Hawks, Hounds ready for week 1 clash

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BY ETHAN LILLARD
PCC SPORTS

FORT MADISON- Heading into the fourth-consecutive season of the Lee County rivalry between the Hounds and the Hawks, Central Lee has a chance to even the series between the two programs at 2-2 over the five year span. Fort Madison has bested the Hawks the past two seasons, winning 21-0 last season and 56-35 in 2017-2018.

Both teams are starting fresh in different ways however, coming into the 2019 campaign.

Long-time Bloodhound Derek Doherty now finds himself at the helm for Fort Madison, while Central Lee looks to rebound after a rough 0-9 season.

Both teams will also look similar in styles of play on both sides of the ball according to their head coaches.

“They're pretty identical to us,” Doherty said. “They change their offense and they change their defense. Coach Ehret and I shared film, we decided that would be the fair route to go. We saw a lot of the same things we run. We're intrigued by that matchup to line up against their 11 and see who can execute better.”

With the Hounds opening the season at home Friday night, getting off on the right foot and getting the first win of the Doherty era is crucial. A win Friday is just the momentum boost Fort Madison needs to start the season off hot.

“We're going to be about energy and effort and having a good attitude and execution,” Doherty said. “We know what our kids are capable of, it's just getting them to do it. For a lot of them, this is their first chance to execute under Friday night lights. That's exciting because we know how hard they worked this summer and here is their opportunity.”

Last season Fort Madison went with a pass-heavy approach, as newly graduated Lennon Barker aired the ball out a team-high 283 times for 1,630 yards. By comparison, Kali Maestro led the team with 343 rushing yards on 88 attempts, while Diego Lozano ranked second on the team in rushing with 26 totes for 206 total yards.

Maestro and Lozano both return for their senior campaigns looking to improve upon last season's numbers, but the 1,630 passing yards may be harder to replace. The good news is it appears Fort Madison has an idea of who will be running the huddle this season with junior Will Larson taking first-team reps under center.

Larson will be without two of the team's leading receivers from last season in Dom Frantz and Shaymour Redd-Donald, but Parker Denning and Michael Mosena both saw the field for plenty of snaps last season and look ready to take over lead receiving roles this year.

As for Central Lee, regrouping from a winless season is one thing, but playing on the road against a bigger school makes Friday's contest even more of an uphill battle. Ehret knows Friday will come down to flight or fright for the Hawks.

“It's obviously a big test to play a bigger school,” Ehret said. “They've gotten us the last couple of years. We just have to go over there and compete to the best of our abilities and hopefully we can do a little better than we did last year.”

Defensively Fort Madison won't have to worry about slowing down the Hawks former leading rusher in Tyler Hopp, but they will have to be ready for the aerial attacks from now senior quarterback Evan Pohren who tossed a team-high 625 yards last season. As for formations and style of play, expect it to be somewhat of a mirror image of what Fort Madison will look like.

“Week one is crazy because you don't know,” Doherty said. “Yeah, we shared film, but we have some things inside of our system that we didn't show on film and I know that they have the same. It's kind of a crazy start I guess.

“You never know what you're going to get from them this first week. They've got some good athletes out there. Coach Ehret is a fantastic coach, so you know that their guys are going to be disciplined and ready to go and know what they need to do.”

Two schools, two programs looking for a fresh start and two coaches who are looking to build a foundation for their futures both this season and beyond. While the program matchup and coaching matchups are intriguing, at the end of the day, players play and coaches coach.

“We talk to them about control the controllables, but once Friday night happens we can call plays and stuff, but we're really out of the mix,” Doherty said. “It's up to them to get down and do what they need to do.”

bloodhounds, central lee, football, fort madison, Pen City Current, sports

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