Hounds, Mustangs open season with new faces

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - It's shaping up to be a heavy run game, although with no games under their belts, who knows what's in store Friday when Davis County and Fort Madison crack open the 2017 football season.

The game, which was originally scheduled to be played in Bloomfield, was moved to Fort Madison as a result of construction on the Davis County High School football field. Friday's game kicks off at Jim Youel Field in Fort Madison at 7:30 with a special game ball arrival set for 7:20.

Head Coach Tony Shiffman's squad's coming off a scrimmage last week against Mediapolis on the road. Shiffman said he was impressed with the younger players who took most of the snaps. He said his projected starters are healthy and excited to get the season started.

"Our first offensive drive was great. Our second defensive effort was great, and our second offense we had some hiccups. But the Mediapolis folks, the coaches, the administrators, everybody had nothing but great things to say about us. They said we looked head and shoulders over where we were last time," Shiffman said.

"For us, truthfully our younger kids got more reps than our older kids and the younger kids responded very well. They did a great job and impressed us a lot. Overall, I think we did pretty good, we had some tentativeness which I thought we'd have. But I think it was a good outcome for us."

Offensively, the Hounds are going to rely on seniors Alex Gully at running back in Shiffman's offense, Shance Redd-Donald, Lorenzo Miles, and Logan Allen will handle the receiving work, and Lennon Barker will be at quarterback. The offensive and defensive line will be anchored by Elijah Barnes, a 6'-4" 245 pound senior who hasn't played since his freshman year, and 6'-0" 235 pound senior Dalton Mabeus.

Shiffman said Barnes has taken a strong leadership role on the team and has picked up quickly on line techniques.

"I think he can be all-district," Shiffman said. "The best thing about Elijah right now is he's been a leader. Kids are looking up to him just because he's so big, but he's done a real good job with that not just by leadingwith big plays, but he'll take a freshman aside and help them with footwork, or hands. He does that on his own, we don't have to coach that with him."

Davis County is coming off a 2-7 season with one of the wins being a 27-20 win over the Bloodhounds in Fort Madison.

The Mustangs lose a group of seniors from the squad and may be in a rebuilding year. Senior Zach Houf completed 42 passes for over 600 yards and six touchdowns. He also had the majority of the yards on the ground, gaining 556 yards on 102 carries from his signal caller spot. The rest of the Mustang offense was spread out. Junior Hyatt Flannigan and senior Collen Allen combined for 659 yards on 152 carries splitting time in the backfield.

Shiffman said the Hounds will also be watching JR Zeitler who looked good on film but had very few touches in 2016, with only five carries, six receptions, and tossed a pass.

"He's the only other one that threw a pass last year," Shiffman said. "In our scouting, they've got some starters back and watching film, they have some tough kids there. The Allen kid and Zeitler, we're not sure where they're going to fit offensively. They've got six starters back. They had a tough year last year, too, but we're preparing for them like they were 9-0."

Shiffman said his squad, that finished 0-9 last year, is still very much in the rebuilding phase of a program that's had three different head coaches in four years.

"We're still kind of trying to rebuild," Shiffman said. "Practices have been up and down. We've had a really good period and then they would struggle. So we try to focus on having really good days one at a time and then put those back-to-back, which we haven't done yet. They're stuck in their ways I guess and we're trying to break that."

He said the team's energy levels are good, and excitement is palpable on the team and coaching staff.

"They're ready to get out there Friday and see what we can do," he said. "I think we'll have a good first five minutes. We've got a great game plan on offense and on defense I just hope we can stick to that. We'll have a nice ebb and flow to the game. If we're running the ball well, I'm not going to be dumb and change that up."

But he has high confidence in Lennon's ability to open the game up.

"I've told Lennon, 'There might be games where you throw 10 times and there might be games where we throw 30 times. You just need to be ready.' and I know he can handle that."

Barker is being coached by former West Hancock standout quarterback Coy Dorothy, who's fresh off a record-setting season at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.

"He's getting coached up by Coy Dorothy. I told Coy that I need to keep him here as long as I can. I got him right off the football field. He went from MacMurray to Arena football and he's going to try to play Arena again."

On the field, assistant coach Luke Rickelman will be calling defensive plays and Shiffman will call the offensive plays himself.

"I've got a great staff. We're trying to get the kids excited. They're a bit cautious because some of the seniors are going on their third head coach," Shiffman said. "We're still struggling with numbers a little bit. I've had good talks with Coach (Todd) McGhghy and getting numbers up and what we should have. He's been around for some time and he knows. The problem is the young kids who aren't out don't know why they don't want to play.

"I talked with some freshmen today who look the part and are athletic and I ask them why they don't play and I get, 'I don't know." and I press them a bit on it because I want to know what's going on out there and they just give me "I don't know." But we're gonna keep fighting and building the program."

 

bloodhounds, Davis County, fmhs, fort madison, Head Coach Shiffman, Mustangs

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