WACO is the champ.  Danville is 2^nd.  The winner of Highland, Riverside @ Cardinal, Eldon will decide 3^rd place.  If Lone Tree can upset WACO, they would finish 4^th.  In the event that Lone Tree loses, there are a couple of odd scenarios for the 4 spot.  The loser of HR vs. Cardinal would have a shot at 4^th.  If Cardinal wins, Riverside would get in if Winfield-Mt. Union loses to Danville.  If W-MU wins in that scenario, it creates a rare four-way tie that I honestly cannot tell who would win.  The head-to-head is screwy, so I don’t know if it would even get to points.  The kicker is W-MU holding the head-to-head on Highland, but that might not mean anything in a four-way tie.  If Riverside wins, it would come down to a three-way tie for the last spot between Cardinal, Lone Tree and New London that would be decided by points.    

District Six:  North Tama can win the district title with a victory over North Mahaska.  That would make BGM 2^nd and North Mahaska 3^rd.  If North Mahaska wins and B-G-M beats G-M-G, there will be a three-way tie and points decide 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd between NT, NM and BGM.  If BGM loses and NM wins, NM is 1^st, NT is 2^nd and BGM is 3^rd.  H-L-V is in the 4 spot no matter what.

District Seven:  Madrid is the champ.  Van Meter is 2^nd.  Earlham has the head-to-head on SE Warren, but they are both in no matter who is 3^rd and who is 4^th.  SE Warren would have to beat Madrid and have Martensdale-St. Mary’s beat Earlham in order to finish 3^rd. 

District Eight:  A-H-S-T is the champ.  The winner of Bedford @ Treynor is 2^nd and the loser is 3^rd.  Fremont-Mills, Corning and Boyer Valley are very likely to finish in a three-way tie for 4^th that would have to be decided by points.  This happens if Fremont loses to A-H-S-T and Corning beats West Harrison.  Very likely scenario…However, if Corning lost, Boyer Valley would get 4^th.  If Fremont beats A-H-S-T they are in no matter what.      

Pressing on, we look at 1A and try to piece together what to expect.

District One:  West Lyon is the champ.  H-M-S is 2^nd.  Hinton can lock up 3^rd with a win over Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids.  If that happens, West Sioux, Hawarden can get 4^th with a win over Lawton-Bronson.  If Hinton wins and West Sioux loses, there will be a three-way tie to break for 4^th between West Sioux, Sioux Central and Lawton-Bronson, which would be done by points.  If Hinton loses and West Sioux wins, there will be a three-way tie for 3^rd between Hinton, West Sioux and Sioux Central, which would then go to points, and again for 4^th.  If Hinton AND West Sioux lose, Sioux Central will get 3^rd and Hinton will get 4^th.

District Two:  The likely story here is Emmetsburg beats Lake Mills and wins the title.  Saint Ansgar should beat Belmond-Klemme and finish 2^nd, leaving Lake Mills 3^rd.  Fort Dodge St. Edmond could then finish 4^th with a win over West Hancock.  However, if Lake Mills were to upset Emmetsburg and Saint Ansgar still wins, there would be a three-way tie going to points to decide 1^st through 3^rd.  If FDST Edmond loses and Garner-Hayfield loses to West Fork, then West Hancock would take 4^th.  If FDSTE loses and Garner-Hayfield wins, there will be a three-way tie for 4^th, which would be decided by points.

District Three:  South Winneshiek, Denver and Turkey Valley are in.  The order of finish comes down to two games.  If SW beats Turkey Valley, they are the champs, Denver is 2^nd win or lose, and TV is 3^rd.  If TV beats SW and Denver beats Aplington-Parkersburg, then the order will have to be determined by points.  If A-P beats Denver, then TV would be champs, SW would be 2^nd and Denver would be 3^rd.  If Gladbrook-Reinbeck beats Grundy Center, they will finish 4^th.  If A-P beats Denver and G-R loses, then A-P finishes 4^th. 

District Four:  Clayton Ridge is the champ.  Northeast, Goose Lake has 2^nd place.  Starmont is 3rd.  Bellevue is in 4^th if they can beat winless Alburnett.  If the upset gods allow it, North Linn could get 4^th with a win over Clayton Ridge and a Bellevue loss.  All other tiebreakers belong to Bellevue.

District Five:  West Branch is the champ.  The Eddyville-Blakesburg @ Belle Plaine winner will be 2^nd.  If BP wins, E-B will be 3^rd.  If E-B wins, BP could get thrown into a three-way tie with Pekin and Wapello if they both win.  3^rd and 4^th would then be determined by points.  If BP and Wapello lose, Pekin would get 4th with a win.  If BP and Pekin lose, Wapello can get 4^th with a win.  Back to the Eddyville-Blakesburg loses and gets 3^rd scenario…If Pekin and Wapello both win or both lose, Wapello would get 4^th.  If only one of them lose, that team is out.

District Six:  Eight total points decided the three games between the teams that should finish tied for 1^st in this district.  Pella Christian, Mount Ayr and Des Moines Christian should each finish with only one loss in the district, and points would decide the order of finish for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.  Pella Christian beat Des Moines Christian 39-36, Des Moines Christian beat Mount Ayr 29-28 and Mount Ayr beat Pella Christian 37-33.  Whatever the order, one will be a tough road team for the substate.  4^th place goes to the winner of I-35, Truro @ Nodaway Valley.

District Seven:  Prairie Valley is the champ.  Panorama, Woodward-Granger and Manson-Northwest Webster are in no matter what happens.  If they all win, the order would be determined by points for the tiebreaker.  The best bet is Woodward-Granger will get 2^nd, Manson 3^rd and Panorama 4^th.  It would take big upsets to change that order.

District Eight:  Logan-Magnolia has a shot to win the district if they can go to Council Bluffs and beat Saint Albert.  If that happens and Griswold is upset by Riverside, Lo-Ma is the champ, CBSTA is 2^nd and Griswold is 3^rd.  If Griswold wins, then there would be a three-way tie that would have to go to points to determine 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.  If CBSTA wins, they are the champs and Griswold is 2^nd win or lose, while Lo-Ma would settle for 3^rd.  Underwood will finish 4^th no matter what happens, as they own any possible tiebreakers, and a win would keep them ahead of the rest of the teams left.                              

Onward we go, to 2A and more speculation…

District One:  Rock Valley/Boyden-Hull is the champ.  Western Christian, Hull is 2^nd.  Sheldon and Sioux Center are in win or lose, Sheldon will probably be 3^rd and Sioux Center will be 4^th.

District Two:  Eagle Grove can be the champ if they beat Cherokee, then Pocahontas can get 2^nd with a victory over Buffalo Ridge, leaving Cherokee to finish 3^rd.  If Cherokee wins and Pocahontas wins, there will be a three-way tie for first that will go to points.  If Cherokee wins and Pocahontas loses, Cherokee will be the champ, Eagle Gove will be 2^nd and Pocahontas will be 3^rd.  Humboldt can wrap up 4^th with a win over East Sac County.  Should they lose, East Sac would get 4^th unless Clarion-Goldfield forces the three-way tie with a win over Okoboji, Milford.  Then, points would determine 4^th between Clarion-Goldfield, East Sac County and Humboldt.

District Three:  Osage is the champ.  Then, it gets plain ugly.  Five teams have a shot at placing 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th.  Gilbert could lock up 2^nd with a victory over Osage, but that will be tough to do.  Not impossible, but tough to do.  If they lose, they are looking at being tied with the winner of Roland Story @ Hudson and potentially Dike-New Hartford and Central Springs, Manly, both of which should win their games against the bottom two teams in the district.  Upsets there would help clean it up a little, but that makes four teams fighting for three spots, otherwise.  The head-to-head story here is jumbled, so it would all come down to points.  Central Springs would probably be in the worst shape points-wise.    

District Four:  North Fayette is the champ.  Cascade is 2^nd.  Sumner-Fredericksburg is 3rd.  Beckman is 4^th with a win over MFL MarMac.  If Monticello upsets Cascade and Beckman loses, Monticello is 4^th.  If they both lose, then there is a three-way tie between them and MFL MarMac that will go to points.

District Five:  Solon is the champ.  The winner of Iowa City Regina @ Center Point-Urbana is 2^nd and the loser is 3^rd.  The winner of Wilton @ North Cedar will finish 4^th. 

District Six:  Davis County is the champ.  The winner of the West Burlington/Notre Dame @ Mid-Prairie, Wellman game will finish 2^nd, while the loser gets 3^rd.  Mediapolis can get 4^th with a win over Louisa-Muscatine or a Sigourney/Keota loss to Davis County.  If Mediapolis loses and Sigourney/Keota wins, S/K is in.

District Seven:  Barring upsets, we are looking at the classic three-way tie atop the district.  Bondurant-Farrar, CMB and West Marshall will finish 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.  What order comes down to points or upsets.  Albia can get 4^th with a win over PCM.  A loss will likely result in a three-way tie with North Polk, Albia and PCM.  4^th would then be settled by points.  North Polk could snag 4^th by upsetting CMB, combined with a PCM victory over Albia. 

District Eight:  Carroll Kuemper is the champ.  IKM/Manning is 2^nd.  The winner of Missouri Valley @ Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto will finish 3^rd, while the loser will finish 4^th.               

Let’s see what we have in 3A…Some given facts and a lot of guesses.  Here goes…

District One:  Heelan is your champ, LeMars will get 2^nd.  MOC-FV should beat Storm Lake to get in, and the winner of Spencer @ Denison-Schleswig should as well.  Spencer would probably be 3^rd, with MOC-FV 4^th.  If it’s Denison-Schleswig, they would probably be 4^th behind MOC-FV.  If LeMars gets upset, open up the tiebreakers…

District Two:  Clear Lake is the champ.  Charles City is 2^nd.  Webster City is looking at 3^rd and Hampton-Dumont just needs to beat Forest City to get 4^th.  If Hampton-Dumont gets beat, then the winner of Iowa Falls-Alden @ Waverly-Shell Rock would jump in to a three-way tie with Forest City and Hampton-Dumont.  If it was Iowa Falls-Alden, then Forest City would be in based on head-to-head.  If it was Waverly-Shell Rock, then it would go to the highest points total.

District Three:  Oelwein @ New Hampton decides the title.  If Oelwein wins, New Hampton is 2^nd.  If New Hampton wins, then Oelwein would get 2^nd if West Delaware loses to Western Dubuque.  If West Delaware wins, they would get second if Oelwein loses and Decorah loses to Cresco.  If Oelwein loses and both West Delaware and Decorah win, which is highly likely, then points determines 2^nd.  Whatever the order, these four teams are in.

District Four:  Marion is the champ.  The winner of Maquoketa @ Union will finish 2^nd, while the loser will get 3^rd.  Unless that loser is Union, and Central Clinton beats Vinton-Shellsburg.  Then Central Clinton would get 3^rd and Union would get 4^th.  Still, that is only if Marion beats Benton, as well.  If, in that scenario, Benton also upsets Marion, they would be in a three-way tie with Union and Central Clinton, and it would go to points for 3^rd and then 4^th.  If Union defeats Maquoketa, then Central Clinton would get 4^th with a win, no matter what Benton does, and 4^th with a loss if Benton loses as well.

District Five:  Clear Creek @ Williamsburg will determine the champ.  If Clear Creek wins, Williamsburg is 2^nd.  If Williamsburg wins, Clear Creek could get 2^nd with a Fairfield victory over Mount Pleasant.  Clear Creek would get 3^rd behind Mount Pleasant if Mount Pleasant beats Fairfield, and Fairfield would get 4^th.  If Fairfield wins, they will get 3^rd and Mount Pleasant would get 4^th with a Fort Madison upset of Washington.  However, if Washington wins, they would then take 4^th from Mount Pleasant.

District Six:  Centerville is the champ.  The winner of Grinnell @ Carlisle is 2^nd, and the loser is 3^rd.  Pella can get 4^th with a win over Norwalk.  If Norwalk wins and Chariton beats Centerville, Chariton would get 4^th.  A Chariton loss in that scenario would create a three-way tie between Pella, Norwalk and Chariton for 4^th that would go to points. 

District Seven:  Carroll is the champ.  The winner of Boone @ Ballard is 2^nd.  If Boone wins, Ballard is 3^rd.  If Ballard wins, Boone could get in a three-way tie for 3^rd with JSPC and Dallas Center-Grimes if JSPC can beat Perry and DC-G can beat Saydel, which are both plausible.  Points would then determine 3^rd and then 4^th. That might not be a good thing for Boone.  If Perry upsets JSPC, the 3^rd spot would go to DC-G and Boone would get 4^th.  If JSPC wins and Saydel were to upset DC-G, Boone would get 3^rd and JSPC would get 4^th.  Now, Back to Boone winning and Ballard being 3^rd.  If that happens, 4^th would go to JSPC with a win over Perry.  A loss to Perry, coupled with a DC-G win over Saydel, would create a three-way tie for 4^th between JSPC, DC-G and Perry.  Points would then decide which team gets 4^th.

District Eight:  Harlan is the champ.  If Glenwood beats Winterset and ADM beats Atlantic, they would finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  That would put Creston/OM in great shape for the 4^th spot.  If they beat Clarke, they just need Harlan to beat Lewis Central.  If Lewis Central pulls the upset of the year, they have the head-to-head on Creston/OM.  If Glenwood loses, Creston/OM has the head-to-head on them, so they could get 3^rd and push Glenwood to 4^th.  If Lewis Central were to win, though, there would be a three-way tie and it would go to points for 3^rd and then 4^th.  If that scenario played out and Atlantic also beat ADM, then there would be a 4-way tie that is too messy to think about.               

Week Nine is upon us.  On one hand, it is the best week of the season.  On the other, however, it makes me sad that it will be over so fast.  But we do get the postseason to look forward to, so that is exactly what I intend to do.  Class by class, let’s take a look at the way this is going to play out and see who is moving on and who still has to have a few things happen to join them.  This is all on my own.  Nothing official and nothing verified by the IHSAA or anyone who knows anything.  So enter at your own risk, but trust me, you are safe here.  All of the information presented will be based on the clearly defined qualification practices set forth by the IHSAA to establish the substate round of the postseason.  I will tell you what I believe to be firm and correct, and I will venture a guess or two about what should and could happen based on the outcome of the big games this week.  This could take some time. So I will post the breakdowns one class at a time for easier reading.  We will start with the 4A field and move on from there.

I feel like we can get a pretty good idea who is in barring any big upsets this week, but as always, anything can happen, so we still have to wait and see.  IF things go as I see them going, this would be the 16 teams from the West, in order of seeding points:  Dowling, Marshalltown, Ankeny, Urbandale, Fort Dodge, Ottumwa, DSM Lincoln, Waukee, DSM East, CB Lincoln, Valley, Sioux City East, Johnston, Mason City, Indianola and Ames.  Let’s cut this up…Ottumwa just got rolled by DSM East, but they will probably still win the Metro based on points.  DSM Lincoln and East cannot catch them unless Hoover pulls a major upset.  Lincoln should beat Roosevelt, and East should handle North.  If only Ottumwa loses, Lincoln wins the Metro.  If only Lincoln loses, then East wins it.  If only East loses, Ottumwa wins it.  Any way you slice it, these three are in.  Dowling is the Central champion and Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston and Indianola will qualify as well.  Sioux City East is the Missouri River champion, and CB Lincoln is in with even more points than East, unless a suddenly resurgent SC West can knock them off.  In which case, Lincoln would still be in, anyway.  The question mark here is Sioux City North.  If they can knock off Valley, they can get in.  If they lose, they are out unless Newton upsets Ames.  In the Iowa Conference, it comes down to Fort Dodge @ Marshalltown to decide the champion.  After that, Waukee, Valley and Mason City are in.  Ames can outpoint Sioux City North for the last spot with a win over Newton and a North Stars loss to Valley.  Ames’ big upset of Waukee just might get them to the postseason after a dreadful start.  One last gasp for a spot could be made by DSM Roosevelt.  If they upset DSM Lincoln, they could have enough points to pass a losing Sioux City North and out-tiebreak Ames.  On the East side of the state, here is what I see if Week Nine goes “as planned” based on order of point seeding:  Clinton, Iowa City High, Bettendorf, Linn-Mar, CR Xavier, CR Washington, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Falls, Pleasant Valley, Davenport Central, North Scott, Davenport Assumption, CR Kennedy, Burlington, Iowa City West and CR Prairie.  The order could get jumbled a little, but I feel good about the teams being correct.  Xavier could drop about five spots with a loss to Prairie, but Burlington would have to lose to Davenport West, letting West get in, to change anything here.  Linn-Mar is the Valley Division champion of the Mississippi Valley Conference and Iowa City High is the Mississippi Division champion, while Clinton is the Mississippi Athletic Conference champion.  Remember, these are just my home-calculations, so it could be subject to change.  It is very easy to overlook minor details when figuring points and the tie-breakers, but this should be close.  Keep that in mind as we trek on to 3A.  

There were a lot of great games Friday night, and in the interest of getting to Week Nine information, let’s just take a quick look back at some of the big games that will lend to the intrigue of this week’s games…

Fort Dodge 24-10 over Valley.  Wow.  Four losses for Valley and a 7-1 Dodger team competing for a conference title.

DSM East 44-21 over Ottumwa.  It probably won’t win them the conference, but it snaps a long, ugly losing streak on the road to the Bulldogs.  What a win for the Scarlets.

Marshalltown 44-22 over Waukee.  Flexing their muscles and staying undefeated, the Bobcats better get your respect now.

Marion 14-13 over Maquoketa.  A blocked punt and a last-second field goal kept Marion undefeated and gave Maquoketa their only loss.  The kids involved in this one will have two distinctly different memories of this classic game.  

Davis County 36-27 over Mid-Prairie.  Davis County was just keeping the district lead warm for Mid-Prairie, right?  Not so fast…Mid-Prairie had their 12-game district win streak snapped and Davis County is the top dog.

Roland-Story 19-14 over Gilbert.  Nice local game that would have gave Gilbert the second spot in the district for sure.  Now, five teams will battle for the three spots under Osage, the champion.

North Fayette 40-19 over Cascade.  #2 shows the distance between themselves and #3.

Solon 42-7 over Iowa City Regina.  #1 shows the distance between themselves and #4.  And, oh yeah, they have James Morris.

Mount Ayr 37-33 over Pella Christian.  The Eagles also had a 12-game district win streak snapped Friday night. 

Rockwell City-Lytton 12-6 over Clay Central, Everly.  Southern Cal is the class of the district, but these two teams have played well enough to win many other districts. 

Wapsie Valley, Fairbank 13-10 over Central Elkader.  Wapsie does not like teams trying to stay unbeaten.

B-G-M 33-7 over North Mahaska.  I did not see this one coming.  Totally changes the dynamic of North Tama vs. North Mahaska this week. 

Adair-Casey 36-29 over Coon-Rapids-Bayard.  AC gets a shot at the District 7 title now.

I have each class laid out, preparing for playoff scenarios, but I will double-check it and try to make sure my work is correct before posting anything.  Not much is cemented yet, but there are some pretty nice races and a lot of teams that are locks to be in the substate round of the postseason.  Its fun to look at the last week and try to guess who will make it and what has to happen, but it is always harder than it looks at first glance.  We will go over the conference (4A) and district (3A-8P) rundowns in the next post.

It is here, we are on our way to M-TOWN.. We will find out more about the Bobcats as they host Waukee.    Two pretty stud QB’s on the field tonight.  We are looking forward to it..   Bob made some good points about this game and gave you tons of other things to look for tonight.

We owe you a ton of Video.. let’s start with PCM CMB STUFF

Madrid AHST

More on the way this week..

Here is a list of the undefeated teams and the teams that are currently undefeated in district/conference play for your Friday enjoyment.  *( ) is their ICS ranking.

4A

(4) Clinton 8-0

(1) Dowling 7-0

(2) Iowa City High 7-0

(5) Marshalltown 7-0

(9) Ottumwa 3-0 in Metro Conference

Sioux City East 2-0 in Missouri River Conference

3A

(1) Harlan 7-0

(2) Carroll 7-0

(3) Clear Lake 7-0

(4) Marion 7-0

(5) Centerville 7-0

(8) Maquoketa 7-0

(6) Heelan 5-0 in District 1

(7) Williamsburg 5-0 in District 5

New Hampton 5-0 in District 3

2A

(1) Solon 7-0

(2) North Fayette 7-0

(3) Cascade 7-0

(4) Iowa City Regina 7-0

(5) Boyden Hull/Rock Valley 7-0

(7) Osage 7-0

(6) Mid-Prairie 5-0 in District 6

Eagle Grove 5-0 in District 2

Davis County 5-0 in District 6

Carroll Kuemper 5-0 in District 8

1A

(1) Emmetsburg

(2) West Branch

(3) Council Bluffs Saint Albert 7-0

(4) Prairie Valley 7-0

(5) South Winneshiek 7-0

Griswold 7-0

(6) West Lyon 5-0 in District 1

(7) Pella Christian 5-0 in District 6

(9) Clayton Ridge 5-0 in District 4

A

(1) A-H-S-T 7-0

(2) North Tama 7-0

(6) North Mahaska 7-0

(9) NUH, Cedar Falls 8-0

(10) Central Elkader 7-0

(3) Southern Cal 4-0 in District 2

(4) Wapsie Valley 5-0 in District 4

(5) Madrid 4-0 in District 7

(8) LeMars Gehlen 5-0 in District 1

WACO 4-0 in District 5

8P

(1) Lenox 7-0

(2) Stanton 7-0

(3) Tri-County 7-0

(4) North Sentral Kossuth 7-0

(9) Preston 7-0

(10) Remsen Saint Mary’s 7-0

(8) CWL 4-0 in District 3

Kee, Lansing 5-0 in District 4

Harmony, Farmington 4-0 in District 5

CAM, Anita 4-0 in District 7

 

And here is a cheat sheet for the games featuring unbeaten teams going head-to-head:

Maquoketa @ Marion

North Fayette @ Cascade

Solon @ Iowa City Regina

Council Bluffs Saint Albert @ Griswold

And here are the games featuring teams unbeaten in district play going head-to-head:

Mid-Prairie @ Davis County

Central Elkader @ Wapsie Valley, Fairbank

Kee, Lansing @ Preston

Tri-County @ Harmony, Farmington

And finally, here are the games featuring teams unbeaten in conference/district play vs. once-beaten, second-place teams:

Waukee (2-1) @ Marshalltown (3-0)

Heelan (5-0) @ LeMars (4-1)

Boone (4-1) @ Carroll (5-0)

Pella Christian (5-0) @ Mt Ayr (4-1)

LeMars Gehlen (5-0) @ Woodbury Central (3-1)

B-G-M (3-1) @ North Mahaska (4-0)

Clarksville (3-1) @ CWL, Corwith (4-0)

1A:  It’s getting dicey in District Three for Aplington-Parkersburg.  Caught in the middle of one of the toughest districts in the state, the Falcons find themselves looking for help.  Their last two games are against South Winneshiek and Denver, and they are currently 3-2 in district play and tied with Gladbrook-Reinbeck for the fourth spot.  G-R has the head-to-head, though, so A-P needs some dominoes to fall.  G-R is at Denver this week and Grundy Center next week.  In District Four, Starmont @ Northeast puts the winner in sole ownership of second in the district.  Eddyville could cinch second place in District Five with a win at Wapello, but a Wapello victory just clogs it up for a wild week nine.  Pella Christian travels to Mount Ayr to try and wrap up District Six.  A loss would mean Mount Ayr could force a potential three-way tie atop the standings if DSM Christian can get by Nodaway Valley.  District Eight gives us the 1A game of the week in Griswold, where a pair of unbeatens get together to decide the district title.  Council Bluffs St. Albert comes to town with their 25-game district win streak trying to deny Griswold from locking up a title.  If CBSTA wins, they would need to have Logan-Magnolia lose to Tri-Center in order to celebrate a title.  Otherwise, it would come down to week nine when they host Lo-Ma.  Good stuff…Class A:  Gehlen @ Woodbury Central is a chance for Gehlen to lock up the district title.  A WC win would potentially set up the dreaded three-way tie scenario including Akron-Westfield.  In District Two, Clay Central-Everly takes on Rockwell City-Lytton to decide second place.  If Rockwell City-Lytton wins, Algona Garrigan could make things interesting in week nine when they take on RC-L with a chance to jumble the order of finish.  In District Four, the winner of Central Elkader @ Wapsie Valley will take the district.  Both are undefeated in district play, with Central Elkader at 7-0 on the year and Wapsie at 6-1.  Also, the loser of the Postville @ Lisbon game will have a tough time getting to postseason as they fight for the fourth place spot in the district.  A WACO victory at home against Cardinal would cinch up the title in District Five.  Amazingly, all seven teams here are alive for the top four spots in the district.  B-G-M looks to keep their title hopes alive in District Six when they travel to New Sharon to take on unbeaten North Mahaska.  BGM has only lost to unbeaten North Tama in district play, and Mahaska takes on North Tama next week.  So we will either have a showcase showdown or a setting for a potential three-way tie of leaders next week.  Colo-Nesco @ Earlham should put the winner in the postseason, but it could get clouded badly with some upsets in District Seven.  Finally, on to 8-Player games of note for Week Eight, starting in District One.  Woodbine is in position to either hang on to the fourth spot or cause trouble and vie for second place.  If they lose to Ar-We-Va, they can still solidify fourth place next week, but a victory would put them in third place with a shot at second in week nine.  Ar-We-Va just wants to win and then battle Remsen-Union for outright second place next week.  Clarksville goes to Corwith to take on CWL with intentions of forcing a potential three-way tie atop District Two.  A CWL win gives them the title.  District Four has both ends of the spectrum this week.  At the top, a battle of two teams, both 5-0 in district play, will take place in Preston as they host Kee, Lansing for a shot at the title.  In the only matchup of its kind, we also have a battle of winless teams looking for win number one.  East Central, Miles has lost 16 games in a row since joining the 8-player ranks.  Olin has lost 15 of their last 16 since joining 8-player.  That win was last year at East Central, Miles.  Olin was 0-9 in 2007 in Class A, as well.  These teams want very badly to taste victory, good luck to both.  In District Five, 7-0 Tri-County will do battle with Harmony, Farmington.  Harmony is 4-0 in the district, and Tri-County has a 20-game district win streak, which is also the same number of regular season games they’ve played in 8-player.  Not bad.  Grandview Park Baptist @ East Union, Afton is a battle for third place in District Six that should be entertaining.  Both teams are 5-2 overall, with East Union having a one game lead over GVPB in the district.  Adair-Casey @ Coon Rapids-Bayard is a great District Seven contest that could decide second place in the district.  An Adair-Casey win sets them up with a shot at CAM and the district title in week nine.  That does it for part two of our rundown on some of the better games we will be focusing on here at ICS this week.  No matter what game you are going to, dress warm and stay under control.  Nothing is worse than cold, loud idiots causing a scene at a high school football game.  Don’t be that guy.  And for heaven’s sake, don’t be that girl!                     

For the last two weeks of the season, there are basically four types of games that I will use to decide our ICS Spotlight Games.  These only apply in 3A through 8P districts, but 4A will make sense as well, based on conference and playoff point standings.  First, we have teams that are undefeated overall or at least undefeated in district play going head-to-head.  Next are the games featuring teams contending to stay in the race for second place in their district and that home game in the substate round.  These games can also end up forging logjams and ties for first place.  In some cases, they will bleed into or overlap the third category of games which include teams fighting just to stay in the substate qualifying picture.  These games will have to be compelling for some special reason to get picked, though.  Lastly, I will always mention when teams are going head-to-head for their first win of the season.  So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some matchups for Week Eight…

There are three Thursday night games, so we will mention them all.  Council Bluffs Lincoln goes to Sioux City to take on North.  CBL can afford a loss, but North needs this win to avoid having five losses when they travel to WDM Valley next week.  Unbeaten Clinton is at Davenport Central, which has lost three so far.  Central can absorb a loss here with winless Davenport North on their horizon for week nine, but the upset would be nice.  Also, Northwood-Kensett is at NUH, Cedar Falls in Class A, District Three action.  Undefeated NUH can put the district to bed with a win, but NWK can create a potential three-way tie at the top with a victory.  Let’s go to the Friday schedule and start in 4A.  Here are my favorite matchups.  Johnston @ Ankeny, Valley @ Fort Dodge and Waukee @ Marshalltown are the best three games with DSM East @ Ottumwa lurking as an upset special.  3A:  Heelan @ LeMars.  Heelan wins District One with a win, while LeMars takes control if they win.  Maquoketa @ Marion.  Both are 7-0.  If Marion wins, District Four is Theirs.  If Maquoketa wins, they lead going into a huge week nine battle with Union.  Boone @ Carroll.  Carroll is 7-0 and Boone is 4-1 in District Seven, looking to forge a potential three-way tie, or take an outright lead if Ballard loses at JSPC.  ADM @ Glenwood.  ADM can sew up second place in District Eight by winning.  A Glenwood win would put them in that spot for now if Harlan beats Creston.  2A:  In District One there are two games of note.  Sioux Center @ Western Christian will give the winner sole possession of second place.  If it’s Sioux Center, it would give them the opportunity to play for the district title in week nine at BH/RV.  Also, Central Lyon has played in the last three 2A Championship games, but a loss to visiting Sheldon would knock them out of postseason contention.  District Four has a tight race for third and fourth place, but the battle for first and second is huge.  North Fayette and Cascade sit atop the district, both  at 7-0, and they hook up in Cascade to decide the title.  Ditto in District Five, where Solon goes to Iowa City to test Regina, a battle of undefeated teams with the district title on the line.  Mid-Prairie @ Davis County.  Both teams are 5-0 in District Six with Davis County already owning a victory over 4-1 West Burlington, which happens to be Mid-Prairie’s week nine guest.  We’ll take a break and come back with the 1A, A and 8P forecasts…                    

I have to apologize…It’s already Tuesday and no recap from Friday.  Shame.  Let’s take a quick look at the ICS Big Board and see what games made our list.  Waukee put on a display of power against Valley, winning 42-21 and reassured 4A they mean business.  Big win for the Warriors and only the second time this decade Valley has lost three games in a season.  Cedar Falls is another team with a ‘reminder’ game.  They drop Linn-Mar from the unbeaten list with a 26-12 victory that puts them back in the ICS spotlight.  No matter what, Cedar Falls will be tough down the stretch and in the playoffs.  I told you Iowa City would have a tough time with CR Prairie.  Not.  34-0 pasting for the Little Hawks over the Prairie Hawks.  Best team in the East until a team can prove otherwise.  Missouri River Conference team to beat?  That would be Sioux City East, which got by favored CB Lincoln, 30-25 to grab the lead in conference play.  Dowling continues to roll, this time blasting Urbandale 44-8 and putting a bear-hug on the Central Conference title.  Most importantly in 4A, though, has to be Newton’s 32-27 win over Sioux City West on Saturday.  A team I’ve long had a soft spot for finally gets a win in 2009 to avoid the 0-fer.  If indeed this is their last season in 4A, they will not go away without a victory.  Way to go Cardinals, I loves me some Newton!  In 3A, Charles City made the race in District Two interesting with a 24-7 win over Webster City.  Marion passed their first major District Four test with a win over Union, 37-9.  Maquoketa awaits.  Centerville grabbed the reigns from Grinnell in District Six with their big 29-21 victory that keeps them undefeated, and Carroll doubled up Ballard, 28-14 in their big showdown in District Seven.  In 2A, BH/RV downed Western Christian, Hull in a big battle for the lead in District One, 31-21.  A three-way tie for first was forged in District Seven with West Marshall’s 21-14 ‘upset’ of Bondurant-Farrar, and Albia stayed alive by slipping past North Polk, 21-20.  In 1A, St. Ansgar snared second place in District Two with a big win over Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 10-7, and South Winneshiek prevailed in a big District Three contest at the top with Denver, 34-21.  In A, a non-district tilt with a playoff flavor went to Clay Central, Everly when they beat Akron-Westfield, 8-7.  Probably going to be a good chance to see them play again in a few weeks.  Southern Cal denied Rockwell City-Lytton a piece of the District Two pie with their 28-0 conquest.  East Buc stayed in the District Four race with a huge victory over Lisbon, 7-6.  I’m sure Robert Gallery is very happy about that.  Second place is the focus in District Eight for Bedford after their 40-14 loss to front-runner A-H-S-T, but that’s not a bad thing.  Finally, in 8-player action, we saw two noteworthy games in a sea of excitement.  Remsen belongs to Saint Mary’s after their 22-13 triumph over District One rival Union, and Stanton held back East Mills 58-40 to stay undefeated and in control in District eight.  Stick with us, we should have plenty to discuss this week.  Don’t forget to check out the ICS weekly rankings in the menu to the right, and make sure you surf the site for all the great video.