District races start to take shape

CNA photo by BEN FROTSCHER Rushing leader: Tyler Peterson (25) leads the Lenox offense this year with 643 yards rushing as the Tigers look to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

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After this week in 8-Man District 6, the playoff picture will really start to take shape. For the second time in three weeks, the top four teams in the district will be facing each other Friday night — East Union at Lamoni and Murray at Lenox. Both East Union (6-0, 3-0) and Lamoni (4-1, 2-0) are undefeated in district play, and the winner of Friday’s game takes the inside track to a district title. “We haven’t talked about it (district title),” said East Union coach Steve Kinyon. “We had to stay focused with Homecoming last week and this week, we’re just trying to keep focused on football.” For Murray (3-2, 1-1) and Lenox (4-1, 2-1), the winner of Friday’s game still has a great chance at still sliding into the district title, but the playoff spots are starting to be solidified by these four schools. “All four of us still have a shot at winning this district,” said Lenox coach Allen Dukes. “After week three in the past, you had it kind of figured out. The way it’s set up now — who knows. It’s going to come down to the last week of the season.” And Dukes is right with that assumption. In week nine, East Union travels to Lenox while Murray travels to Lamoni — both games proving to be huge just three weeks from now. For Murray, a team that returned just one starter in Caleb Byers from 2007, the Mustangs are happy to be in the conversation. “We’d like to be a top four team and we’ve put ourselves in a position to be a top four team,” said Murray coach Keith Shields. “It’ll be an interesting couple of weeks. These two weeks (Friday and week nine) will shake some things out and we’ll see where people are at.” Both games Friday night feature a tough tailback — Murray’s Caleb Byers and Lamoni’s Brandon Bell. When you think of both schools, that’s the individual the opposing team tends to focus on. “Brandon is a force,” said Kinyon. “We need to try to corral him and not let him have big plays. Three of his touchdowns were 50-plus against Lenox. We’re on turf down there (at Graceland University). It makes him a little bit quicker.” Bell has ran for 603 yards and 10 touchdowns while quarterback Joseph Kotz has thrown for 307 yards and 17 touchdowns. For Byers, who is fourth in the state for rushing yards according to quikstats.com, has 1,010 yards and 17 touchdowns. “They’re going to be focused on shutting down Caleb and we’re going to have to be a little more diversified,” said Shields. “Lenox is a team that tries to eliminate big plays — East Union kept Caleb from breaking anything too long. We need to sustain some drives and put some points away.” The Tigers have allowed just one running back over 100 yards this season. In a week four loss at Lamoni, Lenox gave up 240 yards rushing to Bell, but only 34 yards in the second half. Even though there are still three weeks left in the season after Friday, there are still a lot of implications on these two sets of games. “If East Union beats Lamoni and on week nine, we beat East Union, we have a three-way tie for first,” said Dukes. “We can still win the district. That’s what the kids are looking at, but Murray is one of those teams we have to get by. It’s a good rivalry.” Corning (2-3, 2-1) at Bedford (3-2, 2-0) After going just 2-16 the past two years, Corning has already surprised some foes in Class A District 8 with their 2-1 district start. One more win for the Red Raiders, and a playoff spot looks like a reality. With Bedford, sophomore Travis Dougherty leads the team with 580 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The Bulldogs are a run-oriented team, rushing for 1,368 yards in five games while throwing for just 198 yards. Mount Ayr (5-0, 3-0) at Wayne (1-4, 1-2) Class 1A No. 6 Mount Ayr travels to Wayne Friday night, a team they’ve beaten nine straight times. The Falcons are led by quarterback Christian Kiefer, who’s thrown for 603 yards this season. Wayne likes to run out of the shotgun with Kiefer and also use some spread formations. Despite the limited numbers, Mount Ayr has won 10 straight games dating back to last year. With five wins, the Raiders have also clinched their 10th consecutive winning season. Nodaway Valley (1-4, 1-2) at Pella Christian (4-1, 3-0) Being just 1-2 in Class 1A District 6, Nodaway Valley is still in the playoff hunt. Four teams are tied for fourth place at 1-2 in district play. For Nodaway Valley, the Wolverines need to find a way to win the close games — they’ve lost three by a touchdown or less. To come through against district co-leader Pella Christian, Nodaway Valley needs to contain senior running back Mitch Fynaardt (993 yards, 14 touchdowns). Fynaardt is fifth in the state for rushing yardage for Pella Christian. —————— Ben Frotscher can be reached at 782-2141, ext. 246 or bfrotscher@crestonnews.com