KEOKUK – There’s a purple and red chair in Keokuk that the Fort Madison Bloodhounds want back.
But they’re going to have to earn it with the battle for the Lee County Seat on the line tonight at Keokuk’s Calvert Stadium against the 2-2 Chiefs.
Fort Madison is coming off a 56-0 loss at the hands of No. 4 Mt. Vernon last week, while the Chiefs dropped a 62-27 loss at Bracewell Stadium in Burlington.
Keokuk won the chair handily last year 60-7 in their home stadium. Since 2009 the two teams have played 16 times and are even at 8-8.
Head Coach Derek Doherty said there’s no choice but to look past the scoreboard last week. He said on Friday he never even looked up at the scoreboard.
“If you're only looking at the outcome, you're like ‘whoa’, but you know there's a lot of really good things that we did,” he said. “We just faced a giant of an opponent. We knew that going in. I thought we did a really good job of just focusing on our our game goals and I thought the kids had a really positive attitude. We made some of the goals, we didn't make some of the goals, and that's how the game works.”
The Bloodhounds are continuing to develop a relatively young team and may be without the services of leading tackler Marshall Heitmann. The junior has 23 tackles on the year, but was sidelined against the Mustangs with a knee injury and was carted off the field.
Doherty said doctors are still looking into the injury and are unsure of a diagnosis.
Sophomores Ren Watson and Aurelio Jaciunde are next on the team in tackles with 19 and 14.5. Senior Eric Cornelis and junior Liam Prier both have a dozen tackles.
The offense is steered by sophomore Stefan Berlett who had three TD passes in four games, but also has three picks. Jaciunde also has three picks giving Berlett a rest.
Mo Thacher is handling the bulk of the rushing attack with 220 yards on 66 carries giving him a very respectable 3.2 yards per carry against some pretty solid front lines in the Bloodhounds' four losses.
Jaciunde has 77 yards on the ground and Cornelis has just over 60, sparing Thacher on occasion. Fort Madison is struggling through the air with six picks on the season and only Owen Huffman with more than 100 yards on the season in catch yards.
Keokuk quarterback Jadyn Burton is closing in on 1,000 yards and has 11 TD throws against four interceptions for the Chiefs. Burton has 48 carries this season, just one under junior Jarod Anderson who has 103 yards and a score. The Chiefs, under head coach Marvin McNutt, a former standout wide receiver at the University of Iowa, prefer to go to the air.
Sophomore Kurt Joy has four touchdown catches and averages just over 20 yards per catch with 323 yards. Senior Chayce Smith has three scores on 206 yards and a 25.8 yards-per-catch average.
Senior Mason Claus has 33 tackles and Anderson is second with 22.5.
Doherty said the Chiefs are playing well and Burton is a dangerous quarterback, but the Hounds have had a strong week of practice.
“The practice this week has been good. Spirits have been good. We're focused on that, and I told the kids that's how it's got to be,” he said.
“I just think that that's how high-level football is played. We just are trying to set the team up in the best situations possible.”
He said this year feels like a couple years back where the team couldn’t get the motor going.
“It kind of goes back to a couple of years ago where it feels like we're just in first gear and it's like ‘man, we gotta shift’,” he said.
“We’ve got to know and believe that we can shift. and once we start, it could be really fun.”
He said the game will come down to who plays the hardest and executes the best.
“We know their quarterback’s having a really good year. They've got a receiving core that if your quarterback's having a good year, then you're receiving core is good, too. But the coaches broke down some film and we're going to put our kids in the best situations possible, and they need to just go out and play and execute.”
Doherty said he doesn’t put too much emphasis on film because winning comes down to understanding and executing the program.
“I’ve never really been a big fan of film as far as just sharing it with our guys. I think film can lie sometimes. You watch your team and you might get preconceived notions and may look slow, but are actually fast or may not look as good as they actually are,” he said.
In addition to Heitmann’s ailment, the Hounds got just a series out of Jaciunde last week. The sophomore has breakaway potential especially in special teams return sets.
“He got a little banged up, but at this point, everyone’s a little banged up after four games. We were kind of minute-by-minute with him and he got a really good warmup in the second-half and said, ‘Hey, I think I'm feeling pretty good, so let's go test it' and he came in and he played. He's had a good week of practice this week.”
Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
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