Hounds learning from the past

A plan

It is what it is  and you still gotta play the game. We're going to go up and  try to get them to play our style of football. That's the plan”

Derek Doherty, FMHS Head football coach

FORT MADISON - The Fort Madison Bloodhounds keep learning from the past.

A win in the final 30 seconds Friday night over Burlington that assured the Bloodhounds a playoff spot this week, was a lesson learned from 365 days ago when the Grayhounds knocked Fort Madison from the playoffs in 2021.

This Friday's Class 4A Pod B playoff tussle between the Bloodhounds and the undefeated No. 2 Go-Hawks of Waverly-Shell Rock will be rooted in lessons learned as well.

The last playoff game was a 35-0 loss at Grinnell. The state called it post-season, not the playoffs, and the Hounds didn't get to hang a playoff banner due to the COVID shortened season, but it was in the round of 16. And the Hounds learned what playoff football was like after three decades.

But no one is taking the banner from Fort Madison this year.

A 49-0 unraveling at the hands of an Iowa City Liberty team that also had to have a last second comeback to beat Burlington, is fresh on the mind. So is the Grinnel loss to some of the seniors, as is the North Scott loss this year.

Liberty is the fourth best team in Class 4A.  The Lightning are now ranked 4th in the state and are the second largest 4A school behind Council Bluffs-Thomas Jefferson.

By comparison Fort Madison's program is 13th best in the state per AP and RPI rankings, but is the third smallest school among Class 4A's 36 teams. And FMHS includes HTC's enrollment numbers with the shared program.

The RPI structure should have mathematically had Fort Madison up against Iowa City Liberty in a natural seeding with the Bloodhounds fourth from the bottom and Liberty fourth from the top in a 16-team field.

Fort Madison Head Coach Derek Doherty said  it would have been interesting to see how that game would have played out because the Hounds didn't feel they were themselves that night.

The Hounds are in Pod B which also has North Scott from Fort Madison's 4A District 3.

But all that is math that Doherty wants nothing to do with. He looks at Waverly-Shell Rock as a team that likes to run the ball and can throw when they need to.

"They line up in the single wing, and in trips - they are really dynamic. You can't back them into a  corner. That was our goal with Burlington and at the end we were able to make that happen," he said.

"This year we made them put the ball in the air and we knew good things were going to happen. But these guys will do it whenever they want. It doesn't have to be a third and long, or with the game on the line, they'll put it up on first down.

"They do like to pound the rock. It's a great offensive line and a back that's just chewing up yards. They have a great system and a good program."

Senior McCrae Hagerty has close to 1,300 yards rushing and a whopping 20 touchdowns, while Asa Newsome, another senior getting looks from Division 1 colleges,  has 562 yards on the ground and another 400 in receptions.

Quarterback Cole Marsh, a junior, has 860 yards through the air and 10 touchdowns. He's also thrown five interceptions. Hagerty leads the W-SR in tackles on the other side.

Fort Madison will counter with Aidan Boyer under center. Boyer has 1,470 yards on the year and 14 TDs to go with five picks. The senior also has two rushing touchdowns and about 260 yards on the ground.

The Hounds will likely platoon at running back again this week, with juniors Hayden Segoviano and Teague Smith sharing carries in the backfield. Segoviano slipped into the mix just two weeks ago.

"It's nice having a two-headed monster back there. You have Teague, who is fully capable of breaking a big run, but is more of a power back with real tough yards," Doherty said.

"Often times he delivers the hit instead of taking the hit. But we have that change of pace with Sego. He has natural vision and has only had a couple practices at running back, But he's already started gashing."

Both Smith and Segoviano anchor the Hounds' defense from inside linebacker spots.

Fort Madison will run a lot of split trips formations to spread defenses out. Henry Wiseman, Nathaniel Swigart, Kane Williams and Leif Boeding all have had production at receiver. The four have combined for 15 TDs on the year and more than 1,400 yards.

Mateo Lozano, Tanner Settles, Daniel Sokolik, Ike Thacher and Cory Arnette anchor the front line, while Settles, Sokolik, Thacher and Arnette move over on defense as the front four.

Segoviano has 60 tackles on the year followed by Settles, Sokolik and Smith.

Brody Cashman, Settles and Thacher each have five sacks and are routinely in the offensive backfield creating havoc.

Doherty said the team will take regular buses up to Waverly and are leaving with time to spare. He said the state qualifying boys cross country team, along with Avery and Addison Rump, will all be leaving the high school at the same time.

The cross country team and the Rump twins qualified for state last week and are running Saturday morning in Fort Dodge's Kennedy Park.

"We've got a plan to get out of here at a fairly decent time. When we went to Iowa City the timing wasn't right. For those that are heavily competitive they have routines and when that gets disrupted, chaos hits," he said.

"Our plan is to avoid a lot of that. We're going to be able to settle in and get our pregame done. We've got some rote things that allow them some down time and to relax and be themselves. There's a lot of moving parts there.

"Once the whistle blows football is football. We know our game plan and every week we have a good game plan and our coaches coach the heck out of our guys.

"It is what it is  and you still gotta play the game. We're going to go up and  try to get them to play our style of football. That's the plan."