By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
The Iowa high school football season got underway Friday night with a number of eight-man football games and one 11-man contest.
In the only 11-man contest, a new combination of schools under the name Buffalo Ridge defeated Correctionville-River Valley 26-25 in two overtimes. Buffalo Ridge is the shared combination of the Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland school districts in western Iowa. They will play in Class 2-A.
Among eight-man game highlights, Central City’s first eight-man game ever resulted in a 70-55 victory over Northeast Hamilton of Blairsburg. Sean Brandhorst passed for seven touchdowns in the shootout.
Twin Cedars-Bussey got by Ankeny Christian Academy 34-28 in the Ankeny school’s first-ever varsity football game. Under the ACA banner, the team also includes students from Iowa Christian Academy in West Des Moines.
Football: Heelan’s Wegher Commits to Iowa
One of the state’s top football seniors has announced his future football plans. Sioux City Bishop Heelan running back Brandon Wegher has committed to play next year at the University of Iowa.
Wegher was an All-State running back as a junior for the Crusaders, who lost in the Class 3-A championship game to Keokuk last fall. He rushed for 2,334 yards and scored 34 touchdowns last season for Heelan.
As a sophomore, Wegher carried for over a 1,000 yards with 966 yards coming in his last six games.
Several schools had been recruiting the Crusader running back, with Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas being in his final three.
Wegher becomes the fourth Iowa prepster to commit to the Hawkeyes for next season. The others are receivers Jordan Cotton of Mount Pleasant, Keenan Davis of Cedar Rapids Washington and lineman Drew Clark of Marion.
Football: Fort Dodge Stadium Renovation Continues
One of the state’s venerable high school football stadiums has a new surface and school officials in Fort Dodge are continuing to give it a complete makeover.
Dodger Stadium was built in 1939 and 1940 as part of the Works Progress Administration program of then-President Franklin Roosevelt. It now sports a new playing surface, installed by Midwest Fieldturf of Denison.
Nearly $1 million has been pledged for the turf, with $66,000 still needed to pay off the surface. However, school officials plan to also do tuck pointing, plus renovate the locker rooms, restrooms, bleachers, and hand rails.
That requires another $900,000 to complete and a second round of fundraising will take place to raise that money.
In addition to Fort Dodge High School, St. Edmond High School and Iowa Central Community College play their home games at the facility.
Football: More Schools Move to Eight-Man Football
More of Iowa’s smaller schools have opted to take three men off the football field and go to the eight-man game over the traditional 11-man game.
Sixty Iowa high schools will play eight-man football this season. That’s seven more than the 53 schools that played the eight-man game last fall.
The schools who are making the switch say they are doing it because the smaller numbers of players out for varsity football were forcing them to play younger players in positions they weren’t ready for.
One district in eastern Iowa is made up of entirely new eight-man programs. District Four consists of West Central, Central City, Dunkerton, East Central, Lansing-Kee, Olin, Preston and Springville.
Baseball: All-Stater Stays Home to Play College Baseball
Marshalltown All-State outfielder Zach Thompson has decided to continue his baseball career in his home town, playing for Marshalltown Community College.
Thompson’s efforts this season helped the Bobcats to a runner-up finish in the Class 4-A state tournament in Des Moines. His season stats included a .390 batting average, with six homers, 26 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Thompson’s career batting average for Marshalltown High was a sterling .378.
Zach will be going the baseball route despite a scholarship offer to play football at Central College in Pella.
"Ever since I was born I've always wanted to play college baseball. It's not that hard to give up football for baseball," Thompson told the Marshalltown Times-Republican.
Baseball: Denison-Schleswig Coach Reaches 500 Win Level
The recently completed high school baseball season in Iowa saw Denison-Schleswig coach Don Lyons finish the year with 504 career coaching victories. His overall record is 504-339.
Lyons’ accomplishment comes in 25 years of high school baseball coaching. He told the Council Bluffs Nonpareil newspaper the secret was making sure his teams always “outworked” the opponent.
"We try to overachieve," Lyons said.
The Monarchs’ coach says he has no plans to retire, adding, “Coaches are more than coaches, they are mentors. They try to make a difference in a life."