(Avoca) AHSTW’s 32-0 shutout of IKM-Manning in Week 1 got people’s attention, including the Associated Press voters. The Vikings are #10 this week in the Class A football poll.
Their Week 2 matchup on Friday will be against Earlham. The Cardinals are 0-1 after a 35-6 loss to Class 1A #2 Van Meter. They managed 164 rushing yards and 29 yards through the air against the defending state champs. Ty Willem’s 18 yard return of a fumble recovery was their only Week 1 score. AHSTW coach GG Harris says his team will be facing a very big and physical opponent. “We are going to have to try to stop the run. We know that they are going to want to get in front of the sticks early in downs and have short third downs. We are going to have to make it 2nd and long and 3rd and long to get our defense off the field. That’s much easier said than done, but we are going to have to have a collective effort. DB’s are going to have to be linebackers and we might have to do some different stuff up front with our D-line. We have a good game plan started. We have a lot of returners from last year. We remember what it felt like when we were physically dominated on their field and we don’t want to feel that way again.”
Earlham was a 40-7 winner over AHSTW last year. The Vikings opened the season in impressive fashion a week ago with their 32-0 triumph over IKM-Manning. Harris says defense and special teams executed especially well. “Coming out on top and in the fashion that we did I was very pleased. I think the guys were too and coaching staff. A lot of stuff we talked about as far as preseason we focused on it and we were able to go out and execute it. I think we are really hungry right now, but we are really proud of the effort we put out there.”
Moving forward, a big advantage AHSTW has the potential to have is depth. It gives them the ability to keep people fresh. “We showed it with our depth a little bit and we want to see that improve.” Harris says, “We want to play fast and we want to play physical and if we can have guys come in and produce and execute right away that’s a huge leg up for us. If we can continue to build on that on both sides of the ball I think that’s really going to put ourselves in a really good position.”
Coach Harris adds he’d like to see more efficiency in the passing game as they continue through the season.
AHSTW coach GG Harris:
