Well, we’ve reached the end of our trek through 2A football for the decade with today’s entry.  These eight teams made up District 8 the last two seasons, and here are their records for your reading pleasure…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Clarinda 53-19 in 2A (one undefeated season) 8-10 in 3A…61-29 total

Missouri Valley 51-39

Carroll Kuemper 40-16 in 2A, 14-22 in 3A…54-38 total *10-game schedules in 2006, 2007

Red Oak 26-28 in 2A, 1-35 in 3A…27-63 total

Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 22-50 in 2A, 6-12 in 1A…28-62 total

Shenandoah 22-69 *10-game schedule in 2005

IKM-Manning 17-1 (one undefeated season)

Odebolt-Arthur-Battle Creek-Ida Grove 12-6

Clarinda had a very respectable decade, starting out with six quality seasons before struggling with the move to 3A, then coming back to 2A the last two seasons.  It’s easy to forget how good they were in the early part of the decade.  Missouri Valley is a huge surprise to me.  I didn’t expect that many wins for them.  Carroll Kuemper has flourished with the move to 2A, consistently being in the mix.  IKM-Manning has been very tough after the two schools combined for the 2008 season, losing only to Carroll Kuemper this season.  OA-BCIG also began play in 2008 after Odebolt-Arthur and Battle Creek-Ida Grove combined forces.  We will see the records of the individual schools from those mergers in a later post.  Shenandoah currently has an 18-game losing streak, which is 2^nd in 2A and 6^th overall.  Let’s check the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

Clarinda 44-12 in 2A (three undefeated district seasons) 5-9 in 3A…49-21 total

Missouri Valley 40-30

Carroll Kuemper 36-6 in 2A (three undefeated district seasons) 11-17 in 3A…47-23 total

Red Oak 17-25 in 2A, 0-28 in 3A…17-53 total

Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 16-40 in 2A, 4-10 in 1A…20-50 total

Shenandoah 14-56

IKM-Manning 13-1 (one undefeated district season)

OA-BCIG 8-6

Clarinda was very strong in 2A district play, and enjoyed a 12-8 non-district record overall for the decade.  Since coming to 2A, though, Carroll Kuemper has been red hot.  They are 31-4 in district play the last five seasons combined.  Missouri Valley is right there again, chugging along nicely.  IKM-Manning and OA-BCIG are a combined 8-0 in non-district games since each programs inception.  Shenandoah has dropped 14 straight district games since defeating Red Oak, 42-0 in 2007.  Speaking of Red Oak, that is not a misprint.  1-35 overall in 3A, and 0-28 in 3A district games.  Not good.  2A has been much kinder to them.  Here are the postseason numbers…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, years qualified

Clarinda x-x, 7-5, 5 (two semifinals)

Carroll Kuemper 1-1, 3-5, 5 (one semifinal)

Missouri Valley 2-0, 1-3, 3

IKM-Manning 2-0, 4-2, 2 (two semifinals)

OA-BCIG 1-0, 0-1, 1

MV-A-Oto 0-1

Not a very substantial amount of appearances, but five semifinal births isn’t bad.  Clarinda did all their damage before 2006, making the playoffs five of the first six years in the decade.  IKM-Manning has been great so far in 2A, with two straight semis after  combining the two former powerhouse Class A programs.  Carroll Kuemper has also fared well, making the playoffs five of the last six years, with only a 2008 substate loss in the way of six for six since moving to 2A.  They also started the decade with a 7-2 mark in 3A, but failed to qualify.  Bad luck, but not as bad a Missouri Valley and Red Oak.  I mentioned how I was surprised about Missouri Valley’s overall record, but maybe even more surprising is the fact that they have only made the playoffs three times in the decade with two coming in the last two seasons.  It could have been four, but they somehow failed to qualify in 2000 with an 8-1 record.  That’s tough.  Maybe Red Oak has them beat for extended frustration, though.  After winning only one game total in four seasons of 3A to start the decade, Red Oak moved to 2A and reeled off three straight 7-2 seasons.  Fantastic turnaround, only they failed to make the playoffs each time!  They have since returned to tough times, going 5-22 the past three years.  Ouch.  Hey, at least they had three winning seasons in the decade.  Shenandoah unfortunately had none, winning four games three times for a high mark.

Well, that’s all for 2A.  Technically, we are half way home with our review of the decade, with 1A, A and 8-P left to sift through.  However, we will have an extra section covering the teams that weren’t the same for the entire decade, due to mergers, closings, consolidations, etc…Keep checking back.    

We’re all the way up to the teams that made up 2A District 7 the past two seasons.  As a helpful reminder, we are tracking the records of all the high school football teams in Iowa for the decade, 2000-2009.  We press on today with some local schools for the ICS area…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Prairie City-Monroe 62-28

Collins-Maxwell-Baxter 55-35

West Marshall 37-17 in 2A, 20-16 in 1A…57-33 total

Bondurant-Farrar 37-53

North Polk 26-46 in 2A, 14-4 in 1A…40-50 total

Albia 23-49 in 2A, 5-12 in 3A…28-61 total (8-game schedule in 2000)

East Marshall 16-38 in 2A, 20-16 in 1A…36-54 total

Colfax-Mingo 9-27 in 2A, 29-25 in 1A…38-52 total (one undefeated season in 1A)

Wow, what to make of this…?  Looks like PCM had a nice decade, and West Marshall and CMB didn’t do so bad, either.  But, not one single undefeated 2A season between the eight schools?  Only Colfax-Mingo’s great 2003 regular season in 1A stands alone in this grouping.  Very odd.  Let’s look at the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

PCM 48-22 (one undefeated district season)

CMB 42-28

West Marshall 32-10 in 2A (two undefeated district seasons) 16-12 in 1A…48-22 total

Bondurant-Farrar 28-42

North Polk 21-35 in 2A, 12-2 in 1A…33-37 total

Albia 21-35 in 2A, 3-10 in 3A…24-45 total (6-game district schedule in 2000)

East Marshall 10-32 in 2A, 14-14 in 1A…24-46 total

Colfax-Mingo 4-24 in 2A, 20-21 in 1A (one undefeated district season in 1A) *6-game district schedule in 1A in 2003…24-45 total

Nothing fancy here, just some decent seasons by West Marshall and PCM, as well as CMB and BF doing really well the last two seasons.  CMB and WM both only had two losing district records for the decade.  PCM enjoyed a 14-6 non-district record, while Colfax-Mingo racked up a surprising 14-7 non-district tally, the extra game coming in 2003, when their 1A district only had seven teams.  North Polk and Albia having the same record in 2A really surprised me.  I would have guessed NP would be way ahead of the Blue Demons, but I would have been wrong unless you figure in their non-2A seasons.  Let’s see how the postseason treated these teams…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, years qualified

PCM 0-2, 4-4, 4 (two semifinals)

West Marshall 1-1, 1-3, 3 in 2A, x-x, 0-1, 1 in 1A

CMB 0-2, 1-1, 1

North Polk x-x, 0-1, 1 in 2A, x-x, 0-2, 2 in 1A

Bondurant-Farrar 1-1, 0-1, 1

Albia x-x, 0-1, 1

Colfax-Mingo x-x, 0-1, 1 in 1A

Well, PCM made it to the UNI-Dome in back-to-back seasons (2005, 2006) and that pretty much covers it.  West Marshall only making the playoffs four times in a decade and only winning one game is surprising, as good as they always are.  I thought CMB had more playoff appearances, as well.  They did get to play a quarterfinal game in the UNI-Dome, though.  Bondurant-Farrar finally broke through in 2009 after two 7-2 seasons in the decade without a bid.  CMB and PCM also each had a 7-2 season where they failed to qualify, and both have lost two substate games in a row.  Tough luck in 2003 for that magical 9-0 season Colfax-Mingo put together in 1A…The dream ended with a 12-7 setback in the first round to BCLUW.  Nothing against the fine PCM program, but I liked the Prairie City Plainsmen and Monroe Wildcats days of the distant past.  I’m an old DMRC guy.      

Up next is District Six in 2A.  On the surface, this looks like a fairly bland grouping of schools, but when you put the totals together, it becomes much more impressive.  Not a bad showing when five of the eight schools are above water.  Let’s look at the numbers for the decade…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Sigourney/Keota 70-20 (three undefeated seasons)

West Burlington-Notre Dame 60-30

Mid-Prairie, Wellman 60-30

Davis County 47-25 in 2A, 3-15 in 3A…50-40 total

Mediapolis 46-44

Columbus Junction 15-39 in 2A, 15-21 in 1A…30-60 total

Central Lee, Donnellson 13-41 in 2A, 2-25 in 3A…15-66 total

Louisa-Muscatine 12-78

You have to be good if your mascot is a Savage Cobra…It’s fitting that S/K has managed to get to 70 wins for the decade.  They belong in our ‘elite’ group with what they’ve accomplished since 2000.  Only one losing season in that time and a brilliant run at the UNI-Dome, which we will get to shortly.  West Burlington and Mid-Prairie have been very steady and good.  We haven’t seen very many schools with 60+ wins residing in the same district so far, but here are three.  Davis County at 50 wins is news-worthy as well.  Tough sledding for Louisa-Muscatine and Central Lee.  Here are the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

Sigourney/Keota 57-13 (four undefeated district seasons)

Mid-Prairie 52-18 (two undefeated district seasons)

West Burlington 48-22

Davis County 37-19 in 2A, 1-13 in 3A…38-32 total

Mediapolis 32-38

Central Lee 10-32 in 2A, 0-21 in 3A

Columbus Junction 9-33 in 2A, 10-18 in 1A…19-51 total

Louisa-Muscatine 4-66

Six of those 13 losses for S/K came in just the last two district seasons, and they only had two losses from 2000-2005.  A very nice decade for S/K.  Mid-Prairie has been consistently good in district play.  Six one-loss or undefeated seasons in district play, and only one sub-.500 year.  West Burlington had six one-loss or two-loss seasons, as well.  Not bad.  Davis County struggled in 3A during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but did quite well in 2A.  Speaking of struggling in 3A, Central Lee began their playing days in 3A, but never won a district game until moving to 2A.  0-for-21 put them in a big hole.  Along with Columbus Junction and Louisa-Muscatine, these schools have not reached .500 in any season of the decade, district or overall.  Louisa-Muscatine’s four district wins came in four different seasons, so all ten years were brutal for them.  On a positive note, Mediapolis sported a 14-6 non-district record.  Let’s get a feel for the postseason results…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, years qualified

Sigourney/Keota 0-1, 13-5, 7 (four semifinals, two finals, TWO TITLES 2001, 2005)

Mid-Prairie 2-0, 4-6, 6

Davis County 1-1, 0-2, 2

West Burlington 0-2, 0-2, 2

Mediapolis 0-1, 0-1, 1

Now, other than Sigourney/Keota, this really surprised me.  The lack of playoff appearances and/or success enjoyed by these teams after having so many good regular seasons just baffles me.  Mid-Prairie has lost four times in the quarters, and nine other playoff runs ended with first round losses.  Two of those belonged to S/K, but they fared much better in their other appearances.  Four UNI-Dome visits ended with two trophies being hoisted for the Savage Cobras, one in 2001 after downing Sheldon, 27-24, and the other to end the 2005 season, beating Dike-New Hartford, 27-14.  S/K had great players, a very hard to prepare for offensive scheme, and Bob Howard running the show during their heyday.  A very great team, indeed, and they were fun to watch.      

Today’s entry shows the records from 2000-2009 of the teams that combined to form 2A District Five the last two seasons.  But there’s much more going on here than just that.  This is a very interesting grouping of teams with a lot of different dynamics.  Success and struggle in equal portions for the top and the bottom, and some fairly decent winning amongst the middle teams…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Solon 80-10 (six undefeated seasons)

Wilton 54-36 (one undefeated season)

Center Point-Urbana 51-39

Tipton 41-31 in 2A (one undefeated season), 11-7 in 1A…52-38 total

West Liberty 40-32 in 2A, 4-14 in 3A…44-46 total

North Cedar, Stanwood 24-48 in 2A, 8-10 in 1A…32-58 total

Camanche 18-74 *two ten-game seasons 2006, 2007

Iowa City Regina 16-2 in 2A, 50-21 in 1A (one undefeated season)…66-23 total *one eight-game season 2004

Solon is in the middle of one of the most impressive stretches of high school football in the history of the state of Iowa.  Plain and simple.  The Spartans are riding a string of excellence that is not limited to just this past decade, but it certainly has reached new heights during the last ten seasons.  2001 and 2004 are the only seasons of the decade in which Solon lost more than one game.  They were 7-2 in 2004, and an uncharacteristic 3-6 in 2001.  Eighty-plus wins in a decade is in our Uber-Elite Club, so congratulations to Solon.  They are currently on a 41-game win streak, the best by far in the State.  They have won 28 consecutive regular season games, as well.  That is good for second most in the state, and leads all of 2A.  They are 68-4 since the end of the 2001 season.  Wow.  Equally “impressive” and somewhat disturbing, Camanche has lost their last 37 games in a row and 46 of their last 47…Ouch.  Amazingly, that is only the second longest current skid in the state, but it tops 2A by far.  Their last win was against 1A Preston/East Central in Week “Zero” of 2006.  P/EC was a 0-9 team that season that needed Camanche to fill their schedule.  The extra game for Camanche got them off to a good start that year, after a 0-9 season in 2005.  So, it could be 47 losses in a row had they not knocked off P/EC.  Iowa City Regina was a 1A team until the last two years, but they are doing great, losing only to Solon both years.  Regina hasn’t lost more than two games in a season since 2002.  Wilton, Center Point-Urbana and Tipton have done rather well, and West Liberty was above water in 2A competition.  Let’s see the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

Solon 63-7 (seven undefeated district seasons)

Center Point-Urbana 46-24

Wilton 43-27 (three undefeated district seasons)

Tipton 31-25 in 2A (one undefeated district season), 10-4 in 1A…41-29 total

West Liberty 30-26 in 2A, 3-11 in 3A…33-37 total

North Cedar 17-39 in 2A, 6-8 in 1A…23-47 total

Camanche 13-57

Iowa City Regina 12-2 in 2A, 41-14 in 1A (one undefeated district season)…53-16 total *one 6-game district season 2004

63-7…That’s just amazing.  Seven losses in district play in a decade.  Seven undefeated district seasons!  They are 34-1 in the last five seasons, 53-3 the last eight.  They have a 22-game district win streak right now, tops in 2A.  Top it off with a 17-3 non-district record for the decade.  They are pulling a “Harlan” on the rest of 2A.  Center Point-Urbana had a decent district record, but a 5-15 non-district total kept them down.  Wilton had their three undefeated district seasons all in a row.  They had a nice run from 2004 (6-1) to 2008 (5-2), with the three 7-0 seasons in the middle.  Other than their 7-0 district record in 2007, Iowa City Regina has had only one district loss in each of the other six seasons dating back to 2003.  And then there’s Camanche…They have not picked up a district win since the 2004 season.  Five years of futility.  Let’s all hope 2010 is the year this madness comes to an end.  On to the postseason…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, years qualified

Solon 2-0, 23-5, 8 (six semifinals, six finals, THREE TITLES 2007, 2008, 2009)

Iowa City Regina 2-0, 1-2, 2 in 2A…x-x, 9-3, 4 in 1A (three semifinals, two finals, ONE TITLE IN 1A 2005)

Center Point-Urbana 0-1, 1-3, 3

Tipton 0-1, 1-3, 3 in 2A…x-x, 0-1, 1 in 1A

Wilton 1-0, 0-5, 5

North Cedar 0-1

Solon has won the last three 2A state championships and played in the last four.  They have won 12 consecutive playoff games and 14 straight postseason games, counting substate.  They are 15-1 in the playoffs from 2006-2009.  Six finals appearances in the decade pencil the Spartans in the history books.  Heck, lose the pencil and use a permanent marker.  They are the only 2A team to win three in a row, and one of three total teams in all classes to accomplish the feat.  Their seniors this season played in eight UNI-Dome playoff games in their careers, and only experienced 2 losses in 54 total games.  Coach Ed Hansen was in charge of that 2000 team that made the finals before losing to Emmetsburg, 21-3.  That was his 13^th playoff team at Solon, and last.  Kevin Miller, his quarterback on the 1988 state champion team, took over the helm and has guided the Spartans to seven playoffs and five finals.  Truly amazing.  Iowa City Regina did their playoff damage in 1A during the decade.  From 2003 to 2007, they were one of the toughest 1A programs in the state.  They reached the semis in 2004 before knocking off Algona-Garrigan, 19-8 to win the 2005 1A title.  They almost nabbed another trophy in 2007, losing to Council Bluffs Saint Albert, 7-6 in the final game.  10-5 in the playoffs for the decade is not a bad record.  From 2004 through 2008, Wilton won and won and won.  Only, once they got to the playoffs, they went one-and-done…Five straight times.  West Liberty somehow managed not to qualify once during the decade, despite four seasons with six or more wins.     

2A District Four is our subject today.  There are some interesting teams here, and in the last two seasons, the order of finish has been identical.  In fact, only one game between North Fayette and Sumner-Fredericksburg had a different outcome in district games between all eight teams.  Here are the numbers…

Overall Regular Season Record:

North Fayette 77-13 (five undefeated seasons)

Monticello 53-37

Dyersville Beckman 49-41

Cascade 40-52 *played an extra game in 2006, 2007

Sumner-Fredericksburg 30-24

Waterloo Columbus 25-29 in 2A, 14-22 in 3A…39-51 total

Jesup 20-34 in 2A, 7-29 in 1A…27-63 total

MFL, Mar-Mac 20-70

North Fayette had a great decade.  A fantastic decade…They have only lost two regular season games since the end of the 2003 season and they have won seven or more games eight times in the decade.  Sumner-Fredericksburg started play in 2004, when both schools combined.  We will see their individual efforts later on.  Jesup has only won eight games since an 8-1 season in 2003, five of them coming in 2004.  Let’s see the district totals…

Overall District Record:

North Fayette 64-6 (seven undefeated district seasons)

Dyersville Beckman 44-26

Monticello 36-34

Cascade 29-41

Sumner-Fredericksburg 22-20

Waterloo Columbus 18-24 in 2A, 11-17 in 3A…29-41 total

Jesup 15-27 in 2A, 5-23 in 1A…20-50 total

MFL, Mar-Mac 12-58

North Fayette has really pulled away from the pack here.  That is an impressive league tally.  Only one district loss since 2003 and that was a one-point loss to Sumner-Fredericksburg.  North Fayette was the only team to have an undefeated district season, however, every team except MFL had at least one 6-1 district season.  Monticello sported a lofty 17-3 non-district record for the decade.  Postseason numbers coming right up…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, Playoff record, years qualified

North Fayette 2-0, 12-8, 8 (five semifinals)

Waterloo Columbus x-x, 4-1, 2 (one semifinal, one final, ONE TITLE 2004)

Sumner-Fredericksburg 1-1, 1-2, 2

Dyersville Beckman 0-2, 0-2, 2

Cascade 1-1, 0-1, 1

Jesup x-x, 0-1, 1

Again, North Fayette is the focus here, with 20 playoff games for the decade.  FIVE semifinal appearances, yet no title games.  That has to be a burr in their saddle.  However, lots of teams would gladly trade places with them, I’m sure.  They have lost three times in the playoffs to Solon since 2006, but they did hand the Spartans their last non-title game playoff loss in the 2005 quarters.  They also played in a game that ICS will never forget, a 42-7 semifinal loss to Williamsburg in 2002.  Dustyn Baethke had 393 yards rushing for the Raiders, a postseason record at the time.  In one of the most improbable of title runs for the decade, Waterloo Columbus brought home the 2A hardware in 2004 after a lackluster 6-3 regular season.  It still baffles me how they got it done, but it was an amazing feat.  They downed Gilbert 41-0 in the final.  But the biggest mystery here is Monticello.  They only had two losing seasons for the decade, the impressive 17-3 non-district record mentioned before, two 6-3 seasons, two 7-2 seasons and a great 8-1 campaign, yet they failed to qualify for the playoffs even once.  How?  The 8-1 season was 2006, when they finished in a three-way tie in District Five at the top with Solon and Dyersville Beckman.  They lost to Beckman, but beat Solon (25-18 on October 20…Solon’s last regular season loss, by the way) Monticello had a higher point total than Beckman, but got edged out because the first tie-breaker is points, which Solon had the highest total of.  Then it went back to head-to-head, and Monticello was out.  Ouch.     

2A District Three was stable and competitive the last two seasons, but the teams that made it up were much like the teams we discussed in the last post about 2A District Two.  Lots of movement, new schools formed from combining and not a ton of postseason action.  Let’s break it down and see what we’ve got…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Roland-Story 59-31 (one undefeated season)

Osage 48-42 (one undefeated season)

Gilbert 39-51

Hudson 29-43 in 2A, 0-18 in 1A…29-61 total

Dike-New Hartford 26-10 in 2A (one undefeated season in 2A), 36-18 in 1A (one undefeated season in 1A)…62-28 total

South Hardin 18-18

South Hamilton 7-11 in 2A, 43-29 in 1A…50-40 total

Central Springs, Manly 4-14 in 2A, 1-8 in A

Ok…Dike-New Hartford and South Hamilton played a lot of 1A football for the decade, and Hudson played two 0-9 seasons in 1A, so there was some movement.  Central Springs formed in 2007 when North Central, Manly and Nora Springs-Rock Falls combined, and South Hardin represents the merger between Hubbard-Radcliffe and Eldora-New Providence since 2006.  We will, as usual, get to those schools later.  Roland-Story was consistent and good for the majority of the decade, adding to their rich football tradition.  Let’s look at the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

Roland-Story 49-21 (two undefeated district seasons)

Osage 39-31 (one undefeated district season)

Gilbert 26-44

Dike-New Hartford 22-6 in 2A (one undefeated district season in 2A), 30-12 in 1A (one undefeated district season in 1A)…52-18 total

Hudson 19-37 in 2A, 0-14 in 1A…19-51 total

South Hardin 14-14  

South Hamilton 4-10 in 2A, 32-24 in 1A…36-34 total

Central Springs, Manly 3-11

Roland-Story and Dike-New Hartford have done well in district play, but the rest were just so-so.  Gilbert had the best non-district record, at 13-7, but look at South Hardin…18-18 overall, 14-14 in district play and 4-4 in non-district games.  That, as Yogi Berra might say, is playing .500 ball 100% of the time.  To the postseason we go…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, number of appearances

Dike-New Hartford 0-1, 4-2, 2 (one semifinal, one final) in 2A, x-x, 3-2, 2 (one semifinal) in 1A

Gilbert 2-0, 3-4, 4 (one semifinal, one final)

Roland-Story 1-1, 2-4, 4 (one semifinal)

South Hamilton x-x, 1-2, 2 in 1A

Osage 1-1, 1-1, 1

Not very extensive, but there were two finals appearances by Dike-New Hartford and Gilbert.  Osage, Roland-Story, Dike-New Hartford and South Hamilton all had a 7-2 season in which they failed to make the playoffs.  Central Springs was essentially a 2A school playing A football in 2007, so they were ineligible to qualify for the playoffs.  At 1-8, it didn’t matter, though.  

Happy New Year, and all that…Our focus hasn’t and won’t change here.  We are locked in on Iowa High School Football.  Today we pick up our look back on the football decade 2000-2009 with the teams that made up 2A District Two the past two seasons.  What a mess.  This is a collection of teams that were subject to many changes and movement from class to class.  Bear with me as I try to decipher just what went on here.  The only clean and easy part is the 2008 and 2009 seasons.  Here are the schools and their stories…

Overall Regular Season Record:

Eagle Grove 48-42

Cherokee 40-32 in 2A, 8-10 in 3A…48-42 total

Clarion-Goldfield 37-35 in 2A, 3-15 in 1A…40-50 total

Pocahontas Area/Pomeroy-Palmer 35-19 in 2A (13-5 as PA/P-P in 2008, 2009) (22-14 as PA 2000-2003), 21-15 in 1A as PA 2004-2007…56-34 total

Okoboji, Milford 26-46 in 2A, 11-5 in 8-player, 2000-2001

East Sac 17-19

Humboldt 4-14 in 2A, 36-36 in 3A…40-50 total

Buffalo Ridge 4-16

Wow.  Eagle Grove is the only team here to play in 2A all ten years.  Lots of movement and changes, and no team had an undefeated season.  Not a lot of winning going on here, either.  Humboldt spent the first eight seasons of the decade in 3A, and has struggled the past two in 2A.  East Sac has only been a program since 2006, when Sac City and Wall Lake View Auburn combined.  Those schools will be discussed on their own in a later post.  Buffalo Ridge also is a fairly new program.  They have played the past two seasons after Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland combined.  They also managed to play two 10-game schedules.  Pocahontas picked up Pomeroy-Palmer for the 2008 season.  P-P played together from 2002-2007, and Pomeroy was by itself in 2000-2001.  We will see them later.  Okoboji, Milford is the first team we have seen to this point that emerged from the eight-player game, where they got started in 2000 and 2001.  On to the district numbers…

Overall District Record:

Eagle Grove 35-35 (one undefeated district season)

Cherokee 33-24 in 2A, 7-7 in 3A…40-31 total *(8-game district schedule in 2002)

Pocahontas Area/Pomeroy-Palmer 27-15 in 2A (11-3 as PA/P-P in 2008-2009) (16-12 as PA 2000-2003), 19-9 in 1A as PA 2004-2007 (one undefeated district season in 1A)…46-24 total

Clarion-Goldfield 26-30 in 2A, 3-11 in 1A…29-41 total

Okoboji, Milford 18-38 in 2A, *no district record in eight-player, not eligible for playoffs

East Sac 15-13

Humboldt 4-10 in 2A, 28-28 in 3A (one undefeated district season in 3A)…32-38 total

Buffalo Ridge 1-13

Not much excitement here.  Only Eagle Grove had a decent non-district record (13-7) and a clean district season in 2A competition (2009).  That should indicate that the postseason story will be a short one.  Let’s find out…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record:

Substate record, playoff record, years qualified

Okoboji, Milford 1-0, 1-1, 1

Cherokee 0-2, 0-1, 1 in 2A, x-x, 0-1, 1 in 3A

Clarion-Goldfield x-x, 0-1, 1

Eagle Grove 1-1, 0-2, 2

Humboldt x-x, 4-1, 2 in 3A (one semifinal, one final, ONE TITLE in 3A 2006)

Pocahontas Area/Pomeroy-Palmer 0-2 in 2A, x-x, 1-1, 1 in 1A

One.  One playoff victory in 2A between eight teams for the decade.  Not good.  Now, granted, Humboldt hoisted a trophy, but that was in 3A.  And, it was a remarkable, tough team that was fun to watch, but it was 3A.  They beat Clear Lake, 27-9, for the record.  Okoboji won a first-round game in 2008, 21-17 over Unity Christian before dropping their quarterfinal bout with Central Lyon/GLR, 28-7.  That’s pretty much it for these teams.  In fairness, Pocahontas won a 1A game in 2005, and had two 7-2 seasons and one 6-3 season in 1A that were not playoff teams.  Let’s just move on…