Hounds want their conference title back

FORT MADISON - Fort Madison’s three-year run of winning the Southeast Conference boys soccer title ended last season.
|The Bloodhounds had gone 29-1 in conference play on their way to championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023. But they went 7-3 in the conference last season, missing out on the crown with a 1-0 loss to Washington in the final match of league play.
“We were right there for the conference (title) last year — it came down to that one game,” Fort Madison coach Kevin Wellman said. “So that’s going to be the major goal — to get the conference championship back. I know it’s important for me and it’s important for the guys coming back.”
The Bloodhounds finished 8-9 last season against a difficult schedule, and they’ll face a similar kind of road this season. It started with Tuesday’s 2-2 tie with Williamsburg, then they get into conference play next Thursday at Keokuk.
“Our schedule is not easy,” said Wellman, whose team plays host to a six-team tournament that includes Centerville, Davenport North and Davenport West, plays host to Notre Dame-West Burlington and Newton, and plays in a tournament at Pella that includes the host school and ADM. “But it’s going to be fun, and it will challenge us.”
The Bloodhounds have a veteran roster that includes seven seniors. Henry Graham, who led Fort Madison with 15 goals last season, is among that group, as is Jacob Shottenkirk, who had nine goals last season. Both had goals in the season opener.
“Henry is going to be a big key for us, he was so good last season,” Wellman said. “He got hurt late in the year, and when he came back he wasn’t quite a hundred percent, and I think that really affected us in some of those last games. Having Henry back healthy is going to be important.”

“We’ve got him up front, we’ve got Jacob up front. I like our offense.”
Wellman said the Bloodhounds will try to take advantage of their speed, the team’s main strength.
“We’ve got some athleticism,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of multi-sport athletes, which is fantastic, but it also means they haven’t played a lot of soccer in the offseason. We have to change our tactics up so we can take advantage of that athleticism. The tactics will be a little different.”
The Bloodhounds lost both of their goalkeepers from last season, Conner Gehling and Oliver Santiago. Junior Karson Dixon opened this season at goalkeeper, but that is a deep position, Wellman said.
“We have four guys who can play there, and it’s good to have options,” Wellman said. “Defensively, I think we can be pretty good.”
The battle for the Bloodhounds, though, is getting back the conference title that got away from them last season.
“It’s a tough conference,” Wellman said. “We have to stay healthy and play the way we’re capable of playing.”