Odebolt-Arthur to play final football game
By Jerry Giese Journal sports writer | Posted: Thursday, October 25, 2007
ODEBOLT, Iowa -- Emotions will run high Friday night as Odebolt-Arthur plays its final high school football game.
Coach Larry Allen's Trojans will end a season of adversity as they host playoff qualifier Newell-Fonda (6-2) in Class A District 3 action. Allen, whose program will start a sharing agreement with Battle Creek-Ida Grove next season, is down to 29 players from grades nine to 12.
The ninth-year coach has lost three players for the season to injury, including backup quarterback Trent Iverson, who broke a collarbone in last Friday's 18-8 district win over Schaller-Crestland.
Senior tight end/linebacker Marcus Hansen broke a collarbone in Week 3. One week later, junior Mark Wunschel was sidelined with a broken elbow.
"Some of our kids don't get off the field until halftime," said Allen, whose squad has a 4-4 record (3-3 District 3).
"We've had a ton of injuries and there's fewer kids to choose from. We've had to battle adversity and the kids have responded well.
"It's been a struggle offensively and defensively. You can't get the kids out to talk things over. We've played six sophomores and that's another problem. A lack of upperclassmen isn't good either."
Nine years ago when Allen accepted the football position at O-A, he had 57 players. Numbers have been on a steady decline ever since.
O-A and BC-IG have shared wrestling since the 2004-05 season. In the recent past, there have been discussions involving football sharing agreements between O-A and Wall Lake View-Auburn as well as Schaller-Crestland.
Two weeks ago, school boards from the O-A and BC-IG districts agreed on the sharing agreement. Starting in the 2009-10 school year, whole grade sharing will take effect in all sports.
Districts will be realigned next year, another reason for the sharing agreement. It's likely the new program will result in 2A classification.
"We'll be graduating a big number of seniors and there will be a small number of freshmen coming in," said BC-IG Coach Don Anderson, whose 5-3 squad currently has 37 players, the lowest in his three-year tenure at the school.
"Obviously, there's a benefit to sharing football," he added. "It's a numbers game in football. It'll help you practice wise because you'll get more older kids playing against older kids. Keeping the older kids separate from the younger kids is a benefit because you won't have to play young players on the varsity level."
"Our kids wrestle with them and a lot of kids know each other through that," said Allen, who has a 48-34 record with the Trojans. "I feel it's great for both sides."
O-A quarterback Jeremy Hemer has passed for 449 yards and four touchdowns. The Trojans' balanced running game features Colby Hemer (288 yards, 2 TDs), Quinn Reik (226) and Jeremy Hemer (220, 4).
"The thing Odebolt-Arthur will do to us defensively is their run and pass balance," said N-F Coach Brian Wilken. "That's something we haven't seen from a lot of teams. Against other teams, we've been able to load up and take the run away or take the pass away. You can't do that against Odebolt-Arthur."
Josh Hopper has rushed for 1,034 yards to lead Newell-Fonda. Spencer Baak (899) rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns in last Friday's 48-12 win over Southeast Webster.
Coach Larry Allen's Trojans will end a season of adversity as they host playoff qualifier Newell-Fonda (6-2) in Class A District 3 action. Allen, whose program will start a sharing agreement with Battle Creek-Ida Grove next season, is down to 29 players from grades nine to 12.
The ninth-year coach has lost three players for the season to injury, including backup quarterback Trent Iverson, who broke a collarbone in last Friday's 18-8 district win over Schaller-Crestland.
Senior tight end/linebacker Marcus Hansen broke a collarbone in Week 3. One week later, junior Mark Wunschel was sidelined with a broken elbow.
"Some of our kids don't get off the field until halftime," said Allen, whose squad has a 4-4 record (3-3 District 3).
"We've had a ton of injuries and there's fewer kids to choose from. We've had to battle adversity and the kids have responded well.
"It's been a struggle offensively and defensively. You can't get the kids out to talk things over. We've played six sophomores and that's another problem. A lack of upperclassmen isn't good either."
Nine years ago when Allen accepted the football position at O-A, he had 57 players. Numbers have been on a steady decline ever since.
O-A and BC-IG have shared wrestling since the 2004-05 season. In the recent past, there have been discussions involving football sharing agreements between O-A and Wall Lake View-Auburn as well as Schaller-Crestland.
Two weeks ago, school boards from the O-A and BC-IG districts agreed on the sharing agreement. Starting in the 2009-10 school year, whole grade sharing will take effect in all sports.
Districts will be realigned next year, another reason for the sharing agreement. It's likely the new program will result in 2A classification.
"We'll be graduating a big number of seniors and there will be a small number of freshmen coming in," said BC-IG Coach Don Anderson, whose 5-3 squad currently has 37 players, the lowest in his three-year tenure at the school.
"Obviously, there's a benefit to sharing football," he added. "It's a numbers game in football. It'll help you practice wise because you'll get more older kids playing against older kids. Keeping the older kids separate from the younger kids is a benefit because you won't have to play young players on the varsity level."
"Our kids wrestle with them and a lot of kids know each other through that," said Allen, who has a 48-34 record with the Trojans. "I feel it's great for both sides."
O-A quarterback Jeremy Hemer has passed for 449 yards and four touchdowns. The Trojans' balanced running game features Colby Hemer (288 yards, 2 TDs), Quinn Reik (226) and Jeremy Hemer (220, 4).
"The thing Odebolt-Arthur will do to us defensively is their run and pass balance," said N-F Coach Brian Wilken. "That's something we haven't seen from a lot of teams. Against other teams, we've been able to load up and take the run away or take the pass away. You can't do that against Odebolt-Arthur."
Josh Hopper has rushed for 1,034 yards to lead Newell-Fonda. Spencer Baak (899) rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns in last Friday's 48-12 win over Southeast Webster.
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