FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Bloodhounds will try to go 3-0 to start the year for the third time in the last three years when they take on Centerville Friday night in Centerville.
The Big Red made it to the quarterfinals of the Class 2A playoffs last year and, despite their 1-1 record to start the year, Centerville will bring a test for the Hounds.
But Fort Madison (2-0) has been exposed to tests this year, having to come from behind to win both games.
Last week the Hounds needed some late scores and a couple momentum-killing plays to stay unbeaten on the year with wins over Burlington and Fairfield.
Head Coach Derek Doherty said the Hounds have to get out of their habit of starting slow, especially against a potent offense like Centerville’s.
“That was the feeling Friday night, no sense of urgency and we’ve had some practices like that. We’re prodding at these kids to get them going and find out what makes them tick,” Doherty said.
“We are extremely proud of our kids. Impressed at times with their resilience and how they find ways to make stuff happen. I’ve said it before, that mental shift and change here has been a breath of fresh air. In the past, we’ve found ways to lose games like that, but now we’re finding ways to battle and win.”
Doherty said the coaching staff doesn’t want to have to rely on those heroics to get the W.
“There’s a sense of urgency inside the coaching staff and we’re pushing that down to the players to figure this out. We can’t rely on 'hey this is just going to happen'."
The Bloodhounds got a different look at junior quarterback Marcus Guzman who ran more physically out of the run-pass option Friday against Fairfield and is starting to build confidence.
Guzman has no problem letting go of the ball at the last moment in the RPO and has done so to a bevy of Hound receivers, but on Friday he ran for a tough 46 yards and a score while throwing for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw his second interception.
Doherty said Guzman ran hard and at Trojan defensive backs, but he would like to see a cut and his quarterback get vertical.
“You never want to change who an athlete is. That’s who Marcus is, but we do point out that if he planted a foot and got vertical, there’s more yards there for him,” Doherty said.
“He’s gaining confidence and, right now, he’s seeking contact. He’s running the ball hard and we like that.”
Guzman has found five different receivers on the year for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Henry Wiseman leads the catch corp with 90 yards and a score. Caleb Bolander has 73 yards and Brody Cashman has 45 yards and a touchdown on a single catch out of the backfield.
Fort Madison continues to be led on defense statistically by Jamarkus Kline with 15 tackles.
Doherty said Kline is better than he knows and is playing a solid role created by the attention that Ike Thacher, Cashman, Teague Smith, and CJ Arnett attract in the Hounds' defensive mix.
“And getting a lot of our kids to understand that is the hard part. They want the stats, but getting them to understand systematic football is successful football. We have in the past spilled a lot of runs to linebackers that allow them to get their name in the paper, but it's really the guys with their hands down in the dirt that are getting the job done.”
Senior Teague Smith has a dozen tackles, Wiseman has 11, including a potential game-saver Friday night catching a Trojan from behind late in the fourth, and Cashman has 10. Ben Ramatowski has two picks and Wiseman has an interception, his coming late in the fourth quarter Friday, as well.
Centerville comes at you full force with a dual threat quarterback in Landon McGrann. The junior has five touchdowns on the ground and another three through the air, and has accounted for 684 yards of offense.
McGrann likes to throw to senior Ryan Sinnott who has 183 yards and a score on 13 catches. But freshman Makoa Kaleponi could be the bigger all-around threat. He has five catches but is averaging 31 yards a snag and has two touchdowns, one an 83-yard hook-up.
“Centerville is a great team. That staff has stuck together for a long time and they made it to the state quarterfinals last year so they will be a tough test,” Doherty said.
“Ultimately, if we want to be who we say we want to be, these are the teams we have to play. And we have to find not only ways to compete with these teams, but beat these teams.”
These teams include Williamsburg at home next week and the, Davenport Assumption on the road in week 5. Williamsburg is currently the No. 1-ranked Class 3A team in the state and the Knights are a top 5 team. Fort Madison was ranked 12th in the last AP poll according to votes cast.
“Our schedule from week 0 all the way to the end is tough. We don’t have cupcakes on our schedule. That’s fine because we’ve done all the work in the offseason. The fine-tuning the engine and finding who we are is going to be the important thing and I feel like that’s been us these past few years.”
The game will be livestreamed on the Bloodhound Sports page at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/mBTxNVo_BmE?si=pUog3YlBPYBrjONX with the Pen City Current pregame starting at 6:45 and game time at 7:30.
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