Merrily we go, traipsing through the 3A records for the decade. A Christmas Eve gift of the teams from District Six from the last two seasons. Here are the numbers for 2000-2009…
Overall Regular Season Record:
Grinnell 71-19 (three undefeated seasons)
Pella 68-22 (two undefeated seasons)
Chariton 47-25 in 3A (two undefeated seasons) 15-3 in 2A…62-28 total
Centerville 47-41 (one undefeated season)
South Tama 41-49 (one undefeated season)
Knoxville 40-49
Norwalk 38-52
Carlisle 29-25 in 3A, 26-10 in 2A…55-35 total
Centerville had a game cancelled in 2004 and played in a short-handed district in 2000, so they played two less games than the norm for the decade. Knoxville, as far as I can prove, played only eight games in 2001. I have no idea why or if that is a mistake. They had a full district schedule, but must have dropped a non-district matchup…? Anyway, as you can see, these teams fared well for the decade. Good numbers and a lot of balance without any teams having horrible records. Five teams had at least one undefeated season, and that’s not bad. Oddity alert: South Tama has had a very strange run the last five seasons. After back-to-back 1-8 seasons in 2005 and 2006, the Trojans put together a 9-0 season in 2007. They finished 11-1 after running into James Vandenberg and Keokuk in the 3A semifinal, but played them better than Heelan did in the final. They had a very good team with serious talent. Then, amazingly, South Tama went 0-9 in 2008 and 1-8 this past season. Talk about an isolated group of seniors coming together out of the blue for that ‘magical’ season…Just bizarre. Let’s look at the district numbers…
Overall District Record:
Grinnell 53-17 (thee undefeated district seasons)
Pella 53-17 (two undefeated district seasons)
Chariton 39-17 in 3A (three undefeated district seasons) 12-2 in 2A (one undefeated district season)…51-19 overall
Centerville 34-34 (one undefeated district season)
South Tama 32-38 (one undefeated district season)
Norwalk 28-42
Knoxville 28-42
Carlisle 19-23 in 3A, 19-9 in 2A…38-32 overall
Grinnell and Pella have had a great rivalry this past decade, and they both enjoyed great success. Three games separated them overall, and they were even in district play. Carlisle and Chariton have both had success after making the jump to 3A during the decade, but the Chargers have fared better overall, while Carlisle would probably have been better off remaining in 2A. However, their 2007 squad was one of the best they have ever fielded in a very tough season for 3A. Grinnell posted a great 18-2 non-district record and Carlisle went 17-3, with a 10-2 record in 3A and a 7-1 tally in 2A play. Let’s check the postseason numbers…
Postseason/Playoff Record:
Substate record, playoff record, number of appearances
Pella 2-0, 9-7, 7 (three semifinals, one final)
Grinnell 1-1, 7-5, 5 (three semifinals)
South Tama x-x, 3-3, 3 (one semifinal)
Chariton x-x, 3-3, 3 in 3A & x-x, 0-2, 2 in 2A
Carlisle 0-1, 2-1, 1 in 3A (one semifinal) & x-x, 1-2, 2 in 2A
Centerville 2-0, 1-2, 2
Norwalk 0-1
Four teams here have reached the semis in the UNI-Dome, with the 2009 Pella team making it all the way to the finals before losing to Harlan. Pella and Grinnell again lead the way with the most success. Of the three semifinals Grinnell participated in, the 2000 game against Harlan was the wildest. They lost 56-55 in four overtimes, and then Harlan lost to Clear Lake for the title in three overtimes, 23-20. Pella finished fourth in District Six this past Fall, qualifying for the Substate round with a week nine win that saved them. Then they made it all the way to the final game. They may have lost that final game, but they had an amazing run to get there. Their 35-14 setback to Harlan was the last high school game of the decade played in Iowa.
