(Audubon) The Audubon football team stays put at #3 in this week’s Radio Iowa rankings. The 1-0 Wheelers welcome 0-1 Ar-We-Va on Friday night.
Audubon coach Sean Birks refers to the Rockets as a sleeper in the district with legitimate aspirations of a deep playoff run. “When you have the big senior linemen they do and some good skill guys they have a nice recipe there. They come out and probably should have beat Coon Rapids-Bayard on Friday night with a two score lead.” Birks says, “They have a 300 pounder and a 240 pounder up front that are athletic.”
Birks points to the backfield of Cooper Kock and Will Ragaller as being difficult to defend. “A dynamite two-headed monster as far as a quarterback and a running back. They’ll move Ragaller out to the slot and throw him the ball. Kock is a tall lefty that throws the ball well. He scrambles to throw and scrambles to run so we’ll have to keep him contained. They are always well coached, so we are going to have our hands full this week.”
Ar-We-Va fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard 42-36 last week. Audubon was sharp in their opener. The Wheelers beat Exira-EHK 55-0 last Friday night. “The kids did a phenomenal job, especially considering replacing five or six starters on both sides of the ball.” He adds, “The kids did a great job, they really did.”
Among the biggest pluses from Week 1 was their line play. “We rotated six offensive varsity linemen and four, five, or six defensive linemen. I thought those guys did well.” Joey Schramm, Alex Foran, Cooper Nielsen, Peyton Meaike, Carson Bauer, Garrett Christensen, and Jordan Schrader were among the guys leading the way.
Gavin Smith passed for 65 yards and two TD’s last week. He also ran the ball 13 times for 138 yards and two TD’s. Ethan Klocke carried for 82 yards on two attempts and both went for scores. He also caught a 49 yard TD. Joel Klocke had a 16 yard TD catch and a four yard TD run. Joey Schramm tallied a team best six tackles, with three tackles for loss, and one sack.
