Continuing our look back, we have the Missouri River Conference schools today.  This conference has had it rough in the last decade.  No team has made it past the quarterfinals of the playoffs and no team has a winning postseason record.  Basically, these teams travel a lot and win very little.  Only Sioux City Heelan had a winning record in non-conference games, going 16-8 from 2000 through 2005.  The other five teams had a combined 64-156 non-conference record for the decade.  Sioux City Heelan opted out of 4A and went down to 3A starting in the 2006 season.  When we look at the numbers, it’s easy to see why the rest of the conference was happy to see them go…

Overall Regular Season Record 2000-2009:

Sioux City Heelan 76-14 (45-9 in 4A 2000-2005) (31-5 in 3A 2006-2009)

Sioux City East 48-42

Sioux City North 43-47

Council Bluffs Lincoln 38-52

Council Bluffs Jefferson 24-66

Sioux City West 12-78

…Heelan had an undefeated season in 4A and an undefeated season in 3A, but no other school managed to do it.  In fact, only Sioux City East in 2005 went 8-1.  They also went 7-2 in 2001 and 2000.  Sioux City North was the only other school to have a 7-2 season, in 2007.

Conference Record 2000-2009:

Sioux City East 30-16 (two undefeated conference seasons)

Sioux City Heelan 29-1 (five undefeated conference seasons)

Council Bluffs Lincoln 25-21

Sioux City North 24-22 (one undefeated conference season)

Council Bluffs Jefferson 15-31 (one undefeated conference season)

Sioux City West 7-39

…Yes, the four non-Heelan undefeated conference seasons came AFTER Heelan departed for 3A.  Heelan went 5-0 in 2000 conference play before dropping their only Missouri Conference loss of the decade, a 2001 loss to Sioux City East.  Heelan then rolled off four straight undefeated conference seasons to say goodbye to the Missouri River Conference and 4A.  Oh by the way, they have a 26-2 record in 3A District play.  In that first year of playing 3A, Heelan lost district games to LeMars and Spencer to finish 5-2 in District One.  They were 21-0 in district games to finish out the decade.

Now for the playoff records…

Not much to talk about here.  It has been very tough for teams to qualify out of the Missouri River Conference unless they win it.  That was an automatic ticket before the advent of the substate round.  Now, a team has a better chance of qualifying for substate, giving more teams from the conference a shot at the playoffs.  But they haven’t taken advantage of it yet.  The conference has a combined 0-5 record in the two seasons of substate play, so they have actually failed to advance a team to the playoffs since 2007.  Not that it has hindered their winning playoffs ways.  The teams combined for a 6-12 record in the playoffs from 2000 through 2007 with four of the wins belonging to Sioux City Heelan.  Their playoff record since Heelan left for 3A after the 2005 season?  An underwhelming 1-2.  Impress your friends by telling them that Sioux City East is the last Missouri River Conference team to win a playoff game, upsetting Dowling in the first round in 2006.  Sioux City North was the last team to qualify, resulting in a first-round exit in 2007…

Overall Postseason/Playoff Record 2000-2009:

Team, Substate Record, Playoff Record and Years Qualifying

Sioux City East, 0-1, 2-4, 4

Sioux City North, 0-1, 0-1, 1

Council Bluffs Lincoln, 0-2, 0-1, 1

Council Bluffs Jefferson, 0-1

Sioux City Heelan, x-x, 4-6, 6 *In 4A only

Sioux City Heelan has fared much better in 3A.  After being edged out of the playoffs in their first 3A season in 2006, Heelan has posted an 8-2 playoff record and a 2-0 substate tally.  In 2007, Heelan advanced to the 3A Final but came up short against James Vandenberg and Keokuk.  In 2008, it all came together for a run that capped a perfect 14-0 season and a championship.  In 2009 they managed a first round win before bowing to Harlan in the quarterfinals.  Heelan also has a very impressive nugget on their resume…They are the only team since Atlantic in 2002 to defeat Harlan in the regular season, doing so in 2008.  They lost to Harlan in the regular season in 2007, but knocked them out of the playoffs in a rematch later that year.  After their 2008 regular season win, Heelan again dumped Harlan in the 2008 playoffs.  That was Harlan’s last defeat.  So, Harlan has lost three games since the beginning of the 2007 season, all to Heelan.  Not bad.