Week four football preview

Through three weeks of the high school football season, there's been little on the field to remind most area fans of 2006.

At this point a year ago, Plymouth County's seven teams were a combined 11-11 with Le Mars Community and Remsen St. Mary's off to 3-0 starts. What a difference a year makes. The Bulldogs sit at 0-3 heading into Friday's game with Storm Lake, while Remsen St. Mary's is 1-2 after squeaking out a 14-6 win over Whiting last weekend.

With Le Mars and RSM's slow starts, the county's teams are just 5-17 through three weeks of the '07 slate. Luckily, favorable match-ups in Week 4 should provide a lift for what has so far been a disappointing season.

Le Mars Community (0-3, 0-1) vs Storm Lake (0-3, 0-1)

The Bulldogs lost nearly every starter from last season's state semifinal team and the rebuilding process has been a painful one so far for coach Jim Boyd and staff.

Through three weeks last season, Le Mars had scored 90 points on 1,083 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs have 25 points on 500 yards of total offense through the same stretch in '07.

The biggest drop off has been the production of the ground game. Le Mars rushed for 555 yards and 10 touchdowns in its first three games last season, compared to 157 yards and two touchdowns in three games this year.

A match-up against Storm Lake may be just what the doctor ordered to get the Bulldogs off the ground in Class 3A District 1.

The Tornadoes are also 0-3 on the year and 0-1 in the district with losses to Sheldon (36-0), Cherokee (47-21) and Denison-Schleswig (35-0) last week in the district opener.

The game with Storm Lake a year ago was Le Mars' most lopsided win - a 54-0 rout that included a season-high 435 yards of total offense. Tim Newman was the leading rusher in that game with four carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Newman - now a senior - is still looking for his breakout game in '07 with 43 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns in three games.

Senior quarterback Adam Hasselquist also made an appearance in the '06 game with Storm Lake, completing 2-of-3 passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. Hasselquist has hit on 20-of-52 attempts for 271 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in three games as the Le Mars starter this season.

One bright spot on offense for the Bulldogs has been the emergence of senior Kyle Koth at receiver. Koth has 11 catches for 155 yards and two scores in three starts.

On defense, the Bulldogs have been led by linebacker Pat Rosacker with 27 tackles and one sack. Chris Bergquist also has 14 tackles and an interception.

Gehlen Catholic (1-2, 0-2) vs River Valley (1-2, 1-2)

The Jays are on familiar ground at 1-2 through three weeks, matching their record from a year ago. The difference this season, however, is that Gehlen may have already played the two toughest games on its schedule in Woodbury Central and Lawton-Bronson.

After starting 1-2 in '06, Gehlen still had looming match-ups with Galva-Holstein and Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn to play. The Pirates are down a bit from last season, while M-M-C - 2-1 at this time a year ago - is off to an 0-3 start.

The schedule favors a better finish than the Jays' 3-3 record over the final six weeks of '06 and it starts Friday against River Valley.

The Wolverines have been a tough team to figure out so far, scoring a 14-7 win over M-M-C while dropping games to Westwood (21-19) and Woodbury Central (33-8). Gehlen has been a lot easier to peg.

In the Jays' lone win - a 56-23 rout of West Harrison - they rushed for 330 yards. In losses to Woodbury Central (19-12) and Lawton-Bronson (59-7), Gehlen has a combined 27 yards on the ground.

Senior first-year back Eric Rohe carried 13 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns in the win over West Harrison, but was then limited to four carries for 2 yards in the loss to Lawton-Bronson.

Preseason all-state quarterback Taylor Smith is off to a solid start, despite the Jays' 1-2 record. Smith has completed 41-of-81 pass attempts for 597 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. All three of Smith's picks came in the season-opener against Woodbury Central. Since then, he's attempted 47 passes over two games without an interception.

Smith's primary target has been Chris Gabriel. Gabriel has 14 receptions for 250 yards and three touchdowns in his first three starts for Gehlen.

Rohe leads the Jays' defense with 17 1/2 tackles, while Gabriel has 13 1/2 and Smith 12. Austin Langel adds 10 tackles and Cody Campbell 8 1/2 as well.

Kingsley-Pierson (1-2, 1-1) vs Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn (0-3, 0-2)

At 1-2, the Panthers are already better off than they were a year ago. K-P started 0-4 in coach Bart Boustead's first season before winning three of its final five games to finish 3-6.

K-P routed West Monona 34-6 in the opener to reverse a 24-7 loss from '06, then played Galva-Holstein tough in a 27-9 Week 2 loss. The final score was misleading against the Pirates as K-P trailed just 7-3 at the half 13-9 midway through the fourth quarter.

The game with Galva-Holstein did prove costly for K-P, however, with fullback Dexter Mahrt going down to injury. The Panthers were without Mahrt in a 26-6 loss to defending Class A state champ IKM last Friday and his status is uncertain for the match-up with M-M-C.

The good news for the Panthers is that senior back Isaiah Corbin is healthy and running strong. Corbin has rushed 76 times for 352 yards and three touchdowns - averaging 4.6 yards per carry - in three games.

Senior first-year starter Jeff Engle is still coming along at quarterback, but has added a new dimension to the Panthers' attack. Engle has completed 14-of-43 passes for 163 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first three starts. He won't have long to go to surpass K-P's '06 season passing total of 358 yards and he's already thrown for one more touchdown than a year ago when the Panthers had one to go along with 11 interceptions.

Engle's main target through three games has been senior first-timer Jordan Bird. Bird has caught 8 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns.

Like in the season opener with West Monona, the Panthers are out to reverse a 37-0 loss to the Eagles in '06.

Akron-Westfield (1-2, 0-1) at Sioux Central (0-3, 0-1)

Akron-Westfield is already assured of its best record in three years, having snapped a 20 game losing streak that dated back to the first round of the 2004 playoffs. The Westerners got that first win with a 20-7 victory over Elk Point-Jefferson in week one. A-W nearly won the next week, taking a 12-0 lead to the locker room against Dakota Valley before falling 13-12. They lost to BC-IG on Friday, but have a golden opportunity to level their record against Sioux Central.

Sioux Central is 0-3 on the year and still feeling the sting of losing 15 seniors to graduation. The Rebels' best player is junior Trevor Tiefenthaler, a wide receiver/defensive back, who was a second team all-state selection a year ago. With little talent around him, teams have keyed in on Tiefenthaler, shutting him down for the most part through three games.

Akron-Westfield has been ridding the arm of quarterback John Sievert and a strong receiving corps. Sievert put up 241 yards through the air in A-W's win over EP-J and threw for 180 yards against Dakota Valley. Through three games Sievert has thrown for 474 yards and five touchdowns.

The Westerners have struggled to be balanced offensively -- rushing for minus-one yard against Dakota Valley -- but have improved in that area. Sievert is A-W's leading rusher as well, gaining 88 yards on the ground last week.

A-W is still their own worst enemy at times, committing far to many penalties. The Westerners were whistled for 11 infractions last week and had three turnovers in the game, two of which led to BC-IG touchdowns.

Hinton (1-2, 0-1) vs. South O'Brien (1-2, 1-0)

Hinton has a chance to get right back into the thick of the postseason race when it plays district leader South O'Brien. That will be no easy task, as the Wolverines two losses are to Class 2A opponents -- by a combined nine points -- and they dismantled Sioux Central 33-6 in their district opener last week.

Hinton won its season opener against Sergeant Bluff-Luton 28-14 but might have suffered their most damaging loss of the season at the same time. Senior running back Will Davis suffered a dislocation in his foot and will most likely be out for the rest of the year. Without Davis, the Hinton offense has struggled, not having a lightning to power back Eli Kroll's thunder. Kroll rushed for 160 yards in the opening game win, but teams have keyed on him ever since.

The next week Kroll ran for 52 yards in a loss to Unity Christian and just 32 yards a week later in a loss to West Lyon. Quarterback Cory Westphal has picked up some of the slack, rushing for 171 yards over the last two games, but Hinton is still looking for a consistent third option.

The Blackhawks have also expanded their air attack, with coach Steve Diediker saying after the game his team would have to be more balanced this season instead of the run-oriented offense Hinton usually employs. After throwing just 21 passes over the first two games of the season, Westphal passed the football 22 times against West Lyon. Kroll has emerged as Westphal's favorite target, along with Bryce Bollmeyer and Zach Yoerger.